WHEN the pandemic hit last spring, and unprecedented restrictions soon followed, it became clear that the immediate impact on the news industry was going to be stark. 

The NUJ successfully ensured that newsgatherers were classed as key workers, able to move around as necessary for their work, and we worked with the industry and government to solve problems and negotiate a boost of advertising revenue for newspapers.

Our officials and reps were inundated with industrial work, dealing with furloughs and lay-offs — as ever, certain employers were keen to use the crisis as an excuse for redundancies.