UNITED FREE PRESS LAUNCH

Mark Playne

Apr 25, 2022

UNITED FREE PRESS LAUNCH - A NEW ALTERNATIVE TO THE NUJ AND MAIN STREAM MEDIA

The United Free Press is a voluntary and independent press standards body, run by its members and dedicated to promoting high-quality journalism and opposing state censorship and misinformation.

Alongside providing a code of conduct for its members, the UFP issues Press IDs, enables networking, supports and promotes member content conducts outreach, aids new journalists to the field, promotes decentralised new-tech and combats misinformation within the industry.

UNITED FREE PRESS

Launch Video:

https://www.unitedfreepress.org/

https://youtu.be/k3KgykO49e8

Press Standards

The UFP, as its first and foremost principle, helps to maintain fundamental standards in journalism.

Members and provisional members are expected to uphold the code in their practice of the profession.

Where a journalist has breached the code, please contact the outlet in question first and give a reasonable amount of time to respond. If your complaint has not been resolved in a satisfactory manner, forward your complaint on to us for review.

Where a journalist is found to have breached our code, they will be sanctioned. Sanctions for offending journalists may range from simple warnings to cancellation of UFP membership and press accreditation.

Press ID

Easily recognisable Press IDs will be produced issued to members sometime after launch.

Members are generally expected to carry them whilst working, to identify them as press.

Journalists 16-18 will receive junior Press IDs. The UFP will seek official recognition of these from UK Police Forces & HM Courts.

Networking

Networking and support of colleagues helps to enable independent journalists, many of whom may not have had any prior experience in the fields other than as a consumer. By talking and sharing tips and advice, UFP members are able to learn and grow faster than journalists acting alone.

Call for Coverage

Individually, many journalists can’t cover certain stories due to location, expertise, or time constraints. The UFP will, over time, develop its function to act as a central hub for tips on items to cover so that all members are able to cover as many events, topics, or stories as they can

New Tech Support

The UFP supports the development of new talent within both journalism and the wider media industry. As such the UFP helps to support journalism and other media (such as musicians, comedians and other groups or individuals) facing censorship in gaining a foothold on platforms which support free speech. It helps in the following ways:

Decentralised Platforms Support

Vital to a free press and wider media are decentralised platforms resistance to censorship. Where promising creators are moving to LBRY/Odysee (or other decentralised web3 platforms), the UFP will notify members, who can boost outlets to enable them to livestream. The guild will also help with queries about the platform and other new-tech sites.

Censorship Awareness

Where promising creators (journalistic or non-journalistic) have been censored and cancelled, the UFP will help to raise awareness so that their audiences can move to alternative platforms.

Exclusive Content

Members, where practicable, try to make exclusive content for platforms supporting free speech and help to signpost to each other’s exclusive content.

Journalistic Support & Content Promotion

The UFP promotes the best work of its members alongside promising up-and-coming independent journalists and provides some of the training and tools to develop the next generation of journalism.

Monthly Round-up

The monthly round-up reviews and signposts different videos which represent quality work by members, alongside notable submissions.

Featured Submissions

Submissions of high quality or promising news-journalism are passed around for their members to promote at their discretion and are also occasionally featured in the monthly round-up.