NUJ members today voted for the union to investigate the profits being made by news organisations from their websites.

The motion at this weekend’s Annual Delegate Meeting in Birmingham, instructed the National Executive Committee to “compile information on the growth of web-based income of major media companies” with the view to campaigning “for the right of media workers to benefit from the large profits now being generated by many media corporations from using freelance copy on their websites”.

When completed, this will certainly make interesting reading – not just for journalists but for publishers still maintaining the difficulty of making any profit from the web. If it disabuses the common perception that the web is a loss-making part of most media companies it would not only mean claims for increased pay and conditions from union members, but also (I hope) more investment from previously hesitant media orgs.