The principle behind any trade union is solidarity: standing together with your colleagues, pooling our resources and supporting each other at work gives every individual member a powerful collective voice.

Join the National Union of Journalists

Representation at work

The union provides individual and collective representation on issues including:

  • Pay negotiations

  • Disciplinary and redundancy processes

  • Bullying and harassment

  • Health and safety issues

  • Equality issues

  • Ethical journalism

  • Legal advice

Training and guidance

  • Free and discounted professional training courses, both online and in-person

  • Comprehensive ‘Freelance Fact Pack’ for journalists turning freelance for the first time

  • ‘Storysmart’ online training for journalists working in hostile and hazardous environments

  • Guidance on journalism ethics, health & safety, equality, divertiy and inclusion

  • Journalism Code of Conduct

  • Free trade union rep training

And the rest…

  • Free NUJ-accredited Press Card

  • Financial support if you fall on hard times

  • The Journalist magazine

  • Regular newsletters to keep you informed

  • Online and in-person events

  • Networking opportunities

Who can join?

Check to see if your work falls into any of the following categories:

  • Journalists, including photographers

  • Creative artists working editorially in newspapers, magazines, books, broadcasting, public relations and communications, and digital media

  • Advertising and fashion photographers, advertising copywriters

  • Front-end developers and coders of digital publications

  • Those employed in a non-journalistic capacity in media companies where no other union is organising

  • Teachers of journalism in FE or HE

  • Any English-language journalist or a journalist working in English who is a member of an IFJ-affiliated union with an NEC-approved, reciprocal agreement with the NUJ

Levels of membership

Full members

If you earn at least half of your overall income from journalism and are mainly dependent on this income, having no other full-time job, you qualify for full NUJ membership. This applies to freelances as well as employed staff, and includes journalists seeking asylum in the UK or Ireland.

Temporary members

If you are trying to establish or re-establish yourself as a full-time journalist, yet do not yet earn half of your income from freelance journalism and you don't have another full-time job, you qualify for temporary membership of the union. This is often the choice for freelances just getting started in professional journalism.

Associate members

If you have a full-time job outside journalism, but prepare factual written, visual, or audio material of public concern for dissemination through public media, and support trade union rights and journalistic standards, you may qualify for associate membership of the union.

Student (Developmental) members

Students on journalism courses or who practise student journalism in a medium supported by the National Union of Students (or the Union of Students in Ireland) qualify for developmental (student) membership. Student members can apply for a free NUJ-accredited Student Press Card.

How much does it cost?

There are different subscription rates for each level of membership, with sliding scales based on earnings. The current rates are:

  • Full membership starts at 22,00 € / month

  • Temporary membership starts at 87,00 € / year

  • Associate membership starts at 132,00 € / year

  • Student membership starts at 15,00 € / year

Low-earners will not be asked to pay more than 1% of their taxable income.

Full details of all subscription rates for all levels of membership can be found here.

I want to join! Where do I sign?

We love your enthusiasm! Your membership will help us grow stronger together!
You can complete the online application form right away by clicking on this button:

Ah, but you might have further questions about the NUJ and specifically about Paris branch! Perhaps you are looking for specific NUJ membership benefits that we haven’t mentioned on this page (and we certainly did not list them all). For example: Where can I use my UK Press Card in France? How can I get set up as a freelance in France?

We would be delighted to answer your questions – over a phone call, by email, over Zoom or whatever. We can even help you complete your membership application to speed up the process. Drop us a line by clicking this button: