The NUJ is normally there to support and uphold journalists' rights but in this case it - or its publication - got the article and tone horribly wrong and ended up with a justified libel action.
What makes this case worse is that the journalist in question - Suzanne Breen - was actually standing up for one of the most fundamental journalistic principles namely protecting ones sources. Quite what possessed the NUJ to run an article in its magazine about Breen's quest to protect her sources is for its staff to know but the result was serious enough for Breen to bring her action.
If the NUJ had continued to stick by one of its journalists rather than seek to disparage them to make for an edgy story in its magazine this case could have been avoided.
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