ADM - Day 1

Your three reps arrived too late to be able to report from any of the sector conferences, at which members in various sectors - newspapers, new media etc - meet to discuss issues important to them.

But I did manage to make the fringe meeting on Islamophobia. Speakers included David Crouch, FT web news editor, Uzma Hussein from the BBC World Service, the new president of the NUJ Michelle Stanistreet (who works on the Daily Express) and Andrew Murray, chair of the Stop the War Coalition.

David Crouch said that there was too much xenophobic journalism in the coverage of the Middle East - a particular example being the recent hostage crisis in Iran.

Michelle Stanistreet circulated copies of the infamous 'Daily Fatwah' which only abrupt action by the Daily Star's NUJ chapel had halted shortly before the evening deadline on night last year. The Star had been due to run a page of 'jokes' at the expense of Muslims. She talked us through the representations made by staff unhappy about the tone of the page and said that a walkout of staff shortly before the deadline had prompted a rethink and the substitution of a feature instead. "We walked out to the canteen and that in itself got the page pulled."

"I am sure in reality that the management are pretty grateful for what the chapel did. I personally received about 300 messages in the next ten days." She said that the Express/Star's steady diet of gypsy-bashing stories and anti-aslyum seeking items had often resulted in a boost in sales across the titles.

Andrew Murray spoke very effectively on the work of the Stop the War Coalition. He said Britain had been failed by its lobby and parliamentary correspondents in the run-up to the Iraq war. He said: "They have uncritically retailed government spin. Our media has amplified the lies used to justify the war in Iraq. This is happening again with Iran."