SYDNEY, (Reuters) – An Australian government inquiry called after major news organisations boycotted international sports events in an access and rights row with sporting bodies has backed unfettered media freedom. The inquiry by the Australian parliament’s upper house Senate was organised to try to find a balance between the commercial interests of sporting bodies who own the rights to major events and the rights of media to get fair access to those events.
The thorny issue has resulted in several highly publicised stand-offs in Australia, where sport has always been an emotive subject. The inquiry could set a precedent for how sports fans around the world follow their favourite events and teams online. Two years ago, international news agencies, including Reuters, refused to cover the Australian cricket team’s first test against Sri Lanka after Cricket Australia demanded payment from media organisations.
The agencies boycotted Australia’s 2008-09 series against New Zealand and South Africa because of another dispute over the terms and conditions for accreditation. Some sporting organisations who have tried to impose limits on media covering their events through accreditation controls argued they were trying to protect their commercial interests.
The inquiry agreed that organisations had a right to protect their copyright and explore business opportunities but recommended parliament not change its copyright laws.
It urged an end to the use of accreditation conditions to control the media’s access to events, saying media organisations should be allowed to cover them because they were of genuine public interest.
“The committee believes that freedom of the press is as important in the new media environment as it ever was,” said the inquiry report, which was released yesterday.
“The committee believes that freedom of the press includes ensuring the media have access to events and places, as well as having the freedom to report news about those events and from those places,” it said.
The inquiry said trade practice laws could be introduced if the two sides could not agree.
“The committee recommends that stakeholders negotiate media access to sporting events based on the principle that all bona fide journalists, including photojournalists and news agencies, should be able to access sporting events regardless of their technological platform,” the report said.
The inquiry heard dozens of submissions from a variety of Australian and foreign groups representing sporting bodies, media organisations trade unions, television broadcasters, internet companies, law firms, academics and mobile phone providers.
Media organisations, including Reuters, argued that the public had a right to be provided objective coverage.
Sports bodies like Cricket Australia argued they should be able to protect their interests in the face of rapidly expanding new media technology.
Christoph Pleitgen, Global Head of News Agency for Thomson Reuters, thanked the committee for its inquiry, which he said had sought “a sensible balance between the needs of the public, the athletes, the sporting bodies and the media”.
“Reuters continues in its belief that sport can only benefit from the free flow of accurate and timely information across as many platforms as possible,” Pleitgen said.
