Newspaper editors fight sports photo restrictions
The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) is determined to fight attempts by global sports organisations to impose restrictions on media coverage of mega-events because they want to protect their commercial rights programmes. The first target of the campaign is FIFA.
The International Football Federation has issued media guidelines which say that newspapers with websites can not publish World Cup match pictures until one hour after the matches end and then only a very limited number of pictures. Similarly, print media can not superimpose headlines, captions or graphics on match photos.
Since September 2005, delegations from WAN have met with FIFA President Sepp Blatter twice to discuss the embargo. In the first meeting the delay for posting photos on websites was reduced from two hours to one after the match ends. At the second meeting in January 2006, WAN and FIFA agreed to set up a joint working group to resolve some of the differences between the two organisations.
WAN represents 18,000 newspapers world-wide and in June 2005 the organisation set up a Sports Media Working Group to examine the issue as sports bodies focus on selling internet and broadcast rights and place increasing restrictions on newspaper coverage of events. The committee is comprised of directors of national newspaper associations.
WAN’s Director General, Timothy Balding, says that WAN believes that international sports event organisers are introducing unreasonably restrictive conditions for the normal exploitation by newspapers of images and text in their electronic media.
“These conditions are an infringement on the free access to information and we are determined to defend and promote the interests of newspaper publishers,” says Timothy Balding.
FIFA was the first sports organisation WAN approached after creating the working group.
“But we intend to raise the same issues with other groups that have, or are considering, restrictions on coverage of their events such as rugby and cricket but we have not done so yet. The issues we have raised with FIFA pertain to what are certain to be other campaigns in the near future,” WAN Director of Communications, Larry Kilman, says to Play the Game.