Media groups repeat calls for AFL access

Media groups have called on sporting bodies including the AFL and Cricket Australia
to heed the recommendations of a Senate inquiry and allow them unfettered access to
report big events.

They have also called on the federal government to adopt the inquiry's findings.
"This issue will not go away," said Andrew Moger, executive director of the News
Media Coalition, which represents international agencies including Reuters, AFP, AP
and Getty Images.
"The AFL seems to take the view that the recent Senate inquiry didn't exist, and its
recommendations don't apply to the AFL," he said after meetings involving Australian
media groups and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's office.
His comments follow the AFL's decision to lock out photographers from national
newsagency AAP from the AFL final series, despite the senate inquiry's finding that
news organisations should be allowed full access to events.
Other agencies' photographers have also been locked out of the AFL finals series.
It was the latest move in a long-running feud which has led to reporters being
locked out of cricket Tests and agency photographers banned from AFL fixtures.
Several sporting bodies say they are trying to protect future revenue streams from
the sale of photos, videos and other products generated by sports events.
Some have also sought to restrict the use of videos and photos online by news
organisations.
"We find it extraordinary that despite these findings (in the Senate inquiry) the
AFL have yet again denied accreditation to AAP and other news organisations'
photographers," said AAP chief executive Clive Marshall.
"The current situation is untenable.
"We look forward to Senator Conroy's formal response to the inquiry."
The News Media Coalition and the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association
(PANPA) issued a joint statement on Friday calling on sporting organisations "not to
operate in defiance of the senators' views, which were formulated after the most
comprehensive and unprecedented review of the issues".
The AFL and Senator Conroy's office were unavailable for immediate comment.