The News Media Coalition has agreed with the Premier League and Football League the conditions for journalist access, newsgathering and content generation at their matches for the next three seasons. This aims to improve the way NMC members – which include Thomson Reuters, Associated Press and European Pressphoto Agency – cover the matches and the conditions under which news material can be published and distributed.
The agreement follows reports of journalists being ‘blacklisted’ by some football clubs. NMC executive director Andrew Moger (pictured), believes that the agreement strikes the right balance between the legitimate business of editorial-based press, publishing and distribution on the one hand and the leagues’ and clubs’ own services on the other.
“The NMC represents some of the biggest news brands around, and we recognised the need for our agreement to reflect the fast-moving digital media environment,” commented Moger.
The agreement signed by the NMC, its member news companies and the leagues states: ‘These accreditation terms are the product of negotiations between the Premier League and The Football League and the News Media Coalition, an international trade association that works on behalf of publishers and news agencies to seek best practice editorial, press and publishing arrangements relating to major sporting events.’
The new deal means that more photos can be published during matches, required delays on digital content are significantly reduced, and members can work to a set of rules which for them are more relevant to digital realities and consumer expectations. Also as part of the deal, the news media companies, the NMC and leagues have agreed to work together to consider issues which arise during the period of the agreement.
The joint statement continues: ‘Both parties are pleased to have agreed new access and accreditation arrangements for the next three seasons. These take into account the evolving media landscape as well as the requirements of the leagues and their member clubs. This has been achieved on a constructive basis and we look forward to working together in the coming years.’
