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News agencies locked out of Test match

Australian captain Ricky Ponting plays a shot during the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia, yesterday. PHOTO: EPA

Australia's Test cricket season opened yesterday with international fans unable to follow the action after organizers locked global news agencies out of the ground in Brisbane.

The row also left Australia's largest media organization, News Limited, unable to cover the first day of the Australia-Sri Lanka Test, although it secured a breakthrough with Cricket Australia (CA) later in the day.

The world's top three global news agencies -- Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Associated Press -- have suspended all coverage of this season unless a deal can be agreed.

They say the dispute centers on unprecedented demands by CA, including that they hand over rights to all photos taken at matches.

The first day of the season thus began with journalists and photographers from international news agencies and News Limited locked out of Brisbane's Gabba ground without accreditation.

It ended with CA issuing an apology after spokesman Peter Young said News Limited was only interested in transferring money from cricket's indigenous and schools programs "into the pockets of [News Limited chief] Rupert Murdoch."

"Cricket Australia retracts and apologizes for the inappropriate comment," chief executive James Sutherland said in a statement, paving the way for News Limited to become the last Australian media group to gain accreditation.

That means international cricket lovers will be the main victims of CA's clampdown on photos, news reports, graphics and videos, leaving them unable to view photos of the Test or follow its progress in their local newspapers.

"It is especially unfortunate that fans around the world, in this case in Sri Lanka, are being deprived of their right to see images of their sport and read reports about such a major international event," said AFP chairman Pierre Louette.

Australia's Communications Minister Helen Coonan said it would be wrong for fans to suffer.

"It's not Australian and it's not cricket, we do not want fans to be caught in the middle of this dispute," Coonan's office told the Australian newspaper.

The conditions imposed on photographers and journalists applying for CA accreditation raise grave concerns about press freedom and have left the agencies unable to report on the first Test, the agencies said.

"The accreditation terms imposed by CA make it impossible for news agencies to achieve the impartial and independent coverage that is our core mission," Louette said.

CA has insisted it holds the intellectual property rights to agency photographs taken at its venues and that those photos cannot be re-sold without its permission.

The agencies have refused to give up their rights but have said they hope to cover the series if there is an acceptable agreement on accreditation.

They declined a compromise offer from CA under which they would pay a license fee to resell photographs, saying such a charge runs counter to fundamental principles of news coverage.

"We will not pay to cover news," AFP's Louette said.

The agencies are part of a News Media Coalition (NMC) made up of more than 30 media organizations set up to oppose sporting bodies controlling the way news is presented.

But while more favorable terms were agreed by CA with several Australian media organizations, the governing body has not offered global agencies a similar deal.

CA maintains it wants to protect the media rights that form its core revenue in a changing media landscape.

"Clearly there are important points of principle on both sides and the trick is to get the balance right in such a way that allows both the media and Cricket Australia to do their jobs in a satisfactory way," Young said.

The stand-off is the latest in a series involving sporting bodies and the media.

Media staged a boycott of the Rugby World Cup in France earlier this year after organizers placed limits on the number of photographs transmitted online.

The restriction was lifted 90 minutes before the tournament kicked off.

Score at stumps yesterday: Australia 242-3.
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