IT’S WET AND WILD AT SEA WORLD Media rights row heats up
GLOBAL Commonwealth Games powerbrokers have flown to the Gold Coast for crucial talks – but aren’t so keen on publicly discussing the event’s growing broadcast rights dispute.
The final GC2018 Coordination Commission (CoCom) kicks off today, with Commonwealth Games Federation president Louise Martin and chief executive David Grevemberg set to spend three days reviewing GOLDOC’s plans for next year’s event.
Their arrival comes after News Corp Australia, which owns the Gold Coast Bulletin, advised the CGF it would not seek Games accreditation for journalists and photographers due to strict restrictions imposed to protect the TV rights of the Seven Network.
Fairfax Media, publisher of The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, yesterday confirmed it would also not sign its journalists up to cover the event under the current accreditation rules.
The Bulletin invited Ms Martin or Mr Grevemberg to be interviewed about the dispute, as well as CoCom, but the CGF in- stead provided a written statement from the latter urging all media to “seize the opportunity” to promote the power of “our sport movement”.
“It is crucial to recognise the importance of commercial arrangements (including with broadcasters) that underwrite a significant amount of the Games budget, which would otherwise have to be subsidised through the public purse,” the statement says.
“It is the Commonwealth Games Federation’s prerogative to balance the need to run the Games in a sustainable and responsible manner, along with the need to give fair consideration to the rights of all global news media.”
The CGF is insisting on provisions around how publishers use video they lift off-air and use online, holdbacks on publishing until after Seven has done so and take-downs that require websites to remove digital content after 24 hours.
Other restrictions include no telephone interviews or voice reports with or from people inside venues.
Gold Coast Bulletin editor Ben English said the CGF’s unwillingness to relax the restrictions showed it did not understand how newsrooms had evolved in recent years.
“We believe the best way for our journalists and photographers to produce engaging Games content … is to work outside the CGF’s severe parameters,” he said.
“Our people will still be inside … doing what they do best, but not burdened by the unrealistic barriers placed on them by the CGF.”
News Corp has also advised the Australian Olympic Committee it will not be covering February’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, which will also be broadcast on Seven.
Ms Martin and Mr Grevemberg will also use this week’s CoCom to analyse issues including workforce planning, transport, venues, ticketing and security.