Global news agency Reuters suspends Australian cricket coverage

By Julian Linden

SYDNEY, Nov 20 (Reuters) - International news agency Reuters has suspended coverage of Cricket Australia matches and events for a second season because of a long-running dispute over media rights and freedom of the press.

Reuters said on Friday it was unable to provide text, pictures or audio-visual coverage of the 2009/10 international season against West Indies and Pakistan after Cricket Australia refused to change its conditions of accreditation.

The agency said it could not agree to terms which impinge on its ability to fairly and freely report on, and disseminate, news.

"We are very disappointed that, yet again, Cricket Australia is not prepared to facilitate full and impartial news coverage of their upcoming season," said Christoph Pleitgen, Global Head of News Agency for Thomson Reuters.

"We remain prepared to enter into discussions and negotiations to secure acceptable accreditation terms for our journalists and we sincerely hope that we will be able to bring news of cricket from Australia to viewers and readers all over the world but, at present, we are unable to accept the limitations that Cricket Australia is imposing."

PUBLIC INTEREST

Reuters, along with fellow news agencies Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, also suspended coverage of Cricket Australia events last season over the same dispute, prompting the Australian government to conduct an inquiry to find a balance between the commercial interests of sporting bodies and the rights of media to get fair access to those events.

The inquiry committee agreed that sporting organisations had a right to protect their copyright and explore business opportunities but not at the expense of media freedom.