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IRB and press at loggerheads
IRB and press at loggerheads
Thursday September 06, 2007
The International Rugby Borad (IRB) and the press remained at loggerheads Wednesday, just two days before the Rugby World Cup kick-off on Friday and despite a last-ditch appeasement effort from the tournament organisers.
IRB chairman Dr Syd Millar told media representatives at a press conference Wednesday: "You are very important to us and very welcome...we appreciate what you do."
However that was not enough to settle an ongoing row in which the media is unhappy at restrictions World Cup organisers have placed on the coverage of the tournament.
The British Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) waded into the row by accusing the IRB of dragging their feet over a compromise.
"Newspapers and their news websites provide a vital role in bringing to the public's attention the essential news of the day and pictures are crucial components of news," said NPA in a statement.
"This has been recognised by the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, which accepted that news organisations could put pictures onto their websites during the World Cup games without timing or volume restrictions."
The NPA accused the IRB of stalling over compromises and although it said it appreciated certain efforts made, it said there were still issues to resolve.
One of those is the restriction of 40 pictures that can be published during any ongoing match, which the IRB had increased from their original stipulation of 10.
On Tuesday the IRB accused certain sections of the media of taking part in a misinformation campaign as it lined out the compromises it had made in an email circulated to the media.
Fijilive
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