Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the following matter be referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts for inquiry and report by 14 May 2009:

The reporting of sports news and the emergence of digital media, with particular reference to:

(a)

the balance of commercial and public interests in the reporting and broadcasting of sports news;

(b)

the nature of sports news reporting in the digital age, and the effect of new technologies (including video streaming on the Internet, archived photo galleries and mobile devices) on the nature of sports news reporting;

(c)

whether and why sporting organisations want digital reporting of sports regulated, and what should be protected by such regulation;

(d)

the appropriate balance between sporting and media organisations’ respective commercial interests in the issue;

(e)

the appropriate balance between regulation and commercial negotiation in ensuring that competing organisations get fair access to sporting events for reporting purposes;

(f)

the appropriate balance between the public’s right to access alternative sources of information using new types of digital media, and the rights of sporting organisations to control or limit access to ensure a fair commercial return or for other reasons;

(g)

should sporting organisations be able to apply frequency limitations to news reports in the digital media;

(h)

the current accreditation processes for journalists and media representatives at sporting events, and the use of accreditation for controlling reporting on events; and

(i)

options other than regulation or commercial negotiation (such as industry guidelines for sports and news agencies in sports reporting, dispute resolution mechanisms and codes of practice) to manage sports news to balance commercial interests and public interests.

Question agreed to.