Thursday, April 10, 2008

MLB Near Agreement On Media Internet Restrictions

After almost six weeks of negotiations, MLB has delivered a credential agreement that may be satisfactory to the majority of the APSE's membership. Sports editors overwhelmingly said their major issue with the proposed 2008 credential agreement was the restrictions on photo galleries. The latest credential places no restrictions on galleries except that it be a "reasonable" number of photos. Reasonable is the language used in the NFL credential and is code for "we don't know what that number should be." There is likely to be a difference of opinion on what that number is but until it is spelled out it's just an argument, nothing binding. APSE believes this is a significant development that meets the needs of members and recommends that the credential can be signed conditionally. The condition is further negotiations, which will likely be held near the all-star game. While the credential is more favorable to photos, there remain strict guidelines on audio and video. MLB held to its 120 seconds of audio and 120 seconds of video with an archival time of 72 hours. APSE believes this is unacceptable in the long term and it will likely be the focus of the next negotiations. MLB has said, however, that there are no restrictions on press conferences other than they can't be streamed live.
http://apse.dallasnews.com/2008/apr2008/040808cherwa.html

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