NEWS UPDATE 26 AUGUST: PHOTOGRAPHERS TO BOYCOTT EVENT AND SHOOT FROM STREETS
Conditions of the media accreditation form state that, in exchange for providing a pass, organisers demand that the recipient agrees to ‘share their blog, video, article, write-up, recap, review or coverage of the events attended within three weeks of the conclusion of the event’.
The pass – aimed at ‘professional or amateur’ media personnel – grants access to controlled press areas, including a ‘press tower’.
The media are encouraged to enter their work into a competition for the chance of winning a trophy and having their images used to promote next year’s Notting Hill Carnival.
The move has angered the National Union of Journalists, whose freelance organiser, John Toner, said: ‘It is not acceptable that the media are expected to pay a fee to cover what is a genuine news event.
‘It is equally unacceptable that the organisers expect pictures and video to be supplied free for their commercial purposes.
‘For an individual freelance, this could mean working at a loss. We see no reason why freelancers should be expected to subsidise the Carnival.
‘We would urge all members to reject these conditions, and to cover the event from public spaces.’
The London Notting Hill Carnival Enterprises Trust makes clear that the rule ‘in no way aims to prevent the public or media from taking photos outside of these [press] areas’.
The Notting Hill Carnival takes place on 30 and 31 August.
Organisers had yet to respond to a request for comment at the time of writing.
[Photo credit: © C Cheesman]
