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Nine ban to serve as a warning to media ahead of Commonwealth Games
Banning the Nine Network from the Commonwealth Games will serve as a warning shot to other media organisations, an expert says.
Nine's media accreditation was revoked after it broadcast footage from an opening ceremony dress rehearsal at Carrara Stadium on the 6pm news.
The Nine Network's media accreditation for the Commonwealth Games has been suspended. Credit: Kate Geraghty
The company's accreditation will be reviewed after Wednesday night's opening ceremony, with Commonwealth Games bosses to decide its status on Thursday, the first day of competition.
Professor Brett Hutchins, from Monash University, said the ban would send a message to media organisations ahead of the start of the competition.
"It's a way of setting up expectations around what will and won't be allowed," he said.
"It's certainly a way of letting Channel Nine know that pushing the boundaries won't be accepted once the Games get under way."
Some media organisations, including News Corp and Fairfax Media - the publisher of the Brisbane Times - have not signed up for formal Commonwealth Games media accreditation.
A Fairfax Media spokesman said the company's position was that its Australian news mastheads did not accept the accreditation restrictions.
"We believe that we will best serve our readers with Games coverage by reporting under our fair dealing rights," the spokesman said.
Dr Hutchins said the media accreditation included some "restrictive conditions".
"I do understand the perspective of organisations not wanting to sign up to these things, but on the other side, the organisers of ... the Commonwealth Games, in order to get sufficient return, are going to be very protective of Channel Seven," he said.
The Seven Network has exclusive broadcast rights to the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and other broadcasters are not allowed to film at competition venues.
The accreditation ban means Nine cannot access the main press centre, where daily news briefings are hosted, but can conduct interviews outside Games venues.
Dr Hutchins, an expert in media coverage of sport, said Seven's package was valuable not just for its TV coverage, but also their ability to post highlights and recaps on social media and provide on-demand streaming.
In January, international news agency Reuters was banned from covering the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics after it transmitted photographs to its clients of the cauldron for the Games.
The International Olympic Committee also revoked the media accreditation of the photographer who took the pictures.
- with AAP