Press Boycotts Indian Cricket Matches Over Restrictions On Digital Media
from the good-for-them dept
Last week, we wrote about how disappointing it was that American newspapers agreed to restrictions placed on them by Major League Baseball concerning how those newspapers could report on games online. You would think that newspapers reared on the idea of freedom of the press and editorial independence would not allow an organization they were covering to dictate the terms of coverage -- but they did. Luckily, it looks like reporters down in India are more willing to stand up for what they feel is right. Reader Bipin writes in to let us know of a very similar situation, where the Indian Premiere League put a number of restrictions on how the press could report online on its cricket competitions in India. Rather than agree to the restrictions, the press threatened to boycott IPL events entirely. Apparently the boycott threat has worked to get the league to back down a bit, though it may still end up with some restrictions. That still seems ridiculous, and hopefully the press will again point out that it needs to remain independent and cannot abide by any restrictions placed on it by the very organization it's covering.
Reader Comments (rss)
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It is their league and if they don't want internet coverage that is their decision. It may be stupid, but companies have rights too.
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Leagues do have SOME rights under copyright and trademark, but leagues like the NFL and MLB have claimed rights far beyond what they are entitled to under the law.
US media has played along. Sports are an easy and relatively cheap to cover, so the media will probably be happy as long as they are getting their sound bytes and box scores.
Right now the relationship is a house of cards between the media and the leagues. If one of the major media outlets decides "Oh, what the heck, we're going to call it the superbowl" or reports on live baseball statistics, then the whole thing could collapse. Of course, for that to happen one of the media outlets would first need to gag its lawyers.
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It is their league and if they don't want internet coverage that is their decision. It may be stupid, but companies have rights too.
Maybe, but if they don't want free advertising and a way to reach out to the fans who probably WANT to track the league online then the league will probably suffer from lack of interest in the public.
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Not the point. Once again, they are acting like morons, but if they want to do that more power to them.
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If only the American press would boycott press coverage of the MLB and NFL due to all their absurd claims.
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Press Boycotts Indian Cricket Matches Over Restrictions On Digital Media
The media should not be put under a scanner though but then this becomes necessary sometimes whenever it goes beyond the appropriate lines.
For all the reasons, the media should only be advised to use its power judiciously.
Apart from that, the viewers would always need some benchmark to base their views upon. Let them do it their way..
After all, not all the things are meant to be changed.
Cheers,
Varun
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