UPDATED: Fairfax, NZME chuck toys, pull Olympic accreditation

NZME and Fairfax have walked away from negotiations with Sky over their access to footage of the Rio Olympics,which the pay TV operator has the exclusive New Zealand rights to.

As a result, the two companies – currently seeking permission to merge from the Commerce Commission – have pulled their accreditation to the Games, which begin in 15 days.

Instead, they will be relying on New Zealand’s fair dealing laws to rebroadcast snippets of Sky’s Olympic coverage.

Yes, it's true. Eight-strong NZ-based Fairfax team told this morning our accreditation for Rio has been withdrawn over dispute with Sky.

– Mark Geenty (@mark_geenty) July 21, 2016

The @nzheraldsport reporting team will not be covering the @nzolympics team at #Rio2016 because of rights issues with @skysportnz.

– Andrew Alderson (@aldersonnotes) July 20, 2016

The International Olympic Committee’s head of media operations Anthony Edgar is nonplussed by the outcome of the impasse.

“It is certainly a very disappointing situation and a hard one to understand from here,” he says, “especially understanding that Sky’s proposal offers more to New Zealand media organisations in terms of cross-platform digital access than any other country in the world, including Australia.”

TVNZ has confirmed it is still in negotiations with Sky; NBR is awaiting comment from MediaWorks about its current position.

NZME managing editor Shayne Currie argues the "unduly restrictive" rights offered by Sky “do not allow for fair use of copyright material in accordance with the New Zealand Copyright Act and have the potential to impact heavily on our ability to cover the Games in a fair and meaningful way.”

For good measure, Mr Currie suggests the news access rules also “run counter to the Olympic charter.”

Similar sentiments are echoed by Fairfax group executive editor Sinead Boucher (the two companies reportedly made a joint approach to Sky but came to independent decisions about accreditation).

According to Ms Boucher, the decision not to send reporters to Rio was a matter of not being “prepared to sacrifice our editorial freedom and right to freely report about the Olympics as a major news event.”

She’s also criticised the position of both the International Olympic Committee and New Zealand Olympic Committee on the issue, saying she’s deeply disappointed “ the NZOC has effectively washed its hands of any part in this.”

"In our view, it is unacceptable that a broadcast rights holder should have been given so much power to control how its competitor media organisations get to report on an event of such national and international significance.”

Both Ms Boucher and Mr Currie have noted New Zealand taxpayers have invested heavily in the event, via funding of the country’s Olympic athletes.

Others see more self-interest than public interest in the media companies’ stance.

@TimHunter5 @TheSpinoffTV how do you figure that Tim, when clearly under those terms we can't?

— Ian Anderson (@boxcarfred) July 18, 2016

@boxcarfred @TheSpinoffTV if video so important, publishers should be prepared to pay for it

— Tim Hunter (@TimHunter5) July 18, 2016

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