The Notting Hill carnival has come under fire for demanding that journalists and photographers covering the event pay £100 for accreditation and share their work with the organisers.
The accreditation form stipulates that applicants must agree 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” which can be used on the carnival’s own sites. It also says foreign-language journalists must provide an English translation.
Accredited press will be allowed into controlled press areas, including an observation tower. Non-accredited press will be able to use public areas to cover the event, which takes place over the late August bank holiday weekend.
The form says carnival organiser, the London Notting Hill Carnival Executive Trust, considers the new accreditation system “necessary to create the right manageable conditions and make suitable arrangement to enable the promotion of the event” to “meet the requirements of a modern sustainable carnival organisation concurrent with facilitating access to Europe’s largest street event”.
The deadline for accreditation passed on 15 August, but the National Union of Journalists has urged journalists to reject the requirements, saying it could force some freelancers to operate at a loss.
“It is not acceptable that the media are expected to pay a fee to cover what is a genuine news event,” said NUJ freelance organiser John Toner. “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 freelances should be expected to subsidise the carnival. We would urge all members to reject these conditions, and to cover the event from public spaces.”
A spokesperson for the London Notting Hill Carnival Executive Trust listed as number of reasons for the accreditation scheme, including increasing the event’s financial sustainability, “repositioning the carnival’s brand” and building up its digital archive.
