TELEVISION WITHOUT FRONTIERS DIRECTIVE : STAKEHOLDERS REACT TO PLANNED SHORT SPORTS NEWS REPORTS LEGISLATION.

• Position: Brief article

On 13 December, MEPs broadly backed European Commission proposals that will oblige broadcasters to allow other broadcasters throughout the EU to have access to short news reports of major events, including sports events, in news programmes.aAmong their recommendations are that the reports should not be transmitted before the event concludes, should not be used to create a public archive and that the secondary broadcaster should show the logo of the local producing broadcaster.

Ahead of the European Council's deliberations in early 2007, the General Director of the Association of Commercial TV in Europe, Ross Biggam, described all the safeguards raised by MEPs as "important protections against potential abuse of the news access system" and said they should be retained.

The Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Reuters, Henry Manisty, said the creation of a short news right was "an important step forward".

Angela Mills...