So Much For Those Lifestyle Stories, Only Game Photos Allowed

Michael Hedges October 20, 2022 Follow on Twitter

Big news organizations invest wildly in coverage of major sports events. It’s about the audience. It’s about the advertising. It’s about the prestige. Plane-loads of staff arrive weeks ahead. Those directing these endeavors are paid to insure smooth operations. Countries awarded these events also accrue similar benefits.

The Qatar World Cup football championships, a month-long extravaganza to begin November 18, was a challenge years before the reporting crews were even selected. The first to be overcome was the schedule. The FIFA World Cup events have traditionally been held in July and August every four years. Alas, when Qatar was selected that was ruled out; blistering daytime temperatures, November and December much more generous.

That problem solved, intrepid reporters investigated increasingly common corruption allegations and human rights issues with imported constructions. Big league sports event organizers have teams of lawyers dealing with these minor inconveniences. Reporters, as we know, never forget.

About a year ago two reporters from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK were detained and questioned by Qatari officials. Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani were in the country working on a set piece about the one-year mark before the World Cup. Most all news organizations do this; appealing to fans’ anticipation. Their subject was treatment of workers building the new facilities. They were arrested for trespassing and “filming without a permit,” held for three days and shipped back to Oslo. NRK director general Thor Gjermund Eriksen called the episode “very serious,” quoted by CNN (November 25, 2021).

Seeking to any similar journalistic interventions, the Qatari government this week produced for all specific guidelines for World Cup coverage. Effectively, foreign news media are prohibited from photographic anything other than the football pitch. Off limits are houses, apartments and hotels. No photos are allowed inside private businesses, places of worship, government buildings, schools or industrial zones. FIFA, doing its usual job, offered it wants to “ensure the best-possible working conditions for media attending the tournament,” noted the Guardian (October 15).

To gain accreditation, reporters are required to agree to the conditions, said Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) in a statement (October 18). “The Qatari authorities are misusing the accreditation system for journalists in order to ban them from covering certain subjects,” noted secretary-general Christophe Deloire. “By requiring that the media, when they apply for accreditation, agree to abide by a number of conditions, some of which are vague, ambiguous, and open to arbitrary interpretation, Qatar is clearly seeking to discourage, if not prevent, the foreign media from talking about anything other than football.” The accreditation registration form does not, interestingly, set out exactly where foreign photojournalists can work, except that reporters without cameras can roam around freely.

“Catch us if you can,” retorted, essentially, officials of UK broadcasters ITV and BBC, both rights holders. “World Cup tournament coverage will focus on the football, but will not shy away from the controversies off the pitch,” said an ITV spokesperson, quoted by World Soccer (October 15). The BBC, said a spokesperson, has “proven record of addressing topical issues as part of our coverage.  This World Cup will be no different.”

Other news outlets, a few, were quite blunt. “We do not want to legitimize a championship that has been awarded to an oppressive dictatorship through corruption,” said Norwegian broadcaster ABC Nyheter editor David Stenerud, to Journalisten (October 14). Other Norwegian news outlets, including rights holders NRK and TV2, will be there. “We will cover the World Cup as normal sports,” said daily newspaper Dagbladet managing editor John Rasmussen.

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