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ACCREDITATION GUIDELINES FOR
THE 2009 FIA WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
1. ACCREDITATION PRINCIPLES
2. ACCREDITATION CRITERIA
3. PERMANENT ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE
4. RACE-BY-RACE ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE
5. ELECTRONIC MEDIA AND WEBSITES
1. ACCREDITATION PRINCIPLES
Editors of publications and agencies are asked to conform to the following principles to ensure that media accreditation is restricted to professional journalists and photographers.
1. The FIA considers the media pass to be a working tool to be used only by bona fide members of the press. Publishers, marketing personnel, sub-editors, staff of the publication's secretariat, etc. cannot be accredited as media.
2. The FIA only accredits publications and agencies:
a) with a minimum circulation whose size and quality fulfill the criteria of the FIA;
b) with a format and quality which fulfill the criteria of the FIA;
c) which are available to the public in sales outlets (for publications only);
d) major motorsport websites at the discretion of the FIA;
Internal magazines of companies, trade magazines and newsletters cannot be accredited as media. However, at the sole discretion of the FIA, and where the quality and circulation criteria justify their consideration, such magazines may be eligible for accreditation on a case by case basis.
3. TV and Radio media must send their application to:
Eurosport – attention of Antonios Argyropoulos
3 rue Gaston et René Caudron, 92798 Issy les Moulineaux, France
Phone (33) 1 4093 8517
Email: antonios@eurosport.com
4. Under no circumstances will advertising, public relations agencies or similar companies and organisations be accredited as media, nor will the FIA issue any accreditation to representatives (press officers or otherwise) of sponsors, suppliers, engine suppliers, teams, drivers, etc.
5. The FIA will only accredit press from outside the country in which the event is held. National press must apply to the National Press Officer (e.g. German press applying for the German event should apply to the National Press Officer or contact Oschersleben directly whilst press from countries other than Germany should apply to the FIA).
6. The central and local offices of the major international press agencies (AFP, ANSA, AP, DPA, EFE, JIJI, KYODO, Press Association, Reuters, etc.) will always be accredited by the FIA.
2. ACCREDITATION CRITERIA
The FIA will allocate annual permanent media accreditation to publications intending to publish reports for every WTCC race during the season. (Please see point 3 for further details.)
Press passes can also be allocated on a race-by-race basis to general news, specialist, business and lifestyle consumer publications that do not intend to publish conventional race reports but whose coverage is considered to be of promotional benefit to the sport.
Usually, a maximum of two representatives (journalists and/or photographers) per publication may be accredited for any one round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship.
All applicants must fulfill the following basic criteria:
Coverage
For a daily newspaper, a substantial amount of coverage for each event is required. For example, an introductory article in the Saturday edition, follow-up article in the Sunday edition, plus a race report in the Monday edition.
For a weekly or monthly publication, a substantial amount of coverage for each event is required and a major portion of the overall content should be on the subject of WTCC.
Quality
The highest standards of fairness and accuracy are expected as a minimum quality requirement from the press.
Circulation
Accreditation decisions are based on the relative ‘media market’ in the country of the applicant. As such, the usual minimum circulation for a national weekly or monthly publication is 20,000 copies. For a national daily the minimum circulation is 50,000 copies.
Freelance journalists must apply for credentials via their own agencies. The onus is on the freelance applicant to prove the supply of regular stories to at least three publications meeting the FIA accreditation criteria.
Photo agencies must be able to prove that the pictures have been regularly sold to publications matching the FIA criteria and have been paid for at the normal commercial rate. A publication must be able to prove that the pictures published are the original work of the publication's accredited photographer.
3. PERMANENT ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE
A WTCC permanent press pass will provide access to every event during the given WTCC season. To qualify for a WTCC permanent press or photographer’s credential applicants must submit sample proofs of coverage to the FIA Press Council by the appropriate deadline.
The FIA Press Council meets annually to review applications.
The FIA Press Council is made up of leading international motor sport correspondents, representatives of motor sport photographers and FIA Press delegates from the key FIA Championships (Formula One, WRC, WTCC, GT and the Photographers’ Delegate). The Press Council is chaired by the FIA Director of Communications.
To qualify for a permanent journalist’s credential the applicant must have attended at least 5 events during the previous year’s Championship.
To qualify for a permanent photographer’s credential the applicant must have attended at least 5 events during the previous year’s Championship. Additionally, to qualify for a permanent photographer’s pass, at least 100 photographs, per pass issued, must have been published in the press during the previous year’s Championship.
4. RACE-BY-RACE ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE
For race-by-race passes, the FIA will only accredit press from outside the country in which the event is held. National publications must apply via the event’s national press office.
Applicants must send their request to the FIA WTCC Press Delegate at the latest two weeks prior to the first day of the event (see deadlines listed below).
Accreditation decisions are made by the FIA WTCC Press Delegate according to the following procedures:
1. Applications must be received at least two weeks (see deadlines below) prior to the relevant event and should be sent by fax to:
FIA WTCC Press Delegate – Fabio Ravaioli
Via Cremuzio Cordo 29, 00136 Rome, Italy
Tel. +39 06 39729497, fax +39 06 39729470
Email: media@fiawtcc.com
2. Applications which are late or incomplete may not be considered.
3. Requests must be sent with the accreditation form and a formal application letter written on the publication's letterhead. This letter must be signed by the editor or a senior member of the editorial staff. Requests signed by clerical staff will not be accepted.
This letter must include:
a) the name(s) of the representative(s) who will be covering the event(s);
b) the photocopy of the official national press card(s) (where applicable) of the representative(s) who will be covering the event(s);
c) the job title(s) of the representative(s) (journalist(s) and/or photographer(s));
d) information on the publication (such as circulation, readership, frequency, etc);
e) an original copy of the publication;
f) originals or photocopies of material published following previous FIA WTCC events, particularly those fhe publiation/agency was accredited for;
g) a contact fax number;
h) a formal undertaking from the editor to publish a report related to the event concerned and an indication as to when this report will be published;
Note: d', ‘e’, ‘f’ and 'h' do not apply to the major international press agencies.
4. The FIA will fax or email the result of the application to the publication. If successful, an agreement will be included for signature by the editor of the publication.
If the representative(s) is (are) unable to attend the event, the FIA Press Delegate must be notified as early as possible before the opening of the accreditation centre.
If a change of representative(s) is to be made, please notify the FIA Press Delegate as early as possible.
5. The representative(s) must produce the signed agreement which is sent with the confirmation when collecting the credential at the event. NO ACCREDITATION CAN BE COLLECTED WITHOUT THIS DOCUMENT.
6. The application for a press pass must include written confirmation that the publication/agency or the journalist/photographer to whom the credential has been allocated has not applied or will not apply for additional FIA passes for any other purposes, including journalism for Television and Radio networks.
Deadlines
The deadline for applications is usually two weeks prior to the relevant event, unless otherwise stated (please see below). Late requests may not be examined.
01 - WTCC Race of Brazil - Tuesday 24 February 2009
02 - WTCC Race of Mexico - Tuesday 10 March 2009
03 - WTCC Race of Morocco - Tuesday 21 April 2009
04 - WTCC Race of France - Tuesday 5May 2009
05 - WTCC Race of Spain - Tuesday 19 May 2009
06 - WTCC Race of the Czech Republic - Tuesday 9 June 2009
07 - WTCC Race of Portugal - Tuesday 23 June 2009
08 - WTCC Race of the UK - Tuesday 7 July 2009
09 - WTCC Race of Germany - Tuesday 25 August 2009
10 - WTCC Race of Italy - Tuesday 8 September 2009
11 - WTCC Race of Japan - Tuesday 20 October 2009
12 - WTCC Race of Macau (*) - Tuesday 27 October 2009
(*) Because of the increasing number of applications for the event in Macau, we have to impose a four weeks’ deadline and no changes can be accepted after this deadline.
If a decision is disputed an individual application will be referred to the FIA Director of Communications for final approval.
The FIA liaises closely with National Press Offices and National Sporting Authorities to confirm the validity of a given application.
Priority is given to publications intending to publish a report related to the event for which the accreditation is requested.