British newspapers join Rugby World Cup boycott

LONDON - A raft of British newspapers including The Daily Telegraph, The Sun and The Times have joined the boycott of Rugby World Cup coverage started by international news agencies.

The Daily Telegraph has not published any pictures from the England rugby team's training camp, while The Sun has published a stock picture to accompany an interview with England player Jason Robinson.

The Times has made a similar move in today's coverage and respected French sports newspaper L'Equipe has also joined the British newspapers in limiting its coverage of the competition, which gets underway with the opening game this evening.

The newspapers join four international news agencies in boycotting coverage -- Associated Press, Agence-France Presse, Getty Images and Reuters.

The action is part of a movement co-ordinated by the News Media Coalition, which represents 40 members, in protest at restrictions on the use of images imposed by the International Rugby Board, the sport's ruling body.

The IRB will not allow news agencies to post more than 40 pictures online during the course of matches and is limiting online video coverage to three minutes.

An insider from News Media Coalition, said: "Any restrictions which impact on the function of editors to select news as they see fit ultimately damages press freedom and the right of the public to be fully informed.

"We regret that this dispute has been allowed to be prolonged unnecessarily. In the fifteen months since we have made contact we have always made ourselves available at anytime to discuss the issues and that remains our position."

It is understood that News Media Coalition is waiting to meet with the IRB to resolve the dispute.

The IRB is standing firm on the issue and said in a statement: "[We] will not be swayed by unreasonable demands and the threat of non-attendance."

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