NUJ welcomes Conservative party U-turn on admission fees
Journalists attending party conference in October will no longer be charged a fee, following condemnation from the NUJ and industry.
The National Union of Journalists has welcomed a decision by the Conservative party to scrap accreditation fees for all journalists attending party conference later this year.
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, had called the “cynical and shameful” decision a clear undermining of press freedom and urged a rethink of the policy, highlighting the efffect costs would have, effectively filtering attendees.
£137 media accreditation fees will be refunded to those who have made payment. The News Media Association, Society of Editors, News Media Coalition and Foreign Press Association had all criticised the charge, and a Council of Europe Alert had called for a reversal of the policy.