WHAT has been described as “major steps” have been taken to resolve the disagreement between journalists covering the Jamaican Olympic Trials and the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) during a meeting held yesterday involving representatives of the Press Association of Jamaica, the Media Association of Jamaica, and the athletic body.

A joint release from the JAAA and the media entities yesterday said a framework has been agreed on that will guide the journalists in carrying out their duties while calling for further talks between both bodies.

The issue arose out of the JAAA’s decision last week to charge media houses an accreditation processing fee for covering the event, restricting the number of journalists who should be accredited, and a request for photographers to hand over copies of all pictures taken at the meet.

According to the release, “Coming out of today’s meeting; the JAAA has agreed to review the request for accreditation processing fee and will continue dialogue with the media to arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement.”

The cramped area where members of the media are asked to work at the 50-year-old stadium also come in for mention and the JAAA is to also “actively seek to put in place an additional area at the National Stadium to accommodate members of the media to better allow them to serve the public,” the released said.

An agreement was reached that two reporters and a photographer from each print media and one reporter from each electronic media house would be accredited for events, in the interim, as there were still concerns about the numbers of journalists who would be accredited, the release pointed out.

The JAAA’s demands that photographers hand over their work to the JAAA for their own use was dismissed as it was “made clear that copyright and other legal considerations would prohibit such a move, hence the meeting agreed that further discussion would need to take place with the media entities so that this matter can be resolved”.

In the meantime, the PAJ has also agreed to have consultations with journalists covering the meet to ensure that they adhere to the protocol put in place by the JAAA, while the JAAA’s and the media representatives agreed that future consultations will be held on a regular basis in order to best address issues.