THE NEED FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PRESS GALLERY (EPPG)

While the EU demands EU lobbyists to be transparent , the same  transparency does not apply to journalists. The argument being advanced is that such disclosure would contravene data protection.

By comparison in Canada, the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery (CPPG) provides a listing of all media accredited by name, by organization, life members, honorary members, bureau chiefs and agencies.

Using the CPPG as a benchmark, the European Parliament Press Gallery (EPPG) would be a self-governing corporation consisting of accredited journalists, photographers, camerapersons, soundpersons and other professionals who principal occupation is reporting, interpreting or editing news. Membership would be open to any journalist whose primary function is to report on the EP and other EU institutions and who lives in Brussels and requires access to the EP facilities to perform his or her job.

Press galleries are important because they serve the public by informing them of political news. The news media serves a role in society by reporting information, providing analysis, asking questions and keeping officials in power accountable.

The EPPG would be supported by a secretariat employed by the EP. These staff members would not be affiliated with media organisations and would be employees of the EP. The operating budget of the EPPG would come mostly from the European Parliament and through membership fees.

In Canada, the CPPG has a membership of about 350 full-time journalists from various newspaper, magazine, broadcast and online organisations. Gallery members observe and report on legislative debates including Question Period and committee meetings. They also interview political actors in media scrums and press conferences. Members of the CPPG have designated ‘media seating’ in committee rooms and both chambers (House of Commons and Senate). They also have access to the parliamentary Reading Room, borrowing privileges from the Library of Parliament.

Closer to home, in the United Kingdom the Parliamentary Press Gallery represents more than 300 newspapers, wire service, radio, television and internet journalists. It is run by officers and a committee, elected annually from among its members. The Parliamentary Press Gallery provides the name of the journalist and his/her affiliation. The list is broken as follows: Press Gallery Officers, National Daily Papers, National Sunday Newspapers, Websites, Magazines and Periodicals, Broadcasting Agencies, International, Regional Newspapers and Foreign Press Association (see listing below)

Most laws provide for exceptions to data protection. Generally, while the law recognizes that job-related information is information about identifiable individuals, the policy choice is made to create an exception so that the information is not protected if it  pertains say to the title, business address and telephone number of the individual. At the very least the name and the media through which a person is accredited would certainly be welcome information and a mark of transparency.

THE UK Parliamentary Press Gallery

National Daily Papers

1. Daily Express
2. Daily Mail
3. Daily Mirror
4. Daily Telegraph
5. Evening Standard
6. Financial Times
7. Guardian
8. Guardian Unlimited
9. Independent
10. The I
11. Morning Star
12. The Herald
13. The Scotsman
14. The Sun
15. The Times

National Sunday Papers

1. Mail on Sunday
2. Observer
3. Sunday Express
4. Sunday Mirror
5. Sunday People
6. Sunday Telegraph
7. Sunday Times
8. The Sun on Sunday

Regional Newspapers

1. Aberdeen Press & Journal
2. Archant Eastern Daily Press
3. Birmingham Post & Mail
4. Bristol Post, Hull Daily Mail and Grimsby Telegraph
5. Daily Record
6. Media Wales The Western Mail, Daily Post, Wales on Sunday, South Wales Echo and Wales Online
7. South West News Services
8. Western Morning News
9. Yorkshire Post

Magazines & Periodicals

1. Dods House Magazine
2. Total Politics
3. New Statesman
4. Spectator
5. Middle East News
6. Muslim News
7. The Economist
8. Time Magazine
9. Tribune

International

1. International Herald Tribune
2. Irish Times
3. RTE – Irish Broadcasting
4. Wall Street Journal

Broadcasting

1. BBC
2.  Independent Television News (ITN)
3. Channel 4 News
4. Five News
5. ITV Anglia
6. ITV Good Morning Britain
7. ITV Regions
8. ITV Central
9. ITV Granada
10. ITV Meridian
11. ITV Tyne Tees/Borderµ
12. ITV Wales
13. ITV West
14. ITV Yorkshire
15. Millbank Studios
16. Scottish TV
17. Sky TV News

Agencies

1. AFP (Agence France-Presse)
2. Associated Press
3. Bloomberg News
4. Dow Jones
5. Gallery News
6. PA News (Press Association)
7. Reuters

Websites

1. Buzzfeed
2. ePolitix
3. Huffington Post
4. Mail on Line
5. Politico
6. Politics.co.uk