[Marcel Hauck]

Thanks for starting the conversation, Vanni. I wholeheartedly agree with point 1. I don’t see a problem with someone occasionally writing a piece for a tournament or federation or helping out a week or two at a local tournament. However, no member of ITWA should work more than, say, 20 % or so of their time or their income for a federation, tournament, governing body, player or management agency as this constitutes a conflict of interest. Tom e, it’s important that journalists are as independent as possible.
I also agree with point 2, although it might be a bit more complicated. We shouldn’t discriminate against web-only news outlets, however, it seems important to me to set a certain standard to ensure they are legitimate journalists and not just fansites or company websites. Setting these standards might be a challenge but I’m sure we’ll find some criteria we can agree on.
As for the number of tournaments, I am a bit torn. It’s certainly true that it’s a lot easier to fulfill the required number in Europa than, say, Australia or Africa with so many ATP, WTA and Grand Slam tournaments within easy range. It’s also true that many of us find it harder and harder to fulfill the criteria because of budget constraints. On the other hand, I strongly believe, that ITWA members need to be present on-site at a certain number of tournaments. One of the main topics ITWA needs to fight for is access to players (and coaches), and this can only be done by those who experience said access (or lack thereof) first-hand. In the end, it’s not so much a matter of fairness than of what we need to stand for. I have no problem with relaxing the requirements for certain members from further away countries. But I think members need to have a certain presence at tournaments to properly identify problems and challenges that need to be addressed. You can’t do that working remotel from home.If we are not on-site and rely strictly on transcripts or videos, we end up getting only the information that the powers up there want us to have.

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