The Newspaper Society is holding a meeting with sports editors from the regional press next Monday to discuss “practical arrangements” for the creation of a regional press pool to cover the London 2012 Olympics.
Representatives from the Press Association and the British Olympic Association will also join the meeting.
Only a handful of regional papers have received passes for the games, including just one weekly title in London and four press passes for newspapers in Scotland.
In September the society said it was in talks with the BOA about creating a pool of around 12 reporters that will provide copy to the 150 or so regional and local newspapers which applied for accreditation prior to the deadline.
Around 410 press passes have been granted for print media to cover the 2012 Games, not including broadcasters or the Press Association, which has a further 90 passes as the host agency.
The Newspaper Society said that it continues to press for more full accreditation and venue-specific passes for local papers to cover the Games.
It said: “In a memorandum to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, the NS highlights the unique relationship between local newspapers and the athletes from their community who may be taking part in 2012 and says that more passes should be made available to regional and local press to ensure that the games is not a ‘London-centric’ event.
‘It also points out that, for events outside of Olympic Park, the regional press should be granted venue-specific passes to be able to cover events in their own locality.”
The Newham Recorder is the only newspaper in London, excluding the Evening Standard, that has a press pass for London 2012.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
