Student media should keep their parliamentary accreditation

The Spinoff reports:

Student journalists will be missing from parliament’s press gallery for the foreseeable future, owing to a decision by speaker of the house Gerry Brownlee. 

For the past two decades, student journalists under the umbrella of the Aotearoa Student Press Association have had accredited entry to the press gallery – parliament’s office of political journalists – allowing them direct access to government and opposition MPs. …

The speaker’s office did not respond to The Spinoff’s request for comment, but Brownlee told NZME that student journalists don’t come to parliament often enough to warrant bypassing security measures by using a swipe card.

He said he was currently working through a review of who had swipe-card access to parliament, and hadn’t said a “blanket no” to ASPA, just that at the moment he wasn’t issuing any access cards.

If the student journalists come in more than two or three times a year, then they should have accredited entry. We want Parliament to be more accessible to people, not less accessible.

UPDATE: They have been given a three month pass