• Ad Age, Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:16 AM

The American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Associated Press Managing Editors are upset with an NFL decision to force news photographers to wear vests with the logos of Canon and Reebok while tshooting games.

"It is anathema to us that our employees should be put in the position of becoming walking billboards or be viewed as troublemakers for refusing to wear advertising materials just to do their jobs," writes ASNE President Gilbert Bailon in a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. "It is our hope that the NFL will simply credential our representatives and let them go about their work."

Adds APME President Karen Magnuson, "our objections to [the] rule are grounded in our desire not to have our working press photographers become unwilling participants in any commercial and marketing arrangements the NFL has with its sponsors." Magnuson was already peeved about another new policy that restricts the amount of online NFL audio and video news outlets can use on the Web, which prevents them from archiving it.

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