Tragically Hip's Rob Baker defends news photographer ban at Kingston show

Tragically Hip guitarist Rob Baker hasweighed in onthe debate over the lack ofmedia access to the band's historic concert last weekend, defending thedecision to barnews photographers from the venue.

"Does anyone feel that there has been a lack of coverage of this? That the public hasn't been served?" Baker tweeted Wednesday.

"I agree that it is an interesting debate but the bottom line in this case was the logistics of space, safety and fairness."

During the band'ssummerMan Machine Poem tour,news photographers were allowed in venuesto take pictures forthe first few songs,asis the customary practise for most music concerts.

• Hip guitarist's Twitter debate over concert access
• Limiting access for news photographers a 'worrisome' trend

Yetfor the finalconcert of this tourinthe band's hometown of Kingston,concert promoter Live Nation said thevenue, which holds just under 7,000 people,was too small and wouldn't have been able toaccommodate all those news photographers.

Instead, no news photographers were granted access andnews agencies had to relyonphotos provided by the promoter.

"Close friends who are photographers, some who have worked with the band for 20+ yrs were redirected to other shows," Baker tweeted.

'No room & no lack of coverage'

Baker agreedthat space was an issue, and said the band's own photographer was almost knocked out by a moving camera.

"No room & no lack of coverage. 14 shows were available, 1 [not,for]valid reasons," Bakertweeted.

The following is a Twitterexchange between Baker and CBC News Managing Editor Steve Ladurantaye:

(On the app? Click here)

That action to bar news photographers from the Kingston show hasprompted criticism from some journalists, who argued they were not just being denied access toa rock concert, but were being kept outof an historic news event, and one that wasattended by Prime MinisterJustinTrudeau. Indeed,Trudeau'sown official photographer was at the event and took pictures that he posted on social media.

In a piece for TVO.org,The Canadian Press editor-in-chiefStephenMeuricesuggested thisbanwas justpart of a troublingtrendof limitationsbeing placed on journalists' access to various kinds of events.

"Using handout pictures produced and controlledby a person or organization we cover removes our ability to exercise that editorial independence,"Meuricewrote."The images become, essentially, promotional material, and wedonot distribute such material as part of our news file."

• 'Thank you for that': Tragically Hip put on poignant show for hometown Kingston crowd
• Millions watch Tragically Hip live on CBC

As well, thepresence of the prime minister made it more importantthat news photographers bethere, in case he was involved in an unexpected incident, he said.

The Canadian Press and Reuters declinedto distribute the promoter's pictures. CParguedit's the news agency'spolicy not to use handouts if CP journalistsare barred from shooting an event.

We've seenthe same photograph from every single venue on the whole tour. Ijustdon't think it's worth getting your knickers in a twist about it.- Richard Flohil, Toronto music promoter

Yet Baker asked why theCanadian Press should be let in and not, for example, the Kingston Whig-Standard.

"It's a concert and ultimately between us and the people who have supported us for 30+ yrs buyingtktsn albums," he tweeted.

Paula Danylevich, a Canadian music publicist, saidthe issue has been blown way out of proportion and that she is surprisedbythereaction of theCanadian Press. She also said she doesn'tbelievea CP pool photographershould have been granted access to the concert.

"As someone who has vetted hundreds of media requests for photo passes for numerous bands over the years, I believe The Hip would have suffered 10times the backlash if they would have granted access to just one media outlet, or a small handful," said Danylevich,who has worked with a long list of Canadian and international artists including Matthew Good, Moist, Nelly Furtado, and Motley Crue.

She said she hasworked on numerous tours over the years where artists put a cap on how many photographers are granted access.

"I can tell you it's no easy job to decide who gets approved. You will always piss someoneoff."

She said it'snot that uncommon for artists to ban media photography,and audience photography, at their concerts and thatBlack Sabbath, The Killers, Prince, andBeyonchave all banned photographers in the past.

Toronto-based veteran music promoterRichard Flohilsaid he wasn't "losing any sleep" over the fact that the media didn't get access to the show, and the pictures distributed bythe concert promoter or thosemade available byTrudeau's photographer were sufficient.

"If you've got a goodphotographfrom somewhere else, use it, credit it and get over the fact that youdidn'tget a free ticket to take photographs of the thing in the first place," Flohil said.

"We've seenthe same photograph from every single venue on the whole tour," he added. "Ijustdon't think it's worth getting your knickers in a twist about it."