EXCL: Our £3m bill for Olympics media travel
1:40 pm - July 19th 2012
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British taxpayers are subsidising the travel costs for journalists coming to London to report on the Olympics, Liberal Conspiracy can reveal.
The total cost of this freebie may be as high as £3m – paid for by the British taxpayer.
Among those subsidised by British taxpayers include an army of nearly 2,800 NBC journalists – some of whom are the highest-paid presenters in the world.
A journalist tipped us off to say that each journalist was given an Oyster card with over £90 in credit, to use across London.
We called up LOCOG and the London Media Centre to confirm that accredited journalists were given Oyster cards with pre-paid credit. They confirmed this was the case.
So how many journalists are being handed out these Oyster cards?
The LOCOG representative did not have exact figures on hand, however she told us that over 21,000 journalists had been accredited for the main Olympics event, and just over 7,000 for the Paralympics. Some of the journalists overlap, accreditations for the different events were separate.
We couldn’t get LOCOG to confirm whether a journalist accredited for the main Olympics events and the Paralympics would be given two Oyster cards.
In addition, the London Media Centre deals with journalists who want to write about London and the games more broadly. They tell us they have accredited 7,125 journalists. They are also issued with Oyster cards that allow them free travel across London.
The total number of journalists being accredited and given free Oyster credit could touch 30,000.
An accredited TV journalist, who asked not be identified, told us:
We were told this week that as journalists we are entitled to a free oyster card with £90 credit. This came as a surprise to all of us as it’s been kept quite quiet, we were only told through word of mouth.
You have to ask, why are journalists getting this freebie? It’s because we are the media and have certain influence.
While journalists from all over the world are getting free travel, people working on the Olympics are offered appalling living conditions.
The letter London Media Centre hand to accredited journalists.
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Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
· Other posts by Sunny Hundal
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Reader comments
It’s not that unusual for an organisation spread over various locations to cover the cost of transporting journalists between them.
All they have done here is require the journalists to travel by public transport instead of having dedicated transfer buses and presumably to keep things simple, just given them pre-loaded Oyster card.
It seems surprising that an experienced writer such as the author is surprised by this.
“While journalists from all over the world are getting free travel, people working on the Olympics are offered appalling living conditions. ”
At least this balances out somewhat
So you think it’s perfectly ok for us, in austerity times, subsidising well paid NBC stars – who alone have a 2,700 strong contingent coming over. Interesting.
Any idea regarding point eight, why are they worrying about a damaged or defaced Oyster Card.
Also is there a minimum space between Oyster cards, will ladies have to carry two hand bags
Spending money on facilities for journalists is part of organising any big event. It’s not unusual for that to include transport, although it’s more likely to mean ferrying them about in a minibus.
It’s a fair question whether it’s ok for us all to be spending billions on the Olympics, but if you accept the principle of the games at all then it seems a bit odd to be shocked that journalists are part of the circus.
I think, if we accept that hosting the Olympics is a good idea, this kinda comes with the package. I imagine it’s similar to standard policy (i.e. we’ve benefited from similar “handouts” when the games have been hosted elsewhere), and it’s kind of embarrassing to welcome people to the country in the name of Peace, Brotherhood and Mum’s Apple Pie and then point them to the nearest bus stop and say “hope you brought your wallet”.
Of course, that leaves the question of whether hosting the Olympics is a good idea, but it’s too late to shut the stable door there.
why, it’s almost as if the organizers are spending money to try and maximize the media coverage the games receive!
how large is the budget for advertising and promoting the games? why is any £ in that budget better or worse spent than this?
If you are worried about spending lavishly in times of austerity, this is a single barnacle on the hull of the massive £9.3bn super tanker.
It’s not really a cost anyway.
It’s not really a cost anyway.
You mean that if the journalists were not given the free oyster card, they would not travel and pay for it?
Seems unlikely…………
It is not a cost for the transport network because the sunk cost of the network already exist. However, the freebie reduces British exports by the same amount that is not spent by the overseas visitor. Somewhere in the system the British gain in foreign currency does not occur. Alternatively, one could imagine that the overseas journalist will substitute the benefit of their freebie, by spending more on other things while here partially offsetting the loss in foreign currency.
10 – It is a cost because 3million of tax payers money ahs been given to trasnport for london. Its true the infrastructure is already there, but they were never going to let them use it for free
Alternatively, one could imagine that the overseas journalist will substitute the benefit of their freebie, by spending more on other things while here partially offsetting the loss in foreign currency.
One could also imagine that they will be consuming to capacity on expenses anyway and that, if it were not free, they would claim for their transport from their employers.
The £3m is a direct transfer to the P&L accounts of foreign media companies.
“The total cost of this freebie may be as high as £3m – paid for by the British taxpayer.”
Deeply unconvinced.
I’d say that the marginal cost of these tube tickets is somewhere around zero.
There will be an accounting transfer from Locog (I assume) to TfL but that’s about it.
The public transport network is going to be running anyway, and the journalists wouldn’t have used it if they weren’t there to cover the Olympics. There is no loss of money to the tax payer here.
They aren’t giving the Journalists cash they are giving them 1s and 0s on a card that allows them to travel about London to cover the Olympics It might as well be monopoly money.
They are also giving the journalists cards that they will have to recharge if they use more than £90 on. They will be used to using the public transport network and will likely expense more money on travel in order to continue to use the Oyster cards.
They aren’t giving the Journalists cash they are giving them 1s and 0s on a card that allows them to travel about London to cover the Olympics It might as well be monopoly money.
Let me get this straight. You think they’re a bank and can generate money out of nothing, without accounting for it?
I hope Sunny isn’t saying he cheats when he plays Monopoly.
Or that Oyster card credit is money.
Worstall what on earth are you saying? there might be no direct cost to letting some extra passengers use public transport for free, but ought you not be the first to point out that the true cost is the opportunity cost – or how much those journalists would have spent on public transport if not given free passes. Which ain’t £3m, but something. Probably.
So you think it’s perfectly ok for us, in austerity times, subsidising well paid NBC stars – who alone have a 2,700 strong contingent coming over. Interesting.
Well paid or not, professional journalists don’t pay their own transport costs – in most cases the employer pays expenses, in others – like in this case – the host pays.
If you were professional would you pay?
Sunny
You are aware that all purchasers of Olympic tickets get a free 9-zone travelcard with each ticket, aren’t you?
@Sunny #3:
So you think it’s perfectly ok for us, in austerity times, subsidising well paid NBC stars – who alone have a 2,700 strong contingent coming over.
No. I think it’s pefectly OK for us, in austerity times, to provide the world’s media, whether well-paid or otherwise, with £90-worth of free transport within London.
In fact, providing all members of the Games Family (which includes the media) with free travel either via bus services using the ORN, or by providing free travelcards, throughout the Games, has been a part of the deal for some time.
Or that Oyster card credit is money.
Money on Oyster cards is exactly that – money. I’d be interested to know how anyone thinks TfL has within their powers to just put tons of money on it without accounting for it.
You are aware that all purchasers of Olympic tickets get a free 9-zone travelcard with each ticket, aren’t you?
they’ve paid for the tickets, in case you’re not aware. The journalists are covering the event. Why can’t their employer pay for their travel?
@Sunny #21:
they’ve paid for the tickets, in case you’re not aware.
Believe me, I’m aware of that…
The journalists are covering the event. Why can’t their employer pay for their travel?
Their employer is paying for their travel; or do are really naive enough to believe that the facilities afforded to the media are anything other than an attempt to skew the coverage?
Money on Oyster cards is exactly that – money.
An Oyster card with credit is a ticket. Tickets are sold for money, but they can be given away for free. They are not money.
Think about cinema tickets. They are sold for money but they are not money. A cinema can give away free tickets. The point about cinemas that have spare seats and public transport systems that have spare capacity is that giving away some free tickets does not increase the operators costs, unlike giving away free cans of baked beans, which each cost something to produce. In case you are wondering, cans of baked beans are not money either.
Sunny you have an economics degree, you should know the definition of money and the concepts of zero marginal cost and of opportunity cost.
When Orange gives away free Odeon cinema tickets on Wednesdays, has it paid Odeon the face value of those tickets? I very much doubt it.
What we don’t know is whether LOCOG paid cash for those Oyster cards, which presumably would involve tax payer cash being paid to the private transport companies that give a slice of Oyster revenues, as well as presumably a transfer of some cash from one tax-payer funded entity to another (TFL). Or whether London Transport was persuaded to give those charged Oyster cards away for free, just like a cinema giving away free tickets. If LOCOG has paid cash, I very hope they have not paid the face value of those cards, now that really would be scandalously bad procurement.
Sunny,
I’d be interested to know how anyone thinks TfL has within their powers to just put tons of money on it without accounting for it.
Why do you argue with things no-one has suggested? No-one suggested they don’t have to account for it.
Sunny:
There is a rather more fundamental issue witht hsi story. Where’s the evidence that “taxpayer money” is being used?
If, for example, it’s LOCOG buying the tickets from TfL, then it’s not taxpaper money; at least not unless LOCOG fails to break even.
it is two miles outside the Bracknell and less than five miles from Windsor. As such, could be deemed to be a hotel in Windsor and a hotel in Bracknell.
@ 21 Sunny
“Money on Oyster cards is exactly that – money.”
No it isn’t, unless Oyster cards are more-or-less universally accepted or you can access all of your Oyster balance in cash.
It’s more like credit on a pay-as-you-go phone, or a store gift card. If your phone company or local supermarket gives you some free credit (perhaps as an apology for messing something up), do you think the act of giving you the credit somehow immediately reduces their current account by the same amount?
The only way that would begin to make sense is if they had to first buy the credit off someone else. But they don’t: store/phone credit is essentially a promise to give you freebies at a later date. And you can’t use your phone credit to travel on the Tube any more than you can use your Oyster card to top up your phone.
“I’d be interested to know how anyone thinks TfL has within their powers to just put tons of money on it without accounting for it.”
Because it’s not money, it’s credit. They do have to account for it, because they have to let you use it to access services (i.e. travel). But they don’t have to buy it off anyone else first.
Maybe the journalists can be journalists and use their free travel to visit the cleaner slum camps and victims of forced relocations.
Reactions: Twitter, blogs
- Liberal Conspiracy
Exclusive: Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists http://t.co/wcWohk8F
- Jason Brickley
Exclusive: Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists http://t.co/0XwshYyK
- christina sosseh
Exclusive: Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists http://t.co/wcWohk8F
- Wordocalypse
Exclusive: Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists http://t.co/wcWohk8F
- Viridis Lumen
Exclusive: Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists http://t.co/wcWohk8F
- BevR
Exclusive: Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/6RHS1oAo via @libcon
- Miss Mac
Exclusive: Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists http://t.co/wcWohk8F
- sunny hundal
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- itiddly
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- Neil Partridge
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- Adam Bienkov
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- Barb
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- FiveDee's Cats
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
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Exclusive: Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists http://t.co/wcWohk8F
- Martin Steel
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- Pen
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
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EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- Richard Alexandar
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- Mary O'Hara
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- Annie Eaves
“@sunny_hundal: taxpayers may end up paying £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/40pjpNG4”
PANIC! OLYMPICS!
- Cosmic Landmine
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- cutchswife
RT @sunny_hundal: EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/7UfUYiGL
- Toby Atkinson
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
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EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
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“@sunny_hundal: taxpayers may end up paying £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/40pjpNG4”
PANIC! OLYMPICS!
- Dave Tonkin
EXCLUSIVE: UK taxpayers may end up paying up to £3m for travel of journalists reporting on Olympics http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
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Exclusive: £3m taxpayers bill for Olympics media travel | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/jDCIwaYI via @libcon Oyster Cards with Credit TOO!
- saramo
Exclusive: £3m taxpayers bill for Olympics media travel | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/jDCIwaYI via @libcon
- Rattlecans
@teacherdude Of course it will be a foreign media frenzy! We are paying media travelling expenses http://t.co/u288pCa2
- TheCreativeCrip
Spongers: "Among those subsidised by British taxpayers include an army of nearly 2,800 NBC journalists" http://t.co/u288pCa2 #Olympics
- Kim Blake
Spongers: "Among those subsidised by British taxpayers include an army of nearly 2,800 NBC journalists" http://t.co/u288pCa2 #Olympics
- Xander D Harkness
While disabled benefits are slashed, we are being asked to pay up to £3m for travel of foreign media http://t.co/3Ta2k4hZ #Olympics
- Leanne J
While disabled benefits are slashed, we are being asked to pay up to £3m for travel of foreign media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- Naomi TechNoir
Spongers: "Among those subsidised by British taxpayers include an army of nearly 2,800 NBC journalists" http://t.co/u288pCa2 #Olympics
- jhwygirl
Why are British taxpayers have to fund American media's transportation costs? @NBCNewYork should be ashamed.
http://t.co/vK3fdfqA - Rattlecans
Why are British taxpayers have to fund American media's transportation costs? @NBCNewYork should be ashamed.
http://t.co/vK3fdfqA - sunny hundal
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- FiveDee's Cats
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Tim
Exclusive: £3m taxpayers bill for Olympics media travel | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/tUVbdX9N via @libcon
- lesley delves
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Chaz Singh
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Rosiemop
The total number of journalists being accredited and given free Oyster credit could touch 30,000. http://t.co/7Gi4LOz6 via @libcon
- Martin Steel
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- steve...
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Maia Clark
Take from those who don't have much and then give to those who have plenty. (via @sunny_hundal) http://t.co/LVBSlByb
- Paul Trembath
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Marilyn Sanders
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Jakey
The total number of journalists being accredited and given free Oyster credit could touch 30,000. http://t.co/7Gi4LOz6 via @libcon
- Riven
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Ben Raza
While disabled benefits are slashed, we are being asked to pay up to £3m for travel of foreign media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q
- T
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Stephen Pritchard
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- bernardmwalsh
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Naomi Fowler
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Paul Waddell
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Alex Braithwaite
Exclusive: £3m taxpayers bill for Olympics media travel | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/gnC3XkFU via @libcon
- Tina Dorr
Exclusive: £3m taxpayers bill for Olympics media travel | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/zKozEaR6 via @libcon
- Leanne J
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Neil Bradley
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Jane Leach
Exclusive: £3m taxpayers bill for Olympics media travel | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/1dUWRW8O via @libcon
- Guy Bailey
Exclusive: British Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists – @LibCon – http://t.co/GrrmEhez
- Sue Truslove
The story the media won't report: UK taxpayers are funding up to £3m for travel for world's media http://t.co/W13lGq8Q (ICYMI earlier)
- Carol Kubicki
We seem to be subsidising Fox News et al with free public transport: Our £3m bill for Olympics media travel http://t.co/rdf3p7bW via @libcon
- Brian Tomkinson
“@sunny_hundal: While disabled benefits are slashed, we are being asked to pay up to £3m for travel of foreign media http://t.co/qJKdXjAV
- heather smart
Why are we being asked 2 pay up 2 £3m for travel of well payed foreign media to the Olympics in this age of Austerity ! http://t.co/qJKdXjAV
- Sons Of Sarcasm
“@sunny_hundal: While disabled benefits are slashed, we are being asked to pay up to £3m for travel of foreign media http://t.co/qJKdXjAV
- Alex Marshall
Why are we being asked 2 pay up 2 £3m for travel of well payed foreign media to the Olympics in this age of Austerity ! http://t.co/qJKdXjAV
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Why are we being asked 2 pay up 2 £3m for travel of well payed foreign media to the Olympics in this age of Austerity ! http://t.co/qJKdXjAV
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Why are we being asked 2 pay up 2 £3m for travel of well payed foreign media to the Olympics in this age of Austerity ! http://t.co/qJKdXjAV
- William Buttery
Every Journo @ the Olympics being given £90 credit on an Oyster card – funded by the tax payer http://t.co/xPNeriLn
- Les Tricoteuses
Exclusive: Taxpayers paying up to £3m for travel for Oympics journalists http://t.co/OaQ4aAC1
- Anthony Adshead
EXCL: Our £3m bill for Olympics media travel | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/BD602eYD via @libcon
- Consumer
http://t.co/wfnQjy2R so we haven't got enough money for schools and hospitals but enough for propaganda?
- Rattlecans
Those journos who didn't know who Tim Berners Lee is, are we giving them £90 worth of free travel too? http://t.co/u288pCa2 #London2012
- ActingStrange
Those journos who didn't know who Tim Berners Lee is, are we giving them £90 worth of free travel too? http://t.co/u288pCa2 #London2012
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