Media accreditation for the 2011 Commonwealth summit (CHOGM) in Perth, Australia, opened today (1 June) with a twist – journalists unable to travel to the conference will still be able to access speeches, documents, press releases, photos (we hope even live footage) on the Internet if they register beforehand.
 
The summit will be held from 28-30 October 2011, and the preceding Foreign Ministers Meeting from 26-27 October.
 
Media wishing to cover the conference should register online at www.chogm2011.org (choose the Registration sub-menu). I would recommend that for a fairly thorough briefing on facilities, registration etc, journalists should go to www.thecommonwealth.org/news/34580/237024/310511accreditation.htm and follow the videoed briefing by CHOGM spokesperson Eduardo del Buey of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Australian Task Force’s Head of Communications Dan Gleeson. It is very clear and concise.
 
Those unable to travel to the summit should also see the registration instructions at www.chogm2011.org. They may have to send a scanned copy of a national press card and other identification whereupon they will be told how to log on to a URL which will allow them the same access as journalists at the summit to online documents, speeches, events, photos etc before, during and after the conference.
 
Media accreditation officially closes on 31 August.