CHRB backs off on license requirement for journalists

The California Horse Racing Board has rescinded a requirement that journalists be licensed in order to access backstretches of the state’s racetracks, two days after first issuing the requirement, which was to go into effect at the beginning of September.

In a statement, the CHRB said that it had “revised” the policy “after considerable feedback,” which included letters from both the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters organization and the president of the Associated Press Sports Editors urging the board to reconsider the decision.

The licensing requirement would have been the first applied to journalists in any U.S. racing jurisdiction. Under the requirement, the license would have cost $75 and required a criminal background check of the reporter.

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Under the revised code, track publicity departments will continue to issue credentials to journalists giving them access to the grounds. However, the publicity departments will be required to submit lists of credentialed journalists to the CHRB, a requirement that did not exist in the past.

“The CHRB needs to know who has been authorized by racetracks to enter stable areas, so publicity departments have agreed to provide the names of those individuals,” a statement from the CHRB said. “The CHRB has made it clear that the lists will not be submitted for CHRB approval. The information will be used solely for the purpose of understanding who the tracks have authorized to be in the restricted area.”

The statement also said that the CHRB “will hold the racetracks responsible for the conduct of credentialed media they authorize for stable-area access.”

In an interview on Tuesday, Mike Marten, a spokesman for the CHRB, said that no incident had led to the decision to require licenses for journalists visiting the backstretch. Instead, it arose out of a review of licensing requirements under the state’s existing regulations. One of those rules states that “a person acting in any capacity within the restricted area of an inclosure (sic), simulcast facility, or auxiliary stabling area” is required to have a license.

Regardless of the jurisdiction, licensing requirements in U.S. states apply to nearly all employees of a racetrack, and the requirements are especially strict for those who work on the backstretch because of the ready access to horses.

The letters from the NTWAB and APSE had strongly objected to requiring journalists to apply and pay for a license from a state board whose decisions journalists routinely cover.