About the Scottish Parliament

Journalists and other media personnel whose work requires access to the Scottish Parliament may apply for media accreditation.

There are two options for accreditation to the Scottish Parliament.

• Full media accreditation for regular access to the Parliamentary complex
• Media day-pass accreditation which allows access on a pre-arranged date to attend a specific event.

If you require regular access to the Parliament you should apply for full media accreditation. The media day-pass system allows occasional media access to the parliamentary complex to report on items of parliamentary business or a specific event.

Freelance media who require accreditation are required to demonstrate that their work is likely to be used by a news organisation. As such, a supporting signature of an Editor / Head of News / Pictures Editor / or equivalent will be required when applying for accreditation.

• All accredited media are required to adhere to the Media Access: SPCB Terms and Conditions.
• All accredited media are required to adhere to the Scottish Parliament’s Code of Conduct for journalists and other media personnel.

Journalists representing online media outlets, including bloggers, will be considered for accreditation against the following criteria:

• the site provides sufficiently balanced and regular coverage of the work of Parliament - this does not preclude comment-led copy, but applicants from sites that do not give a right of reply or where comment is from a single political perspective are unlikely to be granted accreditation
• that the applicant has no other paid employment or interests that might conflict with proper reporting of the Parliament
• that the applicant can provide a person of suitable standing as a referee as a substitute for an editor / head of news
• the relevant website is not party political or a single issue campaign site.