Dear members,
It is a hectic time of the year. There are still events to attend, the World Cup is well underway, and it is not time to wait for Santa Claus by the fire just yet.
At the beginning of December, the 5th to be exact, we sent out newsletters about our reinstated award for the best press service.
… and the winner is:
A journalist’s life at a horse show can be both a dream come true or a nightmare – we all know that. And whenever we experience one of those wonderful moments we all hope for, most of the dream becomes reality thanks to excellent media operations on site. We on the board felt it was time to vote for the “Best Press Centre of the Year 2025”.
We decided to have two categories:
• Best Championship Press Centre – ranging from the World Cup Finals to the Asian Games or the Europeans
• Best International Horse Show Press Centre – regardless of discipline(s).
Find the voting form link in the newsletter you receved on 5th of december or in our Facebook-group and make your choice, when doing so, please consider relevant aspects such as: accreditation process, press room, technical infrastructure (bandwidth, LAN cables, Wi-Fi capacity…), staff, mixed zone, food and beverages, general information, press conferences, opening hours, lockers, security, space, press seats in the stands, accessibility, parking, etc.
We want to recognise the press team that worked hardest to provide us with the best possible working conditions. This award is not endowed, but to express our heartfelt gratitude, we will present the winning press teams with a certificate featuring the award’s logo. Perhaps we can find a sponsor for the future.
Can’t wait to see your replies flooding in! Voting closes 24th of December, just ahead of Santa’s arrival, and we will be announcing the winners in our newsletter early next year.
Ten days ahead of Santa’s arrival, we sent out a very important member survey. Look in your inbox for an email sent 15th of December.
IAEJ member survey, it’s our future
We are closing in on the end of 2025, a year that has brought many things into the spotlight in the equestrian community. Amazing, mesmerising sport mixed with horrendous cases of systematic horse torture uncovered by whistleblowers in the Cesar Parra case. The need for independent equestrian media has never been more apparent, as equestrian sport continues to be under scrutiny and SLO remains very much at the forefront for many National Federations.
Yet, we have seen many equestrian media outlets leave the market, downsize, and some visibly shrivel to shadows of their former glory. Many journalist colleagues have left the sector in the past five years; others are fighting for enough work, hours, and assignments. Photographers face fierce competition with more people holding lenses at every event and lower prices for photographic work. And to add stone to a heavy burden, everywhere you position yourself as a photographer, you find people in your line of vision with a mobile phone providing content for someone.
For the past years, it has very clearly been a buyer’s market, more free pens and camera owners than there are media outlets with demand. In Sweden, there is a very old saying relating to horses: “When the manger is empty, all horses bite”. The business is changing, and IAEJ needs to adapt to an altered media map, change with the times, and stay relevant.
It starts with getting hardcore facts about your situation, for us to understand what challenges our members face in their line of work. Having that as a baseline enables us to move forward with the hurdles the association tackles in the search for a new member administration system and treasurer, along with a new location and perhaps even new statutes and organisational legalities.
Could you let us know what you, as members, want us, as your member organisation, to primarily focus on? Of course you will, it will take five minutes of your time and do immense good for all of us 😉.
Please take your time to fill out the short survey and help us help you and work for the greater good of every one of the IAEJ members.
You will find the link to the member survey in the email sent to you on the 15th of December as well as in our Facebook-group . We need your replies to the survey before the 7th of January 2026.
We have posted about the vote on the best press centre and have done the same with the member survey in our Facebook group.
With a sincere wish for happy holidays, merry Christmas, a prosperous year, and at least 100 surveys flooding our system 🙏🏻.
on behalf of the IAEJ board
Kim C Lundin, secretary, IAEJ
