What utter rubbish. Those of us in other specialised fields of journalism have had to put up with robust 'amateur' online competition for years. It has been proven time and time again that some 'real' journalists struggle to match the flair, passion and attention to detail that the best bloggers have in spades. At what point did sports journalism become a sacred cow to be protected at all costs from greedy 'amateurs'? This is yet another manifestation of the wider phenomenon of stubborn, ageing hacks failing to adapt to technological advances and a changing media marketplace. What makes this even more distasteful is the fact that unpaid and 'amateur' work is the only way for many students and recent graduates to get the experience necessary to land a paying job further down the line. By attempting to establish exclusivity over sporting events, those behind this campaign are stifling the professional development of Scotland's up-and-coming journalists. This is yet another case where Darwin's famous axiom is appropriate; Sports journalists: Adapt or Die.

I was a member of the NUJ for almost 30 years. I have worked in radio, tv, print, PR and taught journalism. I was also editor of PA in Scotland. My very first experience of journalism, like so many others, was as an "amateur" covering sports events. Many of my former students who have gone on to work as sports journalists for national broadcasters and national newspapers first discovered that this was what they wanted to do with their lives working as so called "amateurs" during their student days. Yes lets protect jobs, yes lets work hard to encourage high standards in our industry. But lets not be so po-faced about it that we close the door to potential talent.

I see a huge difference between students looking for experience and a lucky break on the one hand and moonlighting police officers, teachers etc on the other, who are not economically dependent on their match report earnings, and as a result can afford to work for less, to the detriment of real journalists. I for one support the campaign.

I don't see the campaign differentiating between the two at this time, and given the increasingly blurred line between 'professional' and 'amateur' I'm not sure how it's really going to be possible. will the NUJ individually screen each reporter at every match? Doubtful. I agree that jobs should be protected but the way to do that is to produce high quality work that draws on training and expertise that 'amateurs' simply can't match. The onus is on both the journalists to create this material and newspapers/online to recognise its importance in retaining the audience.

It is my understanding that the whole point of the campaign is to ensure those in a position to commission sports reports, the sports desks, use experienced journalists ie those with training and expertise, and not fans with laptops. The skilled journalists are out there and available to create high quality material. Unfortunately, sports desks are increasingly using amateurs as their quest for economy beats high quality. Hopefully the campaign will persuade those in a position to choose who provides coverage of sports events to make their selection on the basis of the importance of high quality work by trained, skilled and experienced journalists.

I completely support this long overdue campaign. In my understanding, it's not about 'stifling emerging talent' as at least one poster has suggested, but about upholding the integrity of the profession. There will always be a route into sports journalism for talented individuals but the problem - and I know this from experience - is that there are too many people who belong to other professions who are topping up their comfortable salaries with a couple of match reports a week. There is no question that this impacts on the already dwindling earnings of freelance sports journalists, many of whom have been forced to work for themselves as a result of the savage job cuts in the industry over the past few years. It's a simple choice really - you either support the rights of civil servants, teachers etc to supplement their incomes by taking work from experienced and properly trained journalists or you don't.

Surely anyone that cares about the profession and supports other journalists, should encourage this campaign? I’m all in favour of encouraging young student journalists, as I was in that position many moons ago, but the problem is the ex-footballers, teachers, civil servants, policeman etc that turn up on a Saturday to top up their income. That is all they’re doing, they are not bothered about their journalism careers or building contacts. They are having a nice day out at the football, earning a bit of cash on the side. They’re not doing anything a working journalist couldn’t do and it’s ludicrous to say banning them would stifle creative talent. One non-journo actually told me that he no longer enjoyed doing the games anymore, particularly in the winter months, but hoped to pass on the ‘gig’ to his son so he could earn extra cash. This guy’s attitude sickened me to be honest. In these desperate times for journalism, it’s outrageous that this is happening and I for one welcome this campaign. Having spoken to others in the profession, they share a similar view.

I fully support this campaign. The simple rule should be: No press card no admittance to the press box.

Sports writers should have addressed this issue years ago instead of tolerating a situation where other journalists and friends could earn extra money by providing match reports in evenings and at the weekend. That was the beginning of the slippery slope and the current situation is the result. Turning back the tide now ain't going to happen...

Here's an idea. Why don't we kick all the tossers out of the press box who:- a) invent spurious transfer stories b) invent takeover bids for clubs that never happen c) refuse to share contact details and information with their news desks colleagues when a major sports story breaks d) cover up the appalling behaviour of their sporting buddies (golfing press take a bow!) What have these morons done to earn press cards? No wonder bloggers are putting print media out fo business. I would suggest that the essential qualification for a good sportswriter is not a press card but a sizeable pair of balls. Jack Irvine

wasn't one of Scotland's greatest occupants of the rugby press box a PE teacher from the borders? What matters is the quality of the report. If an enthusiastic amateur is better than an NUJ hack then tough. As usual protectionism is the way an industry goes down. The newspaper trade is on a downward slope look at the figures. The internet is going to wipe newspapers out, even TV is being hit. It is called change and progress. The costs of the internet are much less than newspapers. When new technology appears things change and there is nothing the NUJ can do about it.

I'm crying tears of genuine ennui for the poor journalists who are focusing their disdain on the 'amateurs' rather than their editors or publishers. No wonder the print media is dying on its arse.

Landsea and hot air seems to be the flavour of the day (and not just from the volcano ash). This campaign is not about preventing the oncoming waves of technology and I have no King Canute pretensions. However it is about protecting our industry in one small way. I would like to think it is never too late to turn around bad practice and stop further decline in standards. Whether reports from football matches or other events are publshed on the internet or in newspapers or broadcast live, I would like them to be produced by professional reporters. People who have been trained, preferrably on a recognised journalism course, or even in a press room or newspaper office by experienced editors not an amateur who is more used to producing a traffic incident report or school assessment card. New technology should be about improving journalistic services to the public but those of us who know better actually know that is not the case. The NUJ in Scotland does not oppose the introduction of new technology, quite the contrary we provide training opportunities in areas of convergence, in-design and many more new skills to allow our members to make themselves more confident in remaining in the industry with the backing of top class training. The bloggers brigade and assorted citizen journalists can aspire to getting work from companies like Newsquest whose long term aim is to "crowdsource" - that is replace journalists with joe public with a laptop, but the NUJ will campaign within and outwith the industry to prevent what would be a bleak future for all of us.

An absolute joke. Sports blogs in Scotland are, more often than not, far better written than most journalists (bar Graham Spiers). To top it off, many journos are more than happy to ''appropriate'' bloggers material into their articles (I've seen my own stuff plagiarised in the Scotsman). I don't mind that, as it happens, but am not sure the journalists can have it both ways. Until the standard of reporting the game in Scotland rises above 'Haw look Rangers are playing' then bloggers and other amateurs will continue to attract readers.

Paul Holleran is right to say that it's not a bad idea to ask sports editors, where possible, to use members of the NUJ to cover sports events. I started in journalism phoning copy back to the office for the likes of Jim Rodger and Bobby Maitland, and so I learnt the game from the masters. It's not an essential prerequisite, as some of your correspondents here seem to think, to be young and all singing, all dancing on a laptop in order to be a good sports writer. Nor is it an offence to have grey hair. What is essential that you should know something about the sport you are covering, that you should have the ability to write about it in plain English and know where to place the punctuation marks. Good training gets you there, and that usually goes hand in hand with having an NUJ card and being a real journalist. But Jack Irvine's point about some sportswriters is well made, especially when it comes to working closely with their newsroom colleagues. I first experienced that kind of non co-operation from one William Waddell, a colleague on the Scottish Daily Express, who refused point blank to help on a story about supporters stealing the League Championship flag from Rugby Park. Hubris is writ large across too many sports desks. These guys should take a long, hard look at themselves. Amateurs covering matches is not new. What is relatively new, and worrying, is amateurs being asked to supply the complete content of sports pages for some of Scotland's weekly newspapers, people being paid a pittance for working a couple of days a week - usually Saturday AND Sunday - and working elsewhere for the rest of the week. There should be a campaign for more investment in journalism. Has anyone read Newsquests's most recent advert for a trainee journalist for the Herald, Times, Sunday Herald, blogalog and what have you, by the way? Hannen Swaffer wouldn't be well enough qualified for that job. And, as for the sports bloggers, is there one of them who would not give his right arm to be a top sportswriter on a real newspaper? Print journalism is far from dead, but it urgently requires the investment that would allow even sports editors to employ real journalists. Perhaps one day newspaper proprietors will wake up to the fact that the web is not quite as wonderful as the Facebook Generation would have us all believe.

Many sports bloggers would like to be journalists. Many would not. Many, including myself, write about the game because (a) we love the game (b) love writing. We aren't doing it to threaten the media or the journalists or to steal their patch. If I had no readers at all, I'd continue to write because I enjoy it. The fact I have some readers who seem to enjoy my work is very nice but there we are. The simple fact of the matter is much of the mainstream sports writing in Scotland is woeful. I'm not saying mine is any better, as it happens. But then, no one pays to read my stuff and nor am I paid to do it.