MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The Alabama Legislature will not change its rules regarding media access this year.

The issue of media access, and what constitutes a real media organization worthy of access to the press seats in the Alabama Legislature, threatened to become one of the more contentious issues of the Legislature's Organizational meeting on Tuesday, as some Alabama members of the media opposed the change.

State Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, had proposed defining a media organization in a way that included a subscription base, something many free websites don't have. Marsh said in the past that the rise of partisan, one-sided political blogs concerned him, and that there were only so many seats in the press rooms of the Senate and House.

Critics contended that the Republicans were targeting Alabama Political Reporter, a news website that has been very critical of House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn. The site is supported, in part, by ads paid for by the Alabama Education Association -- big critics of GOP education policy.

The rule would not have changed access to the Legislature in general, as the state Constitution compels public access, which occurs in the galleries as the lawmakers meet. But the sealed-off press rooms give members of the media better viewing access than the public galleries.

If the rule had passed, some media organizations might have had to send writers and photographers to the public galleries.

But in the end, the rule change fizzled, and the GOP caucus in the Senate declined to call it for a vote.

"There was a concern as to where (the rule) might lead," said state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, after the Senate adjourned for the day.

The House and Senate are meeting this week to elect leaders and committee chairmen, and to devise rules for the next four years. The legislative session begins in March.