Olympics Press Corps Settles for Censorship -- China To Provide 'Convenient and Sufficient' Internet Access

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Christine Bowman

Sports fans should be skeptical as they follow coverage of the upcoming Olympic games. It may be the Chinese version of what the Bush Administration staged on May 1, 2003 -- a PR fiasco, a propaganda flop. That date is when George Bush popped out of a fighter jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier to declare "Mission Accomplished." Arguably his administration's most botched photo op, it crowned his most ambitious propaganda effort -- the selling of the Iraq war to America and her allies.

Where Bush wanted world opinion to applaud a war, the Chinese are merely hoping the summer Olympics will cement their image as the up-and-coming, even preeminent world power that has embraced modernism and left behind tyranny. But once again, image control -- the propaganda -- will have trouble standing up to realities.

China is still afraid of the free flow of information, it turns out. The government is blocking large chunks of the Internet, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed to a deal to allowing that. Reporters will be unable to visit an array of websites:

The Internet that foreign journalists in China can access is only relatively free. Yesterday, they were unable to access a new Amnesty International report entitled “The Olympic countdown - broken promises” or the websites for many foreign media, such as the BBC’s Chinese-language service, the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the Hong Kong-based Apple Daily and the Taiwan-based Liberty Time. The Reporters Without Borders and Falungong spiritual movement websites were also inaccessible.

IOC accepts organized online censorship Internet censorship is first winner at Beijing games (Reporters Without Borders)

According to another report:

Since the Olympic Village press center opened Friday, reporters have been unable to access scores of Web pages—among them those that discuss Tibetan succession, Taiwanese independence, the violent crackdown on the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square and the sites of Amnesty International, Radio Free Asia and several Hong Kong newspapers known for their free political discourse. ...

"It has been our policy to provide the media with convenient and sufficient access to the Internet," said Sun Weide, the chief spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee.

Journalists' group warns of Olympics censorship (Chicago Tribune)

This last-minute development runs counter to China's assurances, given seven years ago when seeking the nod for the Olympics, that news organizations would have "complete freedom to report."

"I regret that it now appears BOCOG has announced that there will be limitations on Web site access during Games time," IOC press chief Kevan Gosper said, referring to Beijing's Olympic organizers.

"I also now understand that some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered Games related," he said.

IOC admits Internet censorship deal with China: Agreement reached on basis that blocked sites are not Games related (MSNBC)

NBC plans 3,600 hours of Beijing Olympics coverage. They are sending a team of over 100 commentators headed up by Bob Costas. NBC paid $894-million for the privilege and will be using the event as a testing ground, the Toronto Globe and Mail is reporting, to assess the demographics of contemporary news audiences across platforms and the long-term viability of network news as currently configured. Yet, with so much on the table, they claim:

NBC's descent on Beijing will reach well beyond sports. It is a full-fledged network effort, intended to showcase the news operations and promote the prime-time lineup all at once.

Nearly all of NBC's top news shows will set up shop in China, producing three and a half hours of programming each day for The Today Show and NBC Nightly News. Anchors Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw will broadcast from China, along with the network's health expert, Dr. Nancy Schneiderman, who will give daily updates on Beijing's "pollution story," said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports.

Personalities of the newly acquired Weather Channel will also be on the ground to report on the weather.

"If this becomes a news story, or a series of news stories other than the Olympic events, we are certainly ready to cover them," Mr. Ebersol said.

Toronto Globe and Mail

Time will tell. NBC, with so much at stake, may be too consumed with protecting its own interests to pursue political angles.

Just two weeks ago, IOC President Jacques Rogge had boasted: "For the first time, foreign media will be able to report freely and publish their work freely in China. There will be no censorship on the Internet."

Yeah, and the U.S. mission in Iraq was accomplished in May 2003.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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