Tag Archives: IOC

True North Media + Olympics

Business in Vancouver tells the True North Media House story

2 Comments

Countdown: 35 weeks until the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. June 12, 2009 By Bob Mackin

NOTE: From Business in Vancouver by Bob Mackin, comes a  discussion about the True North Media House including quotes from Kris Krug and comments about the “Open Letters to VANOC” i published via Raincity Studios in November 2008.

Posted here for archival purposes. Grab Print version as needed.

##

Countdown: 35 weeks until the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

VANOC slow to get into new media game

Kris Krug is among a small group of Vancouver new media trailblazers aiming to revolutionize how the Olympic Games are covered in this wild Web 2.0 world.

They have devised the True North Media House, and they say it will also be strong and free.

It’s going to be a Downtown Eastside-based alternative for outlets big and small that don’t qualify to be inside the fence at the main media centre in the Vancouver Convention Centre or in the non-accredited provincial facility at Robson Square.

“With the explosive growth of online journalism, citizen journalism and new forms of journalism, we’re going to have huge demand for the services we’re offering there,” Krug said.

The concept was borne out of meetings last fall among disaffected members of the local new media community. Early on, VANOC was wide-eyed about the new media. Krug and others briefed VANOC executives and staff on a new media day back in 2005. But as the Games approached, things changed.

I remember Krug sitting crestfallen outside the Pan Pacific Hotel last November, ruing the fact that VANOC didn’t let him join in the world press briefing. That week, his Raincity Studios’ colleague Dave Olson extended a hand with his famous “Hello VANOC, we’re nice, local and invite you for a coffee and a talk” open letter.

Any VANOC forays into the virtual world have been on the coattails of telecommunications sponsor Bell. The Cultural Olympiad’s intriguing Canada CODE digital collage is the best example. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are used by many individuals at VANOC, but not VANOC itself.

The reluctance apparently comes from top-down. The IOC has tiptoed around the Internet, not fully embracing the new media. To its credit, it opened its own YouTube channel during the Beijing Games while liberalizing its rules to allow athlete blogs. Krug said the IOC’s top Canadian, Dick Pound, told him that the Internet is the second-biggest threat to the Olympics movement, after performance-enhancing drugs.

“They haven’t figured out how to harness the Internet, so they view it as a cannibalization of their broadcast revenues,” he said. “By not figuring out ways to engage the media, particularly the new media, they’re missing out on a whole generation.”

So Krug is intent on showing the IOC the potential.

“We have lots of people who are stoked abut it. You might have a Swedish ski blogger, and we’ll have the Christians blogging about Christians in the Olympics,” he said. “We’ll have other people who are probably anti-Olympics there, too. It’s like a big house, and everyone’s welcome in. It’s about open access for all these locked out, independent new media.”

True North Media + Olympics

Digital Home – CRTC forcing CBC to carry CTV’s Olympic broadcasts

Link

Digital Home – CRTC forcing CBC to carry CTV’s Olympic broadcasts, 13 May 2009

Note: Article shared here in full for historical record. Original article link is broken, as such, accessed from Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, Feb. 2017.  Posted with original publication date to place in context.

##

In a speech to the Standing Committee on Official Languages yesterday in Ottawa, Konrad von Finckenstein, the Chairman of the CRTC informed his audience that government regulators would be forcing the CBC to air CTV’s 2010 Olympic broadcasts in French.

The CBC lost the Canadian rights to broadcast the Olympic Games in February 2005 when Bell Globemedia and Rogers Media outbid the CBC by US $53 million for rights to the 2010 and 2012 games.

In 2005, the CBC bid U.S. $100 million for broadcasting rights while Rogers and Bell bid U.S. $153 million.

Now, four years after the rights were awarded, is now demanding that the CBC cancel its French language programming and broadcast CTV programming instead because CTVGlobemedia and Rogers Media are unable to provide French coverage to a small number of francophones who rely on over-the-air television signals.

It’s unclear why the CRTC is making accessibility an issue less than a year prior to the games when it has known about the problem for over four years.  In 2005, accessibility was one of the CBC’s primary selling points in its proposal. At the time, the public broadcaster that awarding the games to the CBC would ensure that approximately 99 per cent of Canadians both English and French would be able to watch the Games.

“In our view, CTVglobemedia has a responsibility, as a private broadcaster using the public spectrum, to make sure that Canadians see national events like the Olympic Games in the official language of their choice.” said Mr. Finckenstein in prepared remarks.

Remarkably, rather than requiring CTV and Rogers to find a solution to a problem which has existed for four years, the commissioner has now mandated that the CBC must air CTV/Rogers coverage in Quebec.

True North Media + Olympics

Sports Journalists’ Association newsblog – Olympic blogs get go-ahead for Vancouver

Sports Journalists’ Association newsblog » Blog Archive » Olympic blogs get go-ahead for Vancouver, May 13, 2009

NOTE: Respectfully shared in full for historical record and educational use. Original links and date intact for context.

##

The International Olympic Committee has issued a four-page guide to competitors which acknowledges the realities of 21st century communications by allowing “athletes’ blogs” at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, in a move which could make athlete-authored columns much easier to arrange for newspaper websites than at previous Olympics.

The new guidelines will be scrutinised closely during the Winter Olympics, and are sure to form the basis for the rules to be applied at the 2012 London Games.

“The IOC considers blogging, in accordance with these guidelines, as a legitimate form of personal expression and not as a form of journalism,” the new guidelines say.

According to a report on the subscription website AroundtheRings.com, those who break the rules could lose their Olympic accreditation cards and may face legal action for damages. The restrictions were approved by the IOC’s Executive Board earlier this year. They will come into effect with the opening of the Vancouver Olympic Village next February.

The guidelines are the latest development in IOC rules which have had to evolve rapidly, reflecting the growing appetite for first-hand accounts from Olympic competitors, and they mark a sea-change from the rules issued from Lausanne ahead of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where athletes were banned from blogging altogether.

“There are certain things you can’t do,” Bob Condron, a member of the IOC’s press commission, told AroundtheRings, “because you’re infringing on what the journalists can’t do inside the ropes. You can’t be covering news, because that takes the role of a journalist and is not what anyone had in mind.”

Rule 49 of the Olympic Charter states that, “Only those persons accredited as media may act as journalists, reporters or in any other media capacity.”

Athlete blogs remain subject to the IOC’s strict copyright rules and broadcasting rights agreements, and therefore are not allowed to use sound clips or video. Even photographs on the blogs are restricted, preventing any images from Olympic action or medal ceremonies. Interviews and news about other athletes are also prohibited. Blogs may not include Olympic symbols, such as the five rings. The word “Olympic” is allowed, as long as it is not associated with a third party or its products or services. Emblems of an National Olympic Committee or Vancouver organising committee are allowed if the blogger has obtained written permission.

The guidelines also include strict regulations on what advertising is, and is not, allowed on the blogs.

Another requirement is that the blogs be “dignified and in good taste”.

According to the guidelines, “In essence, bloggers post their blogs at their own risk and they should make it clear that the views expressed are their own.”

True North Media + Olympics

Road Warrior: A vast, vibrant, early view of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics via ESPN

Link

Road Warrior; Jim Caple; A vast, vibrant, early view of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. – ESPN, April 14, 2009 By Jim Caple

NOTE: Respectfully shared in full for historical record and educational use. Original links and date intact for context. 

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — As the winter sky fills with colors rarely seen since the Houston Astros dropped their rainbow jersey design, aspiring Olympic skiers fresh from their Cypress Mountain training runs pull off the road, pull out their cameras and take in the dazzling sunset over the Strait of Georgia.

“OK, I could live here,” said Crystal Lee, a Canadian national team skier from Ontario. “Just pitch a tent.”

This is what Vancouver will provide next year over past winter Olympic cities (and come to think about it, summer Olympic host cities, as well). Yes, Winter Games have been held in beautiful towns (Innsbruck, St. Moritz). And, yes, Winter Games have been held in major cities (Torino has almost as many people as Vancouver). But has any host provided the combination of mountain and sea views that leave you as breathless and weak-kneed as skiing a 10K cross-country race? And has any host been a vibrant metropolis renowned worldwide for its livability, diversity and vast capacity for showing a visitor a good time?

Continue reading Road Warrior: A vast, vibrant, early view of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics via ESPN →

True North Media + Olympics

Opening of the Vancouver Convention Centre, site of the International Broadcast Centre for the 2010 Winter Games – News Releases via Vancouver 2010

Aside

Opening of the Vancouver Convention Centre, site of the International Broadcast Centre for the 2010 Winter Games – News Releases via Vancouver 2010, Apr 3, 2009 By Vanoc

Note: Article shared here in full for historical record. Original article link is broken, as such, accessed from Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, Feb. 2017.  Posted with original publication date to place in context.

##

Vancouver, BC— Broadcasters from around the world will report live on the excitement of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games against the stunning backdrop of the city’s mountain and waterfront vista from the newly expanded Vancouver Convention Centre, which officially opened today.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) will operate the International Broadcast Centre from the newest section of the centre, which features a 2.4-hectare living green roof and a restored marine habitat underneath. The site — a television city with full services and amenities — will open to broadcasters from more than 100 countries on January 12, 2010 and close in late March of that year.

“We want to congratulate the Province of British Columbia, all of the workers and especially convention centre volunteer chairman David Podmore on a job well done. This centre will truly be a legacy jewel for the city,” said John Furlong, VANOC’s Chief Executive Officer.

“This facility will be home for several weeks in 2010 to the most broad-reaching and influential broadcast media in the world and we’re proud to welcome them to it,” Furlong continued. “Broadcasters have told me viewers at home will be blown away by the city’s spectacular scenery when they tune in to watch the Games.”

The entire Vancouver Convention Centre will act as the Main Media Centre for the Olympic Winter Games, including both the International Broadcast Centre and the Main Press Centre, located nearby under the distinctive white sails of Canada Place. An estimated 10,000 journalists will churn out stories, video and photos, capturing the spirit and athletic accomplishments of the world’s top athletes from the downtown Vancouver venue during the Games.

Located in the heart of the city’s waterfront area, the Main Media Centre is within walking distance of major Games venues, including the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver, BC Place and Canada Hockey Place. The centre also provides breathtaking views of the snow-capped North Shore Mountains (home of snowboard and freestyle skiing events during the Olympic Winter Games), as well as the city’s famous Stanley Park and its stands of massive cedars and Douglas firs and the distinctive span of Lions Gate Bridge, linking the city with the Sea to Sky route to Whistler, where the alpine, Nordic and sliding competitions will be held.

In recent months, VANOC has met with businesses and residents near the Vancouver Convention Centre to outline the activities of the Main Media Centre and discuss business operations and residential life during the Games.

About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

True North Media + Olympics

Thinking About Social Media and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver via DarrenBarefoot.com

Aside

Thinking About Social Media and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Nov. 25, 2008, By Darren Barefoot

NOTE: Respectfully shared in full for historical record and educational use. Original links and date intact for context.

##

There’s been plenty of talk lately about how social media creators will fit in with the 2010 Olympics. Dave Olson wrote an open letter to VANOC Media Relations and Press Operations:

In brief, we’d like to have a conversation about how to allow fans and amateur media makers to document their Olympic experience while keeping out of the way of the IOC IP lawyers…

We are aware of your obligations to media rights holders and are seeking to provide an entirely different sort of coverage than the accredited media provide. We are not looking to cover events per se but are instead interested in covering the cultural stories, athletes’ families’ stories, and stories from fans who saved and traveled from around the world for this experience.

That led to an article in the Vancouver Sun, and a response from a VANOC spokesperson.

This feels like a good place to start. As Dave says, social media types aren’t expecting all-access passes to the gold medal hockey games. He’s right to point out that there’s a big hole to fill in the media coverage for such an event. I was thinking about it, and drew this little Venn diagram:

Olympics and Social Media, 2010

The CTVs and CBCs are going to have the major, breaking news covered. It’s all that green space–that’s where social media creators can live. Through various channels, I’m seeing several ways forward for benefits for both parties. Social media creators get some tools, resources and access to help with their citizen journalism efforts, and VANOC enjoys a whole new layer of news coverage. Such a partnership would also highlight Vancouver’s place as a global for new media, citizen journalism and the like.