Friday, August 29, 2008

How is Media and Communication Going to Change for the Next Olympic Games?




























The media and communication have developed a lot in the past twenty years. Nowadays everybody could be practically a journalist. Not only that but one could bring the “studio” with him/her by bringing only a cell phone.
Many people were concerned about the media coverage around the Olympic Games in Beijing this year. First, it was announced by the International Olympic Committee that Chinese government would not filter communication. People were skeptic but may be many wanted for Chinese regime to change that is why they believed them. Later on, due to problems with the protesting Tibetans, Chinese government announced that they would filter communication due to their national safety and fear of criticism (Kahn, 2008). (One should wonder who should be more afraid the Tibetans or Chinese and is this a valuable reason to filter information that regards the whole world?) This made many people skeptic about “open” China. Many governments pulled their athletes back and many politicians refused to attend the opening and closing ceremony. There were only three big teams attending the games that were dominating the games – USA, Russia, and China. Most European teams were cut down in half. Government sponsored athletes were told to stay home or to find a sponsor. However, many of them chose to stay at home and miss the Games. That was a symbol of protest for human rights and freedom of speech. The Olympic Games this year did not feel this grandiose event as usual due to the fact that many refused to go.
On the other hand just because Chinese government filters and controls the media and communication does not mean that people could not go back home and broadcast interesting information about China and/or the Games. One could go as a tourist, pretend to be an Olympic fan (or not) use his/hers still cell phone to shoot a clip or picture, save it, go home, and “broadcast” it to millions. When Steve Garfield came in class as guest lecturer, he showed us many examples from his personal experience that showed, a man does not need a lot to be able to show the world the truth.
What is expected for the next Olympic Games in terms of media and communication? Considering the next Games would be in London, UK, it is expected that communication would be truly open. However, due to fear of terrorists’ attacks, the British government would still have to monitor the media. (Europe is constantly targeted by terrorists.) Television would be still the major way of showing the event because the Olympic Committee holds all rights to broadcasting the Games. Many public or government owned channels around the world have contracts with the Committee for many years to come. However, many more people would be involved in the new media technology. That is why I think people should expect much more quantitative information and much broader spectrum of opinion and/or judgment.
In conclusion, I would like to add the media would be handled more by the public and regular citizen and less by broadcasting companies. Television, press, and radio are becoming old medium of communication. Many people nowadays, do not read the newspaper and do not have time to watch the news. However, due to the mobile nature of technology, individuals could watch or read on a go through a cell phone or a lap top. And technology and mobility of technology will continue to develop...

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

New Form of Male Rhythmic Gymnastics

Result of the Chinese Olympic Team - Real or Arranged?

Through the years of Olympic History, people have slowly gotten used to the biases connected with the hosting country. However, when it comes to a host country like China, the biases take another level. China has always "performed" in the top five countries to receive the most amount of medals but this does not solemnly belong to the ability of the athletes but also to the size of delegation. It is only natural that countries with big delegations would have the most amount of medals: USA, Russia, China, and Canada. Until now, China could never get ahead of USA and Russia. This year, China "flew" over them with 15 gold medals difference with United States and 28 gold medal difference with Russia. According to an Associated Press report presented by ESPN, Chinese team started dominating yearly in the games. According to Canadian journal Report on Business, until now countries with totalitarian regime only prove to cheat at the Olympic Games.
Curtesy of Beijing 2008 official website.