Additional opportunities created for press and non-rights-holding broadcasters at Beijing 2022

“The International Olympic Committee places great importance on the work of the global media and its coverage of the Olympic Games. It is in our interest to foster coverage opportunities that result in the widest possible reach while still respecting our rights-holding partners, whose audiences and funding are paramount to the development of Olympic sports worldwide,” said Lucia Montanarella, IOC Associate Director of Olympic Games Media Operations.

“We have worked with the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee to identify the specific challenges to these Games, what we could do to address them, and where we could learn and evolve from Tokyo 2020 to provide a working environment that meets the needs of the accredited press and non-rights-holding media under the difficult circumstances caused by the pandemic,” she added.

Key new features initiated in Tokyo that will also be available in Beijing are:

• Live-streaming of post-competition press conferences at Olympic venues (including the Olympic Villages) on the web-based Info/myInfo official media information system for accredited media.
• Online chat tool available on myInfo for remote questions from reporters during the press conferences.
• Access permitted to accredited press and non-rights-holding broadcasters to the press conferences on myInfo for on-demand viewing and download for delayed broadcast and exhibit, entirely or in segments as described in the News Access Rules.
• IOC/Beijing 2022 Daily Press Briefings also to be downloadable from myInfo.
• All the video footage provided via myInfo will meet broadcast quality standards.

Opportunities from previous Games that will continue to be available are:

• Live broadcast and exhibition of the media briefings and press conferences of the IOC Executive Board (EB) meeting, the IOC Session, the IOC President’s press conferences and the Daily Press Briefings (which, as in Tokyo, will all be live-streamed on the IOC Media YouTube channel).
• All the press conferences above will take place at the Main Press Centre, where accredited press and non-rights-holding broadcasters have access and can film.

Given the global COVID-19 situation, Beijing 2022 will unfortunately have to be different from past Olympic Winter Games. As detailed in the Beijing 2022 Playbooks, a special system has been defined to keep Games participants and the people of China safe and healthy, while allowing accredited participants to perform their day-to-day activities based on their roles.

This means that journalists accredited to the Olympic Games, whether based in China or not, will need to enter a closed-loop management system, and will be allowed to move only between Games official destinations (including venues, accommodation, etc.) and using dedicated transport systems.

As in Tokyo, athletes’ and teams’ movements will be restricted to the Olympic Villages and training and competition venues, as part of the COVID-19 countermeasures.

To mitigate the effect this will have on non-rights-holding broadcasters’ ability to interview athletes and capture external footage, the following measures will be in place:

• A system to allow athletes to visit the Main Press Centre in Beijing and the Zhangjiakou Press Centre.
• Two areas outside but still part of the perimeter of the Main Media Centre at the Olympic Park and the Zhangjiakou Press Centre, respectively, accessible at any time, will provide different backgrounds for use as stand-up positions or for live broadcasts, interviews and general filming.
• Filming in other areas within the closed-loop management system that are not Olympic venues, such as media hotels and the train stations connecting the three zones of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, will also be possible.