Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...

Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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The National Broadcasting Company did have some regular news staff in Moscow but the
US rules meant they could only broadcast general news, not sports events.
During the Games, there were problems with the security people. In the television center,
they set the metal detectors to such a high degree of sensitivity that an alarm would go
off even if somebody had a single metal tooth. The first three days, this resulted in
endless queues trying to enter the center.
Just an hour before the opening ceremony, the head of the Eurovision team called me
saying that security would admit only one person per media outlet, even if the plans called
for three. Things improved only after I told the Minister of the Interior that Eurovision
would not cover the opening ceremony and that he would have to explain why to the
world audience.
There was no censorship. It was technically impossible anyway because foreign
broadcasters could produce programs themselves and go directly on the air from their
studios in Moscow, and also from Estonia, where the sailing events took place.
The boycott of the Olympic Games in Moscow had a negative impact on the Olympic
Games in Los Angeles, which the Soviets decided to boycott. I participated in the meeting
of the Soviet Olympic Committee when this was decided. Vitaly Smirnov, a member of the
International Olympic Committee, and I voted against the boycott, but the Soviet press
reported that the decision was unanimous.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party explained that this was not revenge for
the boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games but because emigrant groups in Los Angeles
threatened terrorist attacks against Soviet sportsmen. There were indeed letters with such
threats, but I'm not sure that they were not “arranged” for by Moscow. As a member of
the International Olympic Committee television committee, I had visited LA and had met
with the local security services. They were well prepared to protect the Soviet team.
Of course, there were fools on both sides. One Los Angeles newspaper published an
article saying that most Soviet sportsmen were KGB agents. Some real KGB officers used
that assertion as an added argument to justify the boycott of the Olympics.
I suggested that it would be very easy to solve the problem: The young gymnasts upon
landing at Los Angeles airport could leave the aircraft with the slogan on their Olympic
uniforms - “I am a KGB agent.” My humor was not appreciated.
Since the protests have erupted in Tibet on 10 March, Chinese authorities have attempted
to prevent information about the development from reaching both domestic and
international audiences. Journalists have either been expelled from or denied access to
regions where protests happened. As a result, there have been statements by some public
figures calling for a boycott of the Beijing Games.