The Australian Olympic Committee made a surprise announcement this week when they stated that Australian athletes will be able to keep their own blogs as they compete in the upcoming 2008 Olympics. So far, the Beijing Olympics are being dubbed the Blogging Olympics as more committees agree to give their athletes the freedom to express themselves.
The British Olympic Association also made an announcement on blogging that was not as well received. They asserted that players who do decide to blog will not be allowed to make any comments of a political nature about the hosting nation. This is in response to widespread criticism of China’s human rights record and fears that bloggers could spark an international incident.
The International Olympic Committee reacted harshly to Britain’s decision, stating that as long as the blogs are personal in nature and do not “compromise the security, staging and organisation of the Games” there should be no problem in allowing the players the freedom to write their own blogs. The IOC was adamant that any blogs published must not be journalistic in nature, nor will players be allowed to interview teammates or competitors.
However, the AOC has no such plans in place to inhibit their players from expressing themselves. John Coates, the chairman of the AOC stated, “We respect the rights of athletes to have an opinion and express it.” However, he did add that players have been asked not to post any copyrighted images, and refrain from adding content to their blogs that is obscene or defamatory. He believes that most blogs will be “dignified and in good taste.”
In addition, Australian athletes that do blog have been asked not to share any personal information about their competitors or other teammates on their blogs. There was some concern that confidential information could be leaked, but these restrictions should help keep this in check.
Coaches for the Australian teams are a bit worried however. Many feel that the added responsibility of maintaining their own blogs will be a distraction for the athletes. The National Swimming Head Coach, Alan Thompson stated, “I will advise them to avoid any topic that would … distract them from the job they are doing.” He hopes that his team will keep their blogs to basic personal diaries and avoid getting caught up in political or hot-button issues.
In addition to being allowed to blog, Australian Olympic competitors will also be prevented from making money from their blogs with advertising. Thompson commented on this, stating, “Because they won’t be able to do it as a commercial thing now, I don’t think it will be such a big deal.” This keeps the spirit of the non-pro player alive, particularly since many players could have received lucrative endorsements from major companies for their blogs.
Although the AOC will not be directly monitoring any player blogs, it is expected that the media will be keeping a close eye on what the athletes have to say. The AOC hopes that if there are any problems that members of the media will alert them to the issues.
Tags: olympics
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March 2nd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
This is an intriguing idea. No doubt they’ll prove to be interesting reading when the time comes. As for the British announcement encouraging (or perhaps asserting) self-censorship, I can’t say I approve of that, it feels like an infringement of liberty.
March 4th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
This sounds pretty interesting. On the same note, I wonder how many fights will break out over these blogs, coupled with hot-headed athletes who are talking junk to and about each other online.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:40 am
I think this sounds really good. It will be interesting to read on how the athletes are coping or what their goals are. I reckon it will become quite popular, I wander if any of the British athletes will start blogging?
April 26th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I think this is a great idea. Every big event around the world should be blogged about by the key players. Not revealing too much personal information in a blog is important whoever you are, as you are making yourself vulnerable. It would be a shame if athletes are prevented from commenting on their personal feelings and observations regarding China, because blogging is all about the individual’s views and character. However, I find it unlikely that any athlete who goes to the Olympics will have any desire to blog about the Tibet situation - they will be too focused on the competition.
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:17 am
Letting the players do the blogging might be a wrong thing to do since they are the ones who will be competing on this. What if they decide to say something bad about the event? I think that it is better if they do not allow the players to do the blogging for them. It is better if they hire some paid-to-blog sites to do it for them. At least they can control what the bloggers are going to say on the event.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
This is really a good idea. At least through the use of blogs everyone has access to what the players have to say about events and anyone can easily interact with the them.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I hope this helps to reveal more of inner details about the Olympics. Everyday the players will get the opportunity to post on their experiences and we as fans will get to better know the mood of the players. This will be a real treat for die hart Olympic watchers. Lets hope they al keep within the limit and no politics gets involved in this.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:46 pm
This is interesting. I wonder how many people will pretend to be the athletes. Since the athletes don’t know much about internet marketing the fakes would be able to get more traffic and would take advantage of it. Hope there’s a way around this.