On April 11, the world news agency conference of Beijing Winter Olympic Games was held in Shougang office area of Beijing Winter Olympic organizing committee. About 90 representatives from Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, International Olympic Committee and 9 world news agencies attended the conference. After on-the-spot investigation of most venues in the three competition areas, participating news agencies expressed appreciation for Beijing’s Olympic heritage and venue construction. Anthony Edgar, chairman of the Information Committee of the International Olympic Committee and director of media operations, highly affirmed the preparation of Beijing Winter Olympics venues and media operations: “The preparation of Beijing Winter Olympics is very reassuring, everything is advancing in an orderly manner.”
Zhang Jiandong, vice mayor of Beijing and executive vice chairman of Beijing Winter Olympic organizing committee, delivered a speech to the conference on behalf of Beijing Winter Olympic organizing committee. He said: “The news media is crucial to the successful hosting of an Olympic Games. Looking back at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the comprehensive reports of news organizations not only attracted hundreds of millions of audiences around the world to pay attention to the Olympic Games, but also gave the world a brand-new and in-depth understanding of China and Beijing. I believe that through the news reporting work of the 2022 Winter Olympics, this positive influence will be further expanded.”
Anthony said that China has rich experience in hosting the Olympic Games. In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee and the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee provided the best service to the media of various countries (regions), the competition was a great success. In 2022, Beijing will become the first city in the world to hold both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. The media operation of the Winter Olympics has its own special features compared with the Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will join hands with the Beijing Winter Olympic organizing committee to establish a new partnership with the media of various countries (regions) and make preparations for them to report on the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
Anthony said, “like everyone attending the conference, I have left a deep impression on the venue construction of Beijing Winter Olympics, especially seeing blue sky and spring snow in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, the scene is spectacular. The role of this world news agency conference is very important. Representatives of various news agencies have obtained rich information about the competition area, transportation, accommodation and other aspects. After returning home, they will be able to start their own preparations. Now we are very confident about the success of the media operation of Beijing Winter Olympics.”
This meeting is the first time that BOCOG officially introduced the relevant progress of the media operation preparation work of Beijing Winter Olympics to major news organizations around the world. As the organizer of the conference, BOCOG, together with the media operation team of the International Olympic Committee, is responsible for the media operation of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the schedule of events and competitions, venues and infrastructure, arrival and departure, media transportation, the preparation process of 9 business areas, including media accommodation, registration and Visa, security and technology, was introduced in detail, and answered the concerns of participating news organizations through on-site Q & A and discussion.
The Nine News agencies invited to attend the meeting include 4 international news agencies including Associated Press, Reuters, AFP and Xinhua News Agency, as well as Gatti photo, European news photo agency, Kyodo News Agency of Japan, USA Today, world famous news organizations such as the New York Times. It is reported that BOCOG will also hold a world media briefing meeting in 2020, which is larger than the world news agency conference.
According to the arrangement of the First World News agency conference of the Beijing Winter Olympics, on April 8-10, the IOC and representatives of participating news agencies visited the exhibition center of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympic Games, and visited Beijing, Yanqing, in addition to the National Alpine skiing center, all competition venues and out of competition venues including the main news center, mountain news center and Olympic awards Plaza in the three competition areas in Zhangjiakou have conducted field visits. Due to the construction of the National Alpine skiing center, the roads are temporarily closed.
In the “Water Cube” of the National Swimming Center and the current “ice cube”, Vincent Amavi, the head of the special operation team of AFP, appreciated the utilization of Beijing’s Olympic heritage. He said: “We are familiar with most of the venues here because we worked here in 2008. It feels very good to come back again now. For example, it is very interesting to see the swimming pool converted into cold water jug. The original Olympic venues are now like tourists. Compared with 2008, today’s China and Beijing have changed a lot, and the Olympic heritage here is also very good!”
In Yanqing competition area, representatives of many world news organizations praised the planning of the national snowmobile sled Center and the National Alpine Ski Center. Dennis paquine, deputy director of photography at The Associated Press, said: “Yanqing division brings the two venues together, which is very spectacular. For me, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is one of my favorite Olympic Games, and I believe that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games will be as extraordinary as 2008. I am looking forward to it.”
In Zhangjiakou competition area, Mark Penter, a technical engineer from Gatti pictures, is very interested in ski jumping. He said: “This venue is very beautiful, and I believe there will be many good photos here during the competition. In addition, I also like your idea of connecting the three competition areas together, which is really shocking.” Today, Nicholas Carter, the technical department secretary of the US image content service, said during his inspection at Genting ski park: “A lot of work has been completed ahead of schedule and everything looks very good. The three-day visit let us know the location of the venue and the appearance of the venue.”
People’s Daily (07 edition, April 13, 2019)