Journalists were pleased with the setting and the diversity of activities on offer.However,there was a lack of understanding about the purpose of the NAMC and how it differed from the accredited centres.Mainstream journalists using the NAMC because of its convenient location often complained about the lack of sporting information,a function it did not intend to serve.Furthermore,due to the emphasis on the tourist and economic agenda of most NAMC stakeholders,staff members are not always equipped to inform about the NAMC facilities and other media operations but rather the activities on offer in the city.This was noticeable in the Torino centre,where the most prominent information desk was dedicated entirely to the organisation of city tours,but which could not address any questions relating to upcoming press conferences or the hiring of spaces for interviews or recordings.Despite these complaints,in Athens,approximately 300 out of the 15,000 accredited journalists used the NAMC as their main base.Also,eight out of ten journalists representing alternative and specialist media were interested in the stories on offer at the NAMC rather than sporting stories.Their angle was more diverse and inclusive than that of the mainstream Olympic media.They covered the political and social issues surrounding the Games hosting process and portrayed the stories of local cultural groups including ethnic minorities and marginal communities.
Conclusions:From Non-Accredited to New-Media Centres
The presence of the NAMC occupies an ambiguously regulated zone within the Olympic infrastructure.Emerging from the host city local government rather than the official organizing committee,the operational space for non-accredited media does not permit the use of Olympic iconography(such as the Olympic rings).Neither does it provide complimentary access to sporting competitions for journalists,unlike the accredited facilities(the International Broadcast Centre and the Main Press Centre).Instead,it offers an opportunity for journalists to report on everything other than the sports events,which includes,for instance,performances and activities related to the Olympic Cultural Programme.It also offers information about“human interest”stories,which generally includes information about the local culture and region.For instance,at the Salt Lake Winter Games in 2002,there was an emphasis on promoting the ski and snowboarding resorts;in Athens,the centre promoted Greek heritage as well as project country's role and aspirations to protect the philosophical traditions and contemporary diplomatic potential of the Olympic Movement;in Torino 2006,the emphasis was on promoting the gastronomy and design industries in the Piemonte region.
To this extent,we have identified that there are,potentially,competing aspirations between the host city and the International Olympic Committee.For the latter,the Olympic Games are an opportunity to re-establish and showcase the Olympic brand.For the former,the Olympic brand is a catalyst for drawing attention to the cultural identity of the city/region,which is expected to translate into economic investment over a number of years.Yet,each aspiration competes for scarce media coverage during the intense period of the Olympic fortnight.
The development of non-accredited media at the Olympics presents an interesting set of circumstances for Beijing,particularly given recent developments in online publication and broadcasting.At the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games,there was a noticeable presence of new media journalists at the non-accredited facilities,which was significantly different from the Athens 2004 Summer Games.Indeed,the Torino Games was perhaps the first in Olympic history where low-budget journalistic operations could broadcast effectively through the Internet.For instance,many of the increasingly pervasive platforms such as YouTube came online around the end of 2005.Torino demonstrated some further challenges posed by non-accredited media,given the capacity to publish multimedia content through diverse online platforms.In fact,some of the new media journalists felt constrained by the concept of having a physical“centre”,which implies a restriction on movement during the chaotic Games time period.There is also a challenge for the organisers to determine how to provide accreditation to online journalists,many of whom would not fit into traditional definitions of what it means to be a journalist.For instance,many of the journalists present in Torino were neither professionally accredited nor professionally free lance reporters.Rather,a considerable amount of those present had extensive followings of viewers to their weblogs(blogs)or online magazines.This raises problems since the accreditation process for the non-accredited media centres has typically required formal evidence of professional journalism status.However,some NAMC hosts have accepted evidence of publishing as the only requirement for entry.In our view,it is crucial that future NAMCs learn to accommodate the non-professional journalist in order to maximise the impact of this investment.