The 1st World Press Briefing for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held in
Beijing 25-29 September 2006, the Beijing Organizing Committee for
the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) announced today.
The 1st World Press Briefing is designed to provide
international news organizations with the ability to review first
hand the preparations for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. It will
offer attendees a comprehensive review of the facilities and
services that will be available for the accredited media during the
Olympic Games so they can effectively start to plan and budget
their Games time coverage and logistics.
The Briefing will comprise of venue tours, inspections of
accommodation facilities and a one day briefing which will include
reports from BOCOG departments on the sports, competition schedule
and planned facilities and services designed for the media at the
Main Press Center and venues, as well as media accommodation,
transport, accreditation, rate card, technology, photo and news
services.
Attendees will also have the additional opportunity to attend
city and urban tours of historical sites such as the Great Wall,
the Forbidden City and Hutong districts for unique photo
opportunities and a taste of the country's unique history and
culture.
BOCOG will utilize the ideas and suggestions proposed by the
international press during the briefing to further define and fine
tune its media services and venue operation plans.
First developed for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, World Press
Briefings have proven a valuable tool for Olympic organizers to
provide up-to-date information about Olympic preparations to the
media while helping the news organizations plan their media
coverage. More than 100 delegates representing many of the world's
major news agencies and newspapers, as well as some broadcast news
organizations, National Olympic Committees and International
Sporting Federations, will attend the briefing.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will hold its
important annual IOC Press Commission meeting in Beijing on Monday
25 September, in conjunction with the World Press Briefing.
The IOC Press Commission will debrief the recent Torino 2006
Olympic Winter Games, as well as receive detailed progress reports
from the Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 organizing
committees.
The Olympic Games is the largest media event in the world with
over 21,600 media --16,000 broadcasters and 5,600 press and
photographers representing over 200 countries -- who will be
accredited to cover the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, held from 8-24
August 2008.
(BOCOG May 22, 2006)