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From the desk of Scott Moore, Executive Director of CBC TV Sports, comes a look at emerging trends in the world of sports broadcasting and what weighs into decisions at Canada's public broadcaster

China must allow free reporting in Beijing

Friday, March 21, 2008 | 04:26 PM ET

I don't believe politics and the Olympics are a good mix. This past week, with the events in Tibet, there are some that are starting to use the word "boycott."

I'm not going to use this column to express my views about what the Chinese are doing in Tibet. I'll leave that to others who are more educated on the situation.

However, I think boycotts only hurt the athletes who have trained their whole careers, and a boycott ends up having little political impact.

But I wrote yesterday that these Olympics are China's "coming out party." Whether you agree with the IOC's awarding the games to China or not, this should be their opportunity to put a more open face to the world.

Right now, I'm worried about how they are going to do that.

There's a report from the Associated Press today that the Chinese government is not going to allow international networks to do live coverage during the Games from Tiananmen Square. If this is true, it is something we at the CBC, and our colleagues from other networks around the world, need to be very concerned about. And we need to be vocal in our opposition to this and any other proposed restrictions on our ability to tell whatever stories happen during the Games.

The international media have been promised free access in China for our reporters during the Games. As a responsible Canadian network, we owe that standard of reporting to our viewers.

It will be our position that when China agreed to stage the Games, they agreed to allow standard Olympic reporting. They need to live up to that. As an international rights holder, we need to keep their feet to the fire to ensure that they keep that promise.

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Comments

Richard Clifford

If China does not get its act together and stop these abuses against its citizens, the call for a boycott will get louder. If that happens, lots of athletes from Canda and the United States(among other counties) will end up missing out on the Games. However, China cannot present itself as a world power if it will not allow rights and freedoms to be exercised there.
Since CBC is a rights holder in Canada(and NBC is the rights holder here in the States), it must talk the walk by demanding that the Chinese government allow them to report openly on all aspects of the games. Otherwise, people will be deceived.

Posted March 31, 2008 04:48 PM

Andrew Perry

Halifax

They're not going to.
There is nothing more dangerous to any authoritarian regime than free dissemination of information.

Any information.

Unfortunately, such ideas are not restricted to dictatorships, they are common in amateur and professional sports organizations, politicians in democracies, corporations etc.
Your job as a journalist is to get the information out anyway, and if you can't, that too is important information.

Posted March 26, 2008 11:29 PM

harry yang

ottawa

The rioters were killing innocent peoples in Tibet randomly. What human rights we are talking about here? For the innocent victims or for the killers? These rioters are criminals and murderers. This type of violent is not allowed in any countries. Their evil act is against the basic principle of man-kind, regardless of where it happened. If they do this in this country, they are criminals/terrorist. If they do this in China or anywhere else in the world, they are still criminals/terrorists. They are not heroes or human right fighters. It has nothing to do with the Olympic game. No double standard please. Thank you.

Posted March 25, 2008 11:46 AM

Frank Black

And what if China doesn't allow free reporting? What are you going to do about it? Nothing, I'll wager. Foreigners and especially foreigners in the media don't hold any sway in China. So get off your high horse because you won't be changing anything by "grumbling."

Posted March 24, 2008 03:47 PM

John Kittirdge

I am glad that the news media are grumbling about the restrictions imposed on them by Beijing. But it is a sad fact that the news media takes little interest in human rights and it takes rioting and mayhem to put the systemic abuses in Tibet in the Headlines. Indeed, restrictions on press freedom has already begun to eclipse coverage of the Tibetans who made the headlines last week and are now quietly disappearing into the black hole of China's network of prisons.

Posted March 23, 2008 03:10 PM

DrBehavior

Until and unless the peoples of all those nations participating in the 2008 Beijing games join together in a vociferous protest of Chinese behavior nothing of any consequence will change. This is the world's opportunity to speak with equanimity telling the Chinese that not only are they violating human rights but there doing so is antithetical to the very spirit of the Olympics. We're naturally concerned about the affect that a boycott will have on the athletes, however, like the Carter boycott of the Soviet games, where we learned that our lack of participation costs the Russians dearly, the Chinese will also learn that it's far more to there advantage to join there economic success with socio-political advancement than it is to behavior as a tyrant with little or no regard for human rights.

Posted March 22, 2008 06:47 PM

Rose Mary Sander

Wiinipeg

A word of appreciation for the commentator of the World Figure Skating on Country Canada.
She was knowledgeable,calm,postive and didn't interrupt the focus on the skaters. Much better than all the extraneous commentary we usually have .

Thanks

Posted March 22, 2008 02:10 PM

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