Unelected Bureaucrats Gone Wild: IOC Edition
Written by: Beck
IOC bars Athletes, coaches, support personnel, and other officials from blogging during the Olympics. Yep. That's right. To paraphrase the
Soup Nazi, "No blog for you, two weeks!"
I really don't understand why international officialdom is so terrified of bloggers. I can kind of understand the rational when I see some lame big-media anti-blog attack piece (and there have been more than a few). After all, these people perceive a threat to their livelihoods. But I really don't understand this one.
The International Olympic Committee is barring competitors, as well as coaches, support personnel and other officials, from writing firsthand accounts for news and other Web sites.
An exception is if an athlete has a personal Web site that they did not set up specifically for the Games.
The IOC's rationale for the restrictions is that athletes and their coaches should not serve as journalists -- and that the interests of broadcast rightsholders and accredited media come first.
Participants in the games may respond to written questions from reporters or participate in online chat sessions -- akin to a face-to-face or telephone interview -- but they may not post journals or online diaries, blogs in Internet parlance, until the Games end August 29.
To protect lucrative broadcast contracts, athletes and other participants are also prohibited from posting any video, audio or still photos they take themselves, even after the games, unless they get permission ahead of time. (Photos taken by accredited journalists are allowed on the personal sites.)
Since this isn't taking place in the United States, I can't make any broad points about censorship or the first amendment. Instead, allow me to simply observe that this is really quite pathetic. The IOC feels the need to protect their juicy broadcast contracts by banning blog posts? Are you kidding me? You'll not hear me say this often, but the incestuous worlds of bureaucracy, NGOs, and big-media could learn a lesson from American politics--embrace bloggers, 'cuz we ain't goin' away.