According to the Association of Foreign Correspondents in Beijing (FCCC), the Organizing Committee of the next Winter Olympics is massively obstructing preliminary reporting by the international media. In a statement, the FCCC writes that correspondents have been denied access to press conferences as well as visits to sports facilities for a year. Even the arrival of the Olympic flame should not have accompanied most of the foreign journalists. After the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Chinese capital will host the Winter Games in February 2022.
In its criticism, the FCCC states that the organizing committee only grants hand-picked participants – mainly from the Chinese media – access to events and does not announce dates at all or only hours in advance. Inquiries were not answered, too late or incorrectly. Several correspondents state that security forces pursue them on the rare occasions they visit sports facilities and try to prevent the reporting.
The Association of Correspondents considers the behavior of the Organizing Committee to be a breach of the Olympic Charter
The FCCC sees this as a breach of the Olympic Charter, whose rule 48 provides for “the most complete possible coverage by the various media” for “the largest possible audience worldwide”. Ensuring this is in turn the task of the International Olympic Committee, the umbrella organization of the Games. Its hotline for complaints from press representatives is not even activated, according to the FCCC.
Also with regard to the question of the extent to which foreign correspondents will be able to report on the games themselves, there is “enormous uncertainty”. The Chinese government leaves key questions unanswered: “Will reporters be able to travel outside the Olympic bubbles in the capital, do they have to go into quarantine and under what conditions?”
In its statement, the FCCC calls on the Organizing Committee and the Olympic Committee to improve access to the international media for the Games, to install reliable contacts and to approve pending visa applications from foreign journalists.