The Olympics occupy a special position in the recorded history of games and sports worldwide. Almost all the countries in the world participate in the event that is held in every 4 years, making it the biggest international sporting event. Olympics news refers to communicable information on the Olympics and its proceedings. Prior to the commencement of the event, nearly all leading news services and agencies introduce Olympics news segments featuring the latest updates leading to the Games.
The latest proceedings in and around the Games village are covered extensivelyin Olympics news stories. News corporationssuch as BBC and CNN send full-time correspondents to the Games village to receive updates every hour, whereas some national and regional news services collect newsworthy stories from AFP, Press Association and Thomson Reuters. As budget remains to be a constraint for many news authorities, Olympics news coverage is sometimes funded by various sponsors that usually work on a contractual basis.
What we know today as Olympics news began its journey in 1936 when the summer edition of the game in Berlin was telecastliveon local channels. It was not before the 1956 Winter Olympics that the entire world witnessed the event on television. The year 1956 is thus considered to be epochal in the history of Olympics news.
CBS is granted exclusive rights to telecast Olympics news for the winter editions of the Games. After a deal of $660,000 was inked between the International Olympic Committee and the European Broadcasting Union, the latter preserves the right to televise Olympics news storiesin Europe.
The journalistic energy and enthusiasm that goes intothe making of Olympics news is truly incredible. The scribes, who are expected to capture the spirit of the great sporting fiesta in all its buzz and glory, sometimes hunt for eclectic stories to engage people’s attention and increase their readership/viewership. For example, a recent Olympics news portal announced that the Edinburgh International Festival would organise programmes as part of this year’s London Games.
In another Olympics news story published in the same portal, it was reported that personnel from the British Royal Navy would participate in the flag-hoisting ceremony in the upcoming Games. There are many such Olympics news beats that are circulated to build the ambiance leading to the main events.
Following World War II, travel and business news stories have also become a part of Olympics news, thanks to the immense inflow of foreign tourists during the Games. Consequently, Olympics news is no longer restricted to showcase the ups and downs and the excitements surrounding a sporting event; it has seeped into other news domains and demanded for a composite and well-informed approach to reporting.
