Praise for the International Gymnastics Federation.
At the World Gymnastics Championships 2010, for the first time, the training gyms were opened to media. It was great.
I heard of no incidents of over zealous reporters hounding gymnasts or coaches. Everyone was cool.
And it was fascinating to see different approaches of different nations. (Brazilians spend more time on Facebook than any other country, for example.)
A Look Inside the Training Hall with China, Australia, Japan, and Romania
Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.
http://videoplayer.flocasts.org/player.swf
Formal press conferences were almost non-existant. All media preferred the new “mixed zones” where they could ask questions one-on-one at the end of each session. That’s one reason why there are so many personal interviews posted online this time.
I did hear complaints (second hand) that some of the good old media hands were less happy to be sharing the wealth with new media. (And with one chicken.)
Personally I avoided the scrums so did not see any media fist fights myself.
But, as you know, old media is dying. Money for events like this drying up. Canadian TV did not attend this time, for example. Budget cuts.
FIG and USAG have embraced the future, posting immediately to YouTube this Worlds, updating 24/7. Encouraging bloggers.
This was by far the best coverage of a World Championships ever online. … Old media has big problems trying to compete online.
New media is the future, good or bad. If you’re reading this blog, there’s a strong chance you’ve already canceled your newspaper subscriptions.
Security was good in Rotterdam, but not too strict, … aside from the time Gymnastike got kicked off the bus.
🙂
But Tokyo will be a madhouse for media. I hope stricter rules are put in place for the mixed media zones. They could have bloggers speak to athletes last, if that will keep the AP happy.
Note that Gymnastike and Gymnastics Examiners are not blogs. They are both even newer kinds of media than blogs.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 