-
This weblog was developed and is supported by the Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute, Baruch College, CUNY
Aug
7
Olympics coverage in the digital age
Posted by Vera Haller on Aug 7, 2008 under: foreign news, sports, television, video
With the 2008 Summer Olympics set to start tomorrow in China, it’s worth a look at how this big event is being covered on the Web. NBC, which will televise the games, has gone all out with a monster site. It has updated news, video, photos, bios of athletes and individual pages for most sports.
The network also is offering viewers the chance to sign up for live video feeds and has an online Olympics game that people can play every day while the games are going on. The site includes a lot of corporate. For example, Target sponsors a section with “inspirational stories” from the Olympics while Nissan sponsors a “drive to the finish” section that includes video and stories about dramatic finishes in track and field events.
Some may find all this corporate sponsorship a bit much, but I find it heartening to see so much advertising on the site.
Check out NYTimes.com’s Olympic event tracker. It’s not the prettiest feature, but it is very functional, allowing viewers to track events in their favorite sports.
Comments
2 Responses to “Olympics coverage in the digital age”
Leave a Reply
Now that the Olympics are over…it’s time to think what we gained from it.
First, lots of medals - pride for the winning countries and the winners - the glory and a place in eternity.
Second, the viewers at home watching our TVs, we got to see spectacular shows and performances by the world’s best athletes. It is an aesthetic value.
Last, we still worship the physical shape over the intellectual, I fear. The faster the runner - the better; the longer the jump - the greater the athlete. But the perfection in the old Greek Games did not mean only the strong phycial appearance but also the development of the spirit and various mental talents. Let’s not forget that a person has more than just strong muscles and long legs. Do you think it is necessary that the Olympic Games go on forever?
The Olympics were pretty intense this year. Honestly, I was pretty amazed that it was taking place in China - probably the greatest televised even from China.
The 2008 Olympics got me thinking about how much technology has advanced. I remember sitting at home and playing games like Doom on MSDOS. This year, I was able to watch all of the events I wanted to watch via the internet.
About the Olympics going on forever, I cannot say whether or not it will be necessary forever but it does help promote global unity. They may not be necessary forever but there’s a good chance it will be carried on forever.