A Censored Olympics: Is China Getting Away with Journalistic Murder?

International Journalists Complain of Being Followed, Harassed

According to The London Times, Olympic officials are investigating reports from journalists that they are being followed and photographed as they interview and report on the Olympic Games, and that in some cases, their notes and tapes are being confiscated by Chinese officials. If found to be true, these reports of Olympic censorship contravene the agreement China has made with the International Olympic Committee regarding freedom of the press to report on the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The complaint states that Chinese reporters attending a press conference with the US men's volleyball team were confronted by Chinese Olympic staff members after the reporters had asked the team some pointed questions about last week's murder of the volleyball team's coach's father-in-law and the subsequent suicide of the murderer. The reporters' notes and tapes were confiscated, allegedly so that the officials could get a better understanding of the nature of the conversation, but the materials were never returned.

Freedom of the press is so ingrained in American law and culture, we can sometimes forget that we didn't always have it, and there are places in the world that still do not. As a journalist, I take for granted that I will be able to interview whom I wish and write about whatever topic interests or inspires me. Censorship, however, abounds in countries ruled by totalitarian and communist regimes. For the very first time, the issue of censorship has reared its ugly head in the most democratic of all international institutions, the Olympic Games.