Chinese journalists gear up for London Games

Brian Williams, a guru journalist of international sports reporting, is the main lecturer of the training program, April 10, 2012. [Photo/Global Journalism Institute]

A sports reporting workshop for journalists, co-organized by the Global Journalism Institute of Tsinghua University and the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was held at Tsinghua University in Beijing from April 9 to 13, 2012.

Some 16 working journalists from China's major media organizations, including Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television and China Daily, took part in the training program - many of them will go to London to cover the upcoming Olympic Games.

The five-day intensive training course concentrated on interviewing skills and tips on reporting and story-writing about sports-related events and games.

Brian Williams, a guru in international sports reporting who has worked 37 years for Thomson Reuters, was the main lecturer.

"We will look deeper into sports and tackle intellectual questions," said Williams, who has covered seven Olympic Games, two World Cups, three Asian Games, two Pan American Games and one Commonwealth Games.

"Sports reporting is not just what you see on the field," was Williams' first advice for Chinese journalists after he entered the classroom. "I'll help you understand money, ethics and other things behind the sports you commonly know."

"This workshop will help you to better prepare for the London Games," said Professor Zhu Yinghuang, chairman and director of the Global Journalism Institute.

"We have very experienced journalists among the faculty for this workshop," said Zhu, who presided over the opening ceremony of the 29th edition of the program on sports reporting.

Wen Wen, the Deputy Director-General of the Press and Publicity Department of the General Administration of Sport of China, April 13, 2012. [Photo/Global Journalism Institute]

As the London 2012 Summer Olympics officially begins in July, the Global Journalism Institute also invited guest speakers to introduce more tips for journalists after their experience covering the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

"The London Olympic Organizing Committee is under a lot of pressure because the opening ceremony of Beijing 2008 Olympics was called truly exceptional," said Wen Wen, deputy director-general of the Press and Publicity Department of the General Administration of Sport of China.

Wen was involved in several chapters of the Beijing Olympic bid reports, such as Media and Communications, Press Operations and Culture Events.

"London Games will be a grand meeting of the integration between sports and culture," said Wen, who is now in charge of sports publicity and communications in China as well as the coordination of the national sports system.

David Grey, Thomson Reuters chief photographer in China, also visited the Global Journalism Institute and lectured on sports news photography.

The program, part of a professional news reporting workshop series, was the fifth in a series of sports reporting training classes.

Since 2005, more than 500 Chinese and foreign journalists have received professional training through 29 series of the Reuters workshops, which covered a wide scope of news reporting, including health, economy, sports, and photography.

There are four other workshops planned for journalists this year - Photojournalism, Business & Finance Reporting, TV Reporting and Multimedia Reporting.

Tsinghua University contributed to the story

The training class, April 9, 2012. [Photo/Global Journalism Institute]