On 8 July, Olympic organizers in Beijing officially opened the Main Press Center (MPC) for the Games of the XXIXth Olympiad. The 62,000-square-meter facility is expected to be the home-away-from-home for some 6,000 accredited journalists during the Games.
The MPC, which is a different facility from the International Broadcast Center (IBC), features restaurants, a gymnasium, a massage parlour and barber shop for journalists, in addition to workspaces and conference rooms. Olympic organizers have posted a slide show of the inauguration and facility.
The IBC also officially opened on 8 July, although crews from Beijing Olympic Broadcasting (BOB) and the rights-holding broadcasters have been at work there for months. The IBC, constructed at the National Convention Center, covers some 8,400 square meters and hosts studios and production facilities for broadcasters covering the Games.
China Daily described the state of the IBC at its official opening.
Also in time for the Beijing Games, Human Rights Watch has released a "Reporters' Guide to Covering the Beijing Olympics," outlining for journalists the risks and their rights associated with covering events outside the official Olympic venues. The guide can be downloaded as a PDF in both English and French.
For its part, the government of China is briefing its citizens on how best to cheer on athletes during the games. Advertising and media blog Danweihas video from CCTV demonstrating the four-part cheer.
