Chinese Olympic Media Relations Gaffes

Olympic fever appears to be sweeping the world from the scenes at the ceremonial torch relays. Diving and gymnastics fans are so excited about this year’s summer games they are somersaulting and catapulting themselves upon the actual torch. Even the
Of course anyone following the torch relays knows the fever pitch has more to do with human rights than judges’ points on the dismount. Protests over
(From the New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/world/europe/08torch.html?scp=15&sq=olympic+torch&st=nyt
The torch ceremonies have focused attention on causes that have languished on the world’s back burner for decades. At the International Campaign for Tibet, telephones have rung continually with calls from news media outlets, politicians and people wanting to sign petitions and hold events, said Jan Willem den Besten, the Dutch campaign coordinator.
“What is most dramatic is to see how broad and deep the support has become,” Mr. den Besten said. “You almost have to feel sorry for the Chinese because it’s turned completely against the public image they wanted to present.”
While I’m sympathetic to the Tibetan cause, I’m struck by how little Chinese officials understand Western public and media relations. As a media consumer I’m used to hearing the Bush administration spin the “progress” in
None the less, reading Chinese officials’ quotes in Western newspapers reveals the absence of the polished and vetted spin from
(From the
When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) seemed to encourage demonstrators in
Chinese officials often use the term “sabotage” and many times subtly allude to Western machinations to “disturb” their moment in the sun.
(From the New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/world/09torch.html?scp=6&sq=olympic+torch&st=nyt
“No force can stop the torch relay of the Olympic Games,” Sun Weide, a spokesman for the
This quote by a
The UK Guardian got a similar quote from the French relay:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/07/france.olympicgames2008
“The smooth progress of the torch relay cannot be stopped and will definitely be a big success,” she added.
The flame was more heavily guarded than it had been in
As have Western Olympic officials, Chinese officials have used the tired line that sports and politics don’t mix – an obvious contradiction every 7 inning at Yankee Stadium when we all stand to sing “God Bless
(From the New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/world/europe/07torch.html?scp=11&sq=olympic+torch&st=nyt
There, and elsewhere where knots of Chinese supporters had gathered, there were chants of “one world, one dream,” the motto of the Beijing Games. A Chinese spokesman, Qu Yingpu, said Chinese officials were grateful to the police “for their efforts to keep order.” He added: “This is not the right time, the right platform, for any people to voice their political views.”
Obviously the Pro-Tibet protestors will protest, so Chinese Olympic officials gave their best swing at Western style media management by attacking the speaker and not the content of the speech.
(From the International Herald Tribune)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/07/europe/torch.php
In
I’m sure Chinese Olympic officials are exacerbated at this point and would love some free advice from a Western public and media relations specialist. Maybe the Yankees could recommend their flack, Howard Rubenstein. In this interesting piece in the Toronto Star, Rubenstein would tell the Chinese government to consider that if you can’t beat them, well, take your ball and go home.
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Olympics/article/411302
Because backroom politicking is its own Olympic sport, Rubenstein says IOC president Jacques Rogge, a doctor from
“But I’d hold off on that right now,” says Rubenstein, described in a New Yorker profile last year as someone who helps
“That’s a drastic step and you have to do this a little at a time,” Rubenstein says. “Fact is, violence and conflict and killings are not something the Olympics want to be associated with.
Then Rubenstein, perhaps contemptuous of
“When Adolf Hitler was in power, the (1936) Olympics were in
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