Sprinter Michael Johnson: Can we quote you?
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BEIJING -- The Olympic News Service provides lots of information to the media during the Games.
It distributes ‘flash quotes’’ (immediate reactions from athletes), transcripts of news conferences, facts and figures, etc.
But many of the people providing it are not professional journalists. In fact, a lot are U.S. college students acting as volunteers for the Olympic News Service in China. Few use tape recorders, which means one must be wary of using some information without checking it.
A case in point: Michael Johnson, four-time Olympic gold medalist, spoke at a Wednesday news conference. According to the news service’s release with highlights of the event, Johnson said, ‘Up to this point it has been a disastrous Games for the US.’
‘Disastrous’ is a headline-making word, a harsh assessment.
The problem is that a tape recording of the conference reveals the word Johnson actually used was ‘disappointing,’ which is a both an accurate and circumspect assessement of the U.S. track team’s performance.
Kill that story.
-- Philip Hersh
