12:00 am
Wonk’d: How to Cover the Olympics
Technically, this is not wonk-y, but press-y. But I don’t have a category called Press’d.
Thomas Crampton has a great interview with former CNN Beijing bureau chief Rebecca McKinnon, who offers tips to other reporters on how best to manage censorship and media interference while covering the Beijing Olympics.
Money quote: “I’ve told my Chinese friends to avoid the visiting journalists….It’s probably not worth it…. [They'll] accidentally get you in trouble.”
Even if you’re not a journalist, this is worth watching to get an idea of just how bad the Olympics are going to be for things like free speech and free expression.
For new readers: Wonk’d is an occasional feature highlighting how things work (process) rather than why things take place (policy). General readers are warned in advance that reading Wonk’d is known to cure insomnia and even cause narcolepsy. But for those who love stories on the State Department clearance process or foreign service career paths, Wonk’d is just what you’ve been looking for.
Hat tip: Danwei