Reuters pledges 'unbiased' coverage of Beijing Games

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-04 21:55

LONDON - Reuters is going to offer "fair, unbiased, responsible coverage" of the forthcoming Beijing Olympic Games, the editor-in-chief of the wire service, David Schlesinger, said Monday.

Schlesinger, who will leave for Beijing Tuesday for a 15-day stay during the Beijing Olympics as an accredited journalist, will also attend the opening ceremony as the guest of Li Congjun, president of Xinhua News Agency.

"I'll meet Xinhua's new president during my stay in Beijing for constructive dialogue, in addition to meeting officials from the Information Office of the State Council as well as other friends," he said in a telephone interview with Xinhua.

Reuters was the first foreign news agency to set foot in China after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. It now has 24 correspondents stationed in the country with a much larger local support team working on the ground.

"It's definitely one of the biggest foreign media presences in China," said Schlesinger.

Reuters will dispatch a 200-strong team for the Beijing Olympics, with 100 text reporters and 80 photographers, as well as TV crews, technicians, logistics and other supporting teams, he added.

Like at all other previous Olympics, Reuters will not only focus on sports and the Games itself, but also report on the political, social and economic scene in China.

"We are interested in how China prepares for the Games, the facilities, how the city works during the Games, traffic and pollution, whether the stadiums are full, how athletes are made to feel welcome, media and visa regulations in the run-up to the Games, etc," Schlesinger explained.

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