PA has pledged to assign at least one individual correspondent to all 29 sports to be contested at the 2012 London Olympics. After sending nine staff to the Beijing Olympics last year, it will see PA more than triple the number journalists it has staffing the Games, to 30.
PA is even planning to have two or even three reporters covering athletics, swimming and cycling, while Helen William, PA’s Olympics correspondent, will continue to deal with the politics, local government, budgets, transport and legacy issues of the Games.
PA describes this move as significant, giving less high-profile sports a real voice in the media coverage at London 2012. To maximise the amount of coverage, PA will produce a separate Olympics service with news, pictures and video stories.
“Sports such as handball and archery will benefit greatly from having their own allotted journalist because it gives them a way of talking to the media and the rest of the country that they have not had before,” said Scott Dougal, Olympics editor at PA.
“The 2012 Games are our home Olympics and as the national news agency of the UK these Olympics hold a special significance for us.”
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