China is currently hosting the 2022 winter Olympics. Journalists covering the event are faced with a tough challenge. As a dictatorship, China maintains a tight leash on the media and censors the press. This article by Steven Butler, CPJ Asia Program Coordinator, is published by CPJ. Here is an excerpt

I don’t envy journalists from around the world who are entering China to cover the Beijing Olympics, held February 4 to 20. Perhaps never in history have the rules of the road for covering the games been so murky and the potential dangers so great for journalists who step over an as-yet-undefined red line that could provoke retaliation by the touchy, highly nationalistic, Chinese hosts.

Will reporters follow well-honed instincts, report the news, and face possible punishment from Chinese officials, even expulsion from China? Or will they stick to feel-good coverage, curb their tongues, compromise professional integrity, and potentially lose credibility among viewers and readers?

Traditionally, sports journalists are some of the best reporters and storytellers in the business. They delve into the personal stories behind the amazing performances of elite athletes. They make them into real people we can relate to — at a distance, of course. But those real people have feelings and views. Out of the nearly 3,000 athletes expected to compete in the games, it’s fanciful to imagine that all of them will stay silent about the human rights tragedy taking place all around China. Or that journalists will fail to report it. Or that journalists will all, unanimously, ignore the widely reported human rights abuses in China as an essential backdrop to the games. What if athletes complain about the venues, management of the games, or even the food or accommodations?

Read the full article here.