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Sports and news reporting of Beijing Olympics must be kept separate, says BBC editor

BBC News' editorial integrity would not be compromised by the corporation's position as a rights holder in the Beijing Olympics, the editor responsible for online coverage of the event has said.

"The editorial integrity of news cannot be compromised by the fact that we are also the rights holder. There's sport and there's news - our coverage is about covering the event," Claire Stocks, the BBC's interactive editor of Olympic sports, told Journalism.co.uk.

"We can't get away from the fact that we have to reflect that this is a huge news story as well, but it's not like you can have a sports journalist reporting on a news story. You have to keep that division."

Last week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced new guidelines that opened up online coverage of the games. Websites will now be allowed to carry an unlimited number of news articles and images for journalistic use.

The BBC's Olympics website will augment this official coverage by engaging users with an 'unprecedented level' of user-interaction, Stocks added.

The corporation is planning to extend its coverage to carry video content on its mobile site and interactive maps containing news and information on the competition and the host nation.

Despite planned innovations the BBC Olympics sport site would have to 'tread carefully' with user-generated content on its interactive map when it launches later this month, said Stocks, as IOC regulations forbid the publication of images and videos taken by spectators from inside official Olympic areas.

The sports site will also aim to avoid conflict with the IOC over blogging and user-generated content - in particular the use of multimedia submitted by non-accredited contributors.

A combination of a reactive moderation policy and supervision by the blog's editorial hosts, Stocks said, will be used to ensure posts and comments fall within IOC regulations and prevent the platform from potential hijacks by any users wishing to push their own agendas.

She said it was likely that news and sports teams would work together on moderating and handling user-generated content, as material with potential news value not directly related to sports coverage would be an issue for BBC News.

The recent decision by the IOC to let athletes blog during the games was 'a significant step' towards acknowledging new media's role in covering the games, she added.

"It's a sign the IOC does recognise it needs to move with the times and they can't try to hold back the tide. They recognise they must sell the Olympics to young people and need to get in on the new media act."

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bbc | blogging | mobile | sport | olympics | beijing | london | claire stocks | international olympic committee |

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