Largest media centre in Olympic history opens
Beijing Olympic organisers opened the main press centre - the largest in Olympic history - along with two other media facilities yesterday, exactly one month before the Games begin.
The opening of the main press centre (MPC) and the international broadcast centre (IBC) for accredited print and television journalists, and the international media centre for non-accredited journalists allows the first of nearly 25,000 journalists to start work in them, China News Service reported.
'The formal launch of the MPC and the IBC means the Beijing Olympic Games have entered the present-tense operating mode,' Sun Weijia , head of media operations for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, told China News.
Hein Verbruggen, the International Olympic Committee's co-ordinator for the Beijing Games, said the main press centre was 'one of the most important venues'.
Covering about 62,000 square metres on three floors, the press centre is designed to accommodate more than 5,600 print journalists. Another 16,000 journalists will work in the broadcast centre, with at least 3,000 expected to use the media centre for non-accredited journalists.
The MPC and the IBC sit opposite each other, both within walking distance of several main Olympic venues - the National Stadium, the National Aquatic Centre and the National Gymnasium. The Olympic Village is 10 minutes' walk away.
Besides many workstations and conference rooms, the MPC offers a full range of services, including 24-hour dining in a restaurant that can seat 1,000, a gym, a massage parlour and even a barber shop, where haircuts cost about 50 yuan (HK$57).
The three media centres will operate on a 24-hour basis from July 25.
Bocog introduced four spokesmen yesterday, who will be on hand to answer media inquiries during the 17-day Games period. More than 500 press conferences will be held, an average of about 30 a day.
The number of journalists using the three media centres will be nearly: 25,000
