NEW YORK - (Business Wire) Let the Games begin...right now! The
New York Times announced today the launch of a special online section for the
2008 Olympic Games (
http://www.nytimes.com/olympics) with a new blog called
Rings (
http://www.nytimes.com/rings). Rings is dedicated to the full range of topics surrounding the summer Games in Beijing, from the competition itself to the social, political and economic issues attached to them. Rings brings together analysis and perspectives from
sports,
foreign and
business reporters at
The New York Times and in its bureaus around the world.
“We expect the Rings blog, which draws on The Times’s talent and resources across all departments, to become a must read for those interested in all aspects of the Beijing Games,” said Sandy Keenan, deputy sports editor, The New York Times. “The blog will serve as an engaging platform for continuous sports and news coverage during the Games.”
The Games in Beijing are already generating worldwide attention, and Times journalists have begun to post about issues such as the controversy surrounding the torch relay, the intricacies of the Olympic trials in the United States and discussions of Web censorship by China’s government.
During the Olympics (Aug. 8 – 24), The Times’s special online section will include:
- Contributions from more than 25 Times journalists in China, including “Sports of The Times” columnists George Vecsey and Harvey Araton
- An interactive guide to the Games where readers can view daily and hourly event schedules, up-to-the-minute results and corresponding Times coverage
- Forums for readers to post comments and share their stories
- Audio and video interviews and features
- Highlights from archived coverage of past Games dating back to the 1988 summer Olympics in Seoul.
Jeff Z. Klein is the lead editor of the Rings blog. Since 1996, Mr. Klein has served as an editor at The Times in various departments, including sports, travel, foreign, and The Times Magazine. Currently, he co-authors a hockey column in the Sunday paper and has written several books on the sport. In 2006, Mr. Klein organized The Times’s World Cup blog.
There will be a special section in the newspaper previewing the Olympics in the first week of August and blog posts from Rings will also be published periodically in the Sunday paper.
NYTimes.com continues to reach a large, educated and affluent audience. It is the most visited newspaper site in the United States with an audience of 17.9 million unique users (April 2008 – Nielsen Online).
About The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2007 revenues of $3.2 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other daily newspapers, WQXR-FM and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.
This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com
The New York Times Company
Diane McNulty, 212-556-5244
diane.mcnulty@nytimes.com
or
Stacy Green, 212-556-7078
green@nytimes.com
