Swedish media SVT and TV4 will not cover the Olympics from China

Neither SVT nor TV4 will cover the Beijing Winter Olympics on-site in China, SVT’s sports director Åsa Edlund Jönsson has said in an email.

Expressen writes the two Swedish media companies cite the ongoing pandemic and the severe restrictions as reasons for the decision.

“Due to the pandemic, our coverage risked being very limited with poor access to the athletes, therefore we refrain from covering on-site.,” Åsa Edlund Jönsson said in the email.

“From a work environment perspective, it was also very vulnerable to send 2-4 people without the possibility of backup in the event of illness. On the other hand, SVT’s correspondent Ulrika Bergsten has a photographer in China and can report outside the Olympic area,” Åsa Edlund Jönsson continued.

TV4 Sports’ news director Tobias Rosvall said that they will focus on as good coverage as possible from Sweden. 

“Since many of the competitions take place at night or early in the morning, we also work in close collaboration with media Nyhetsmorgon. This was a model we used during the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and it did not affect major viewer reactions,” he said.

The Beijing Olympics will kick off on 4 February.

About Gregers Møller

Editor-in-Chief • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

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