The Media and PyeongChang's Winter Games Bid

The Korea Times article entitled "PyeongChang to offer Media Convenience in Winter Games" caught my attention for several reasons.   One is that I frequently spend weekends in Gangwon Province not far from PyeongChang.  The other is that I've co-authored two books on the role of media, especially television, in the modern Olympic games.   The first was Global Television and the Politics of the Seoul Olympics, and the second Television in the Olympics.  The hyperlinks used in this post will take you to Google Books, where you can read either of them online, or download a PDF version.  I know that my co-authors will appreciate my sharing this information.
While television played a dominant role in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 games in Barcelona, the continued development of the internet and convergence of digital media since then has changed the nature of Olympic media coverage and, if anything, increased the importance of media infrastructure in determining the success of an Olympic bid.  In the decision that will be made by the IOC this July, between PyeongChang and two European competitors, I'm sure that the quality of the information infrastructure to support global media coverage, with an emphasis on television, will loom large. I'm also confident that PyeongChang's bid will be a strong one, bolstered by South Korea's world-leading digital networks.