Lord Coe: Local Press Coverage is Sport's 'Longest and Truest Sponsor'

Lord Coe, chair of LOCOG, has highlighted the importance of local press coverage.

Speaking to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the House of Commons last week, he said: “I accept that the longest and truest sponsor that most sports have is the local press coverage that is there year in, year out, day in, day out, competition for competition.”

Lord Coe was asked by committee member Philip Davies MP whether there could be a higher allocation for local and regional press to cover the London 2012 Olympics.

He responded: “If I lay out the landscape just briefly. The British Olympic Association is, of course, responsible for the allocation of UK accredited media. The International Olympic Committee awarded them about 400 accreditations, which is far more than any host city has received before.

“That is far higher than anything that has happened before. There were about 3,000 applications for some 400 places and those places have been judged by, and the BOA quite rightly set up, a group of expert writers, Olympic writers, photographers-people who understand that landscape. The criteria were about frequency of publication; this is more about Athletics Weekly than Caravan Monthly.

“It was about the nature of that media, the amount of editorial coverage that they give over the four years to the Olympic Games. So that is where we have got to. The IOC appointed the Press Association as the national host news agency, and the Press Association have the responsibility of servicing local and regional press during the Games.

“They are committed too - they have made a very strong commitment that is an important one for our participation agenda here - supporting the performance of every British athlete competitor, whether they go out in the first round or make it through to a medal. So I think that is where the balance is and that is the landscape.”

Mr Davies said: “On that last point, because that appears to be the crucial point to me, if we are going to get this sporting legacy where we have people who are inspiring young people to want to get involved in sport, it seems to me that is much more likely to be done at the local level than at the national level, in terms of having local sporting heroes.

“Are you concerned that if this is not got right it could impact on the local media being able to give proper coverage to their local champions?”

Lord Coe responded: “I do not think it is going to stop the local media giving proper coverage to their local champions. I think back to my own career. I was an Olympic athlete; I was based in Sheffield.

“Those relationships with my local media were cemented 10, 12 years before I got to my final Olympic Games. So it did not prevent them-a good example, I was contracted at the time to write a diary for a national newspaper while I was in Moscow but my father wrote a diary, as a coach, for the Sheffield Morning Telegraph. So those relationships, if they are worked through properly at local level, work extraordinarily well.

“You are right: I accept that the longest and truest sponsor that most sports have is the local press coverage that is there year in, year out, day in, day out, competition for competition. They tend not, like national press, to dip in and out when the story hits the priority list.”

Asked by Mr Davies to confirm that local media would have access to events across the country Lord Coe said: “Certainly all the events that we have talked about like torch and volunteer programmes-yes, of course they will.”

Asked whether this would include events like football and sailing, Lord Coe said: “I am presuming that is on the same basis. Yes, it is on the same basis.”