It is interesting when you are reporting a news event such as the Beijing Olympics, that you actually become the news yourself. I was interviewed briefly by the Brazilian newspaper Estadao about this website. Here is a translation of the article as provided by Google translator:

Web helps to circumvent the time zone

Complete program, table of medals, profile athletes, comments and blogs - all this on the Internet

Filipe Pacheco and Marcus Vinicius Brazil

Increasingly, the Internet becomes a good option for those who want to stay informed of the results of competitions in China, even more with the difference in time zone (11 hours ahead in Beijing).

The main portals Brazilians - among them the www.estadao.com.br, with a special team in madrugadas to bring all the news in real time - are prepared to cover each race and modality.

Most of them, the Internet user find specific sections with general information about the Games - as timing, new records and table of medals - more than hot news and special reports on China.

The Earth (www.terra.com.br) is the only vehicle for Internet in Latin America that will have the right of transmitting images of the Olympic Games in real time. 13 channels will be different, which can be freely accessed by any Internet user. According to the director’s content portal for Latin America, Antonio Prado, the most important competitions will have narration in Portuguese and Spanish, made exclusively for the Internet.

In globoesporte.com of Globo.com, the Internet user find content produced exclusively by the team of online coverage, which will complement the reports made by TV Globo, which is issuing the right of transmission of the Games on television open (more about the Olympics on television on page A3).

Another portal that will include videos on their coverage will be the ESPN (www.espn.com.br/pequim2008) that use of video material produced by the team’s broadcaster in China, composed of about 40 professionals.

In UOL (www.uol.com.br), the Internet user surveys are prepared especially for the Olympic Games and discussion groups specific. The portal also brings the blog Marcelo Tas in China, with materials produced exclusively by journalist and TV presenter of the web.

The IG (www.ig.com.br) will bring a special section for children with topics covering Olympic games (check in www.tinyurl.com/6zhrv7). On Yahoo! Brazil (www.yahoo.com.br), the Internet may participate in a competition with questions about the Games.

Already the group in April (www.abril.com.br) wants to give special attention to the photos, with emphasis on Brazilian athletes and an agreement to republish the photographs of Getty Images, one of the largest banks of images online.

The popular MSN instant communicator developed a unique tab, identified by the Olympic symbol, with coverage of the Games made in partnership with the portal “Lance.”

ORGANIZE NOW WITH RSS
Who wants to monitor several different sites and do not want to lose face of so much information, a good solution is to use a program-type news aggregator of RSS, a tool that collects information from various online sources and brings to the Internet user in real time , Or as they arise. There are several options for RSS available, but one of the most mentioned is the www.netvibes.com.

To select the news you want to receive, the Internet user must seek, on search engines you want to monitor, a symbol of the typical orange RSS and adding it to your aggregator program. So do not need to spend much time entering and leaving several web sites and receive the news that interest you directly on your PC. Read story link on the RSS in www.tinyurl.com/6f4xa7. The feature is also useful for monitoring blogs.

COVERAGE INDEPENDENT
In addition to news produced by the main vehicles online, another way to monitor the race for medals in Beijing is through independent blogs. Despite the difficulty of blogs Brazilian bear the costs of a sports coverage across the world, there are good options in other languages, especially English.

“The main advantage is the speed,” says Mike Henry, for whom the blogs “will play an important role in the coverage of the Olympics in Beijing.”

He is in town for about four months and is responsible for the 2008 Beijing Games (2008gamesbeijing.com): “As my writing does not go through any kind of editing, they can be published quickly to the internet.”

However, Henry admits that the lack of resources is a problem. “I want to see some of the competitions and follow the news on television and the Internet. But, as I am only one, contarei with the help of a friend of New Zealand, “he says.

For those who are looking for stories with characters less sports, such as any developments or political background, the two addresses are useful EastSouthWestNorth (zonaeuropa.com) and Danwei (www.danwei.org), vehicles known for their online rather coverage alternative.