Two words no journalist wants to hear in connection with their name are “dragged away,” and yet that’s exactly what happened to Dutch broadcaster Sjoerd den Daas. Chinese authorities hauled Den Daas, who was in the middle of a live broadcast at the Opening Ceremony for Dutch station NOS, away from the camera and shut down filming operations on live TV.
Den Daas and his camera operator were not injured in the incident, which only lasted a few seconds but was a stark reminder of the potential problems of reporting even innocent broadcast coverage from China. Den Daas was able to set up and resume his broadcast shortly after the incident.
The IOC downplayed the incident, placing the blame on an “overzealous” security official.
“It was an unfortunate circumstance,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said at a later daily news briefing. “These things do happen, and I think it’s a one-off. I hope it’s a one-off.” The IOC indicated it had reached out to NOS about the incident, but NOS officials told local Dutch media they had not heard from the IOC.
The media in Beijing and surrounding venues are operating in a strict “closed-loop” system, with no freedom of movement beyond the edges of competition venues, official headquarters and hotels. Fences envelop every building within the “bubble,” and guards stand at every checkpoint and gate.
Onze correspondent @sjoerddendaas werd om 12.00u live in het NOS Journaal door beveiligers voor de camera weggetrokken. Helaas is dit steeds vaker de dagelijkse realiteit voor journalisten in China. Hij is in orde en kon zijn verhaal gelukkig een paar minuten later afmaken pic.twitter.com/GLTZRlZV96
— NOS (@NOS) February 4, 2022
source yahoo.com
