The advent of digital media has affected the nature of global communications, amplifying the interaction between populations and massively expanding the information load that an audience may be forced to consider. The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) has proposed a digital strategy for the 2008 Olympics, which will open up a wide range of challenges for information gathering and dissemination. My research project has two related components: The first is an exegesis which sets the context for the project, identifies its main issues and presents a background research plan that, on the one hand, focuses on journalists and their likely orientations to a Digital Media Centre such as the one I propose, and, on the other, seeks to discover in other digital media centres the elements of best practice and innovation that might be adopted for Beijing. The second is a development project to explore and present innovation in Internet-based digital media operations, as exemplified by the challenges presented by the 2008 Olympic Games.

The advent of digital media has affected the nature of global communications, amplifying the interaction between populations and massively expanding the information load that an audience may be forced to consider. The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) has proposed a digital strategy for the 2008 Olympics, which will open up a wide range of challenges for information gathering and dissemination. My research project has two related components: The first is an exegesis which sets the context for the project, identifies its main issues and presents a background research plan that, on the one hand, focuses on journalists and their likely orientations to a Digital Media Centre such as the one I propose, and, on the other, seeks to discover in other digital media centres the elements of best practice and innovation that might be adopted for Beijing. The second is a development project to explore and present innovation in Internet-based digital media operations, as exemplified by the challenges presented by the 2008 Olympic Games.