TORONTO (djc Features) — Sports coverage focuses on the sport, of course, but when an event as grand as the summer Olympics takes over two weeks, readers are hungry for outside-the-box journalism.
At Digital Journal, editor-in-chief Chris Hogg reported from Athens with critical coverage of the 2004 Olympic Games, garnering high praise. Digital Journal’s Olympic coverage was number one on Google News page, together with CNN’s updates. As a result of Google’s indexing, many journalists at International Broadcast Centre in Athens were frequently pulling information from Digital Journal’s Olympic articles for their own news coverage.
He didn’t focus on who won what medal; he turned his attention to the impact of the Games on Greece and its guests. In his online stories (available at digitaljournal.com), Chris chose to spotlight the oft-neglected angles — from Greeks speaking on the Games’ pros and cons, to visitors criticizing the tickets’ high cost, to the street protests. He not only interviewed locals and ex-pats but also spoke to world-renown singer Elli Paspala after a performance in the ancient ruins of the Roman Agora.
The reportage of that entertaining performance caught the eye of Digital Journal.com readers who recall their own days in Greece.
Andy A., president of a restaurant supply company, is a Greek living in Toronto. After reading Chris’s coverage of the Agora performance, he said, “It’s like going back home to Agora. I liked this story very much because it felt like déjà vu.
Complementing these detailed and vivid articles were Chris’s exclusive photographs. He has captured multiple medal-winner Michael Phelps warming up before a swimming competition, and Phelps celebrating with teammate Ryan Lochte after the two won gold and silver medals. He also offered the online world stunning pictures of Athens streets crowned by the Acropolis.
Andrew D., a parking lot attendant in Vancouver, was impressed with the Olympic photography on Digital Journal.com. “It’s rare to see such large and vivid images on the web,” he said.
Freelance journalist Anne D. praised the editorial excellence: “Chris painted
the scene in Greece and I didn’t have to go to Athens to feel the city’s vibrancy.
The 2004 Olympic Games came and went. But with Digital Journal’s online coverage, the magic of those days will never be lost — it will remain on the Web, and more exclusive coverage will appear on the pages of the upcoming issue of Digital Journal magazine, hitting newsstands across Canada by the end of September 2004.
