Damn you, VANOC. You made me a supporter of citizen journalism. For the time being, at least.

As seen in many Canadian news outlets, there are a lot of small groups protesting the 2010 Olympics, and to their credit, they’re doing a good job of getting attention for their myriad causes. They’ve now all crapped the bed for allowing a small group of violent people to co-opt the voices of their causes.

I don’t mean to equate these protesters with citizen journalists — but the Olympic organizing committee should have done more to salve the ire of both groups before the games got to town. It’s about simple engagement with the part of the public that doesn’t agree with what you’re doing.

But, so it seems, that’s not what the Olympics are all about to the IOC.

VANOC’s overbearing media restrictions during the Olympics have presented me with a writerly dilemma: do we, as citizens, have the right and responsibility to report on massive public events in an effort to counterbalance an overly corporate and unerringly pro-Olympics coverage?

I’m not even anti-Olympics — I’m actually getting into them more than ever this year. I just hate the idea of an organization that represents a HUGE public event desperately try to control the tone of information about itself with over-the-top policies.

Before the Olympics, I probably would’ve stuck to my guns on how I feel about citizen journalism. But, as any media-savvy person knows now, restricting info doesn’t sit well with the public anymore. On a daily basis, Twitter users prove that news can be and, apparently, must be spread at an ever-faster rate through individuals linked into social media platforms.

The US knew this going into Iraq and took a very smart (read: devious) approach to dealing with negative coverage in the media. Instead of keeping journalists out and limiting information to the public (as they tried and failed to do during the Vietnam War, for example), they “kept their enemies closer”. “Embedded journalism” became the modern propagandist’s flavour of the month.

It was the army’s way of saying: “Hey, I’m not anti-media. I’ve got tons of journalist friends.” (Cut to a reporter with a huge smile on his face because he gets to ride in a tank.)

PBS has a good write-up on the pros and cons of embedded journalism. Mostly cons, of course.

If I was VANOC’s Goebbels, I’d be bringing in token citizen journalists every other week. Show them around. Wow them. Give them a sense that they’re holding you accountable. The occasional citizen journalist might be savvier than your average bear, but they’re still not seasoned news professionals (that’s a blatant generalization I’m quite happy to make).

I’m disappointed that VANOC is taking the threat of independent, undertrained journalism so seriously. A policy of restricting YouTube posts from inside events, at face value, appears to only serve corporate interests. CTV themselves aren’t doing much to help the situation, considering the unsatisfying online video streaming its website offers.**

It’s enough to make a guy dress up in black and throw a newspaper box through a window… Oh wait, that wouldn’t solve anything.

**Update: CTV has since made huge improvements to the streaming video its website offers. Now, watching the Olympics online is only subject to your connection speed!

(02/22/10): Bigger Update! 2010 Olympics give full access to student journalists. Check out the video piece from CBC here. Wow. This is either a wholesome, giving-students-a-leg-up tactic, or it’s one of the most diabolical moves I’ve seen from VANOC so far. It’s brilliant, in a way. If citizen journalists were granted full access, there’s still a chance their reports could have a negative tone. But young student journalists don’t have the luxury or even the capability (sorry, kids) to form a well-structured critique of the Olympics. They’re probably excited beyond belief to talk to world-class athletes — as they should be.

It’s a great opportunity for aspiring journalists, but also a tricky way VANOC is stacking the deck in their favour. I hope the kids make really good use of this opportunity and maybe even find their calling because of it. I’d hate for VANOC to be the only ones profiting out of this arrangement.