Information

f To gain acceptance from the management and theorganisation as a whole for the need for special expertise todeal with the media – and that the Media Contact Sectionrepresented that expertise.f To organise the information gathering so that relevanttopics could be quickly identified in order to be on theoffensive and try to influence the type of informationpresented in the media about the Lillehammer Games.f To develop routines, tools and material for quick andaccurate information communications, tailor-made to thevarious media’s needs. To prioritise the Lillehammernewspapers and media who had journalists dedicated tocover the Winter Olympics.f To promote special Olympic topics through seminars for thepress and broadcasters.f To develop guidelines and effective routines for dealing withvisits and queries from the press.f To work closely with the information departments in theIOC, TOP III companies, Team Birkebeiner and the officialsuppliers.f To ensure that all the section’s employees were easilyaccessible for close cooperation between the section and themanagement.Media information consisted of the following staff:f 5 press spokesmen and spokeswomenf 1 press consultantf 1 assistantf 1 secretary/visits coordinatorf 1 consultant paid for by the Olympic Region authoritiesP r e s s s p o k e s p e r s o nf u n c t i o nThe press spokesman function wasthe link between LOOC and themedia. This function was led by theDirector of Information.Each of the five pressspokespersons, as well as the press consultant, wereresponsible for specific LOOC departments with respect tomedia and information activity. The spokesperson functionenabled the various departments to be better prepared toanswer questions from the media, and more able to handlecases that could be expected to attract media attention.During the last year prior to the Games, the section offered24-hour service.During the evening and weekends, most media events werechannelled to the person on call from the section.The section also kept an overview of the whereabouts of thetop leaders and department managers at all times.All of the section’s employees and associated consultantsmet each morning at 08.30 hours. Prior to this meeting, theperson on call had gathered information on the day’s mediasituation. During the meeting, both the same day’s and nextday’s agenda for each department was discussed. Animportant part of the morning meetings was to devise mediastrategies. Media strategies were later discussed and draftedwith the department managers and the top management.Both before and during the Games, LOOC’s policy was to atall times inform the organisation’s employees of newdevelopments before informing the media. Thus, the in-houseinformation function worked closely with Media Contact.