WELCOME !
 By Ms Slava CORN (CAN), FIG vice President and President of the FIG Media Commission.
The Media, whether the printed, spoken or digital image is a privileged partner of the FIG. With this in mind, we will continue to co-operate ever more closely with this community in developing the FIG MEDIA RULES.
Our objectives are to help organisers of FIG events to support the Media function and to promote good relations and co-operation between communications professionals and the FIG authorities. These rules outline the general framework of this co-operation and detail the rights and obligations of each group. The aims defined should help to establish a fair compromise between the technical requirements of competition and those of the media, so as to enable them to work co-operatively in the best possible conditions.
Sport in general, and gymnastics in particular, are important subjects for the communications world. At its highest level gymnastics needs more than ever before, the assistance of modern communications to convey both its image and its message to the world. Against a competitive economic background in constant flux, the media too needs to be provided with high-quality information, good facilities to perform efficiently, to market its stories and services worldwide.
The responsibilities of the FIG, delegated to its Media & Communications Commission, as also those of the organisers, delegated to its Local Media Officer, are central to this process. Their task is to safeguard the fundamental principles of the FIG, as defined in Article 2 of its Statutes.
Everyone using these FIG MEDIA RULES should point out any omissions or errors, with the sole aim of helping us to improve the relationships and the working conditions of all those involved.
In its final form the FIG MEDIA RULES will make up an integral part of the organisers' list of duties of any official FIG event.
Thanks for your continued co-operation and support.
Foreword
 By Philippe SILACCI (FIG), Media Operations Officer.
Since the day I took my first steps into a press centre in 1970, I have had countless opportunities to witness a number of revolutions in communication within the world of sport. Particularly technology! Human ingenuity has led us to partake of the stencil, the bellino, the telescriptor, the facsimile, the Internet. The scent of tobacco has long since vanished from press halls, and the tap-tapping of so many Remington’s no longer echoes through the hovering smoke.
The press halls of 2008 may have changed since 1970, but true journalists have remained unaltered by the winds of time. Investigation, inquiry and information are the key words in this exigent profession. Editorial precision is hailed and rewarded through our professional attitude in wielding these tools so essential to the success of any one of our events. Like them, we need a scene, a story, a palette of actors, and a public.
Organisers, technical committees, and gymnasts have no choice but to pool their resources to create a quality event that will draw the attention of these journalists.
I would like to emphasise just how important it is that we, the organising committees, technicians and athletes, fulfil the needs of the media by offering a quality product, quality services.
This document provides the framework for creating conditions that will respond to media expectations at a FIG event. It is based on experience gleaned on-site at a variety of events. It is important to remember that each case is unique and that customs vary from place to place.
The 2008 FIG Media Rules is more a guide than a set of regulations. Discover it with care.
With my compliments.
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