Thanks for tuning into our live coverage yesterday; although the video streams didn’t quite work as effectively as we hoped, our experiment in news gathering did demonstrate many possibilities that we will continue to develop.
We’re now working on building an open-source documentary project to profile the San Francisco torch run and are in the process of collecting video and photos from the thousands of people who were there. We’d love for as many people to contribute to the process and would really appreciate your help.
To submit your videos for the project, please send a DV tape or DVD to:
150 Folsom St
San Francisco, CA 94105
If US mail isn’t for you, you can also stop by the station where we can dupe your tapes. Drop us an email at infoolympictorchsfcom, and we’ll set up a time for you to visit.
If you’re working on a project of your own and would like access to our developing aggregation of videos and photos, please let us know — we’re excited to be developing this as a community resource for all.
On April 8, 2008, The Tibetan Freedom Torch will arrive in San Francisco. Olympic Torch SF will be there providing live video coverage of the event as it unfolds from 11AM-3PM and from 6PM-8PM.
On March 19, Direct Action to Stop the War successfully used Twitter for coordinating protest information. Today, Olympic Torch SF will attempt to pick up where DASW left, and expand the use of twitter into an open-publishing platform for news on the San Francisco Olympic Torch relay and the related protests.
For ongoing text-based coverage, please follow the SFTorch twitter account. You can subscribe to SMS updates by sending a text message to 40404 with the message “follow sftorch”
Alternatively, you can also follow the SFTorch feed by visiting twitter.com/sftorch - If you have any updates on the Olympic Torch or the related protests please feel free to send us the information by typing “@sftorch ” followed by your message using either SMS or the twitter web interface.
On April 5, 2008 the Human Rights Torch arrived in San Francisco after traveling across the world beginning last year in Greece. The torch is a celebration of human rights and was established by a Falun Gong advocacy group in protest of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
In this video, Supervisor Chris Daly, ‘68 Olympic medalist John Carlos and the organizers of the event explain why the run was organized and the history of Olympic politics.
The April 9 torch relay will start with an opening ceremony at McCovey Cove, travel along the Embarcadero, run past Fisherman’s Wharf and briefly through the Marina District and back along the Embarcadero to Justin Herman Plaza, a spokeswoman for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said. A closing ceremony is scheduled to take place at the plaza.
The event will start at 1 p.m. and it will take the torch about an hour and a half to traverse the approximately 6-mile route, according to Giselle Barry, the spokeswoman for Newsom.
The article goes on to explain that although the City may establish protest, or free-speech zones, protesters will be permitted to line the route “as long as they do not disrupt the event.”
Olympic Torch SF is an innovative experiment in creating an interactive news venue online. The Olympic games are always preceded by a relay around the world carrying a flame from Mount Olympus that is to be presented at the opening ceremony of every Olympic competition. This year, the games will be held in China, and the only stop on the torch relay in North America will take place in San Francisco on April 9.
This year’s Olympic games have generated controversy surrounding China’s human rights record, and protests have already ignited along the torch’s journey to Beijing. In protest, two alternative torch relays have been formed and both of these events will be stopping in San Francisco as well. The Human Rights torch will visit San Francisco at 11AM on April 5 and the Tibetan Freedom Torch will travel through the city on the April 8.
Olympic Torch SF is dedicated to covering all three of these events, and reporting on the controversies leading up to the relay. The site will feature live video streams from the relays, and will also feature photos and text updates from the community.
Finally, on April 9, a special live one-hour presentation of D7TV’s Story Today will feature live video coverage of the Olympic relay and protest along with additional background stories and reporting from previous events. The live webcast will be interactive and we’ll be taking live reports and comments via Skype.
