In 2008, podcasting, vlogging and new media in general were effectively banned from the Olympics.

For future events, the Olympics has to embrace new media, according to Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger, because the rules governing who can report from the Olympic Games are outdated in the age of Twitter.

In a speech to the International Olympics Committee Press Commission, Schlesinger argued that you could no longer make a professional reporting and citizen journalism:

“The old means of control don’t work. The old categories don’t work. The old ways of thinking don’t work. We need to come to terms with that,” Schlesinger said.

“Fundamentally, the old media won’t control news dissemination in the future. And organisations can’t control access using old forms of accreditation any more.”

Schlesinger said he had been ordered by the IOC press authorities to take down a blog post he wrote at last summer’s Beijing Games because it included a photo and he was only accredited to write and edit text.

Schlesinger’s comment highlight the absurdity of the last Olympics approach to news coverage.

He goes on to argue that the first news out of future Olympics events won’t come from official channels, but from “Twitterers sitting in the stadium banging out the result in a Tweet from their mobile phone”.

Schlesinger’s right – the Olympics need to embrace new media.

How much more exciting would coverage be if every athlete had a blog, and you could read about what your favorite athletes were doing in their own voice?

And how else is the Olympics going to connect with people who are now spreading their attention over Twitter, YouTube, FaceBook, Flickr and other non-traditional media sites?