The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that 24,171 media representatives have validated their accreditations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Among these, 5,733 accreditations were granted to the written and photographic press, representing 2,113 media organizations from 146 National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The remaining 18,438 accreditations were allocated to Media Rights-Holders (MRHs) and the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), the Games’ host broadcaster.
Category press | Total |
E (journalist) | 2,687 |
Es (sport specific journalist) | 336 |
EP (photographer) | 1,264 |
EPs (sport specific photographer) | 277 |
ET (technician) | 148 |
Ec (MPC support staff) | 45 |
ENR (non-rights holding broadcaster) | 460 |
Ex (local journalist) | 58 |
EPx (local photographer) | 37 |
NOC E (press attaché) | 316 |
Ex NOC Es (press attaché sport specific) | 105 |
Total Press | 5,733 |
In terms of gender representation, women made up 23% of accredited journalists, a slight increase from the 20% seen at Tokyo 2020. The highest female participation came from sport-specific NOC press attachés (45%) and NOC press attachés (39%). However, female photographers represented only 15% of that category overall.
One standout example of gender balance came from Reuters, one of the IOC’s Recognized Agencies, where female photographers accounted for 49% of the team, and the overall staff had a 57% male to 43% female split.
The gender breakdown for the press accreditation category is as follows:
Category press | Female | Male | Total | Female % | Male % |
E | 612 | 2,075 | 2,687 | 23 | 77 |
Es | 90 | 246 | 336 | 27 | 73 |
EP | 184 | 1,080 | 1,264 | 15 | 85 |
EPs | 59 | 218 | 277 | 21 | 79 |
ET | 25 | 123 | 148 | 17 | 83 |
Ec | 11 | 34 | 45 | 24 | 76 |
ENR | 133 | 327 | 460 | 29 | 71 |
Ex | 14 | 44 | 58 | 24 | 76 |
EPx | 6 | 31 | 37 | 16 | 84 |
NOC E | 123 | 194 | 316 | 39 | 61 |
Ex NOC Es | 46 | 58 | 105 | 45 | 55 |
Total Press | 1,303 | 4,430 | 5,733 | 23 | 77 |
OBS also introduced several initiatives aimed at increasing female participation. This included hiring more women in key broadcast operational roles and venue production teams to promote more balanced gender representation. Notably, two-thirds of the 42 Broadcast Venue Managers and Deputy Broadcast Venue Managers were women, and two-thirds of the Broadcast Operations Centre staff were also women. Additionally, female commentators made up 37% of the total, nearly double the representation from Tokyo 2020.
OBS launched several training programs to encourage more women in key roles, including the Olympic Commentary Training programme, which helped train former Olympians and Paralympians as commentators. At Paris 2024, 49% of commentators were former athletes, and more than half of them were women. Of the 15 commentary trainees hired as freelance commentators for the Games, 80% were women.
Another initiative, “Framing the Future,” aimed to increase the number of female camera operators. Over 70 women were trained in Paris in 2023, with 28 being offered freelance roles for Paris 2024.
The OBS Broadcast Training Programme (BTP) also provided hands-on experience to local students, with 57% of the selected participants being women. Over 1,300 paid BTP positions are available for the Games, ensuring opportunities for the next generation of broadcasters.