A Transition Via Paris 2024; ATR R.I.P. ?
In just a few weeks — if everything goes according to plan — my treasured spouse and partner in Olympic journalism, Sheila S. and I will head to Paris to cover what is likely to be the last Games in our Olympic journalism journey that began more than 30 years ago.
We were on the scene of every Summer and Winter Games from Barcelona 1992 through PyeongChang 2018—15 in total. We missed Tokyo in 2021, because of the Covid delay. What a shame. I’ve always loved Japan and it was a major disappointment. One year later when the games actually took place we no longer owned Around the Rings.
Just a few months before the postponed Games, Argentine digital platform INFOBAE swooped in to buy the company and brand we had built, starting in the late 80s when Atlanta was bidding for the 1996 Games.
Today, three years since the change of ownership, the fate of Around the Rings is unknown. The website, which ended subscription-based content under the new ownership in favor of free access, has now disappeared online. Without explanation or notice nearly 30 years of content once a click away has vanished. No word from Infobae despite an executive seeking help from the former owners with a related matter earlier around the June day www.aroundtherings.com could no longer be found.
We are proud to have been the first digital news outlet to be accredited to Olympics, the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano. For years to follow we published thousands of stories and became a worldwide source of news for the Olympics cognoscenti. Our readership included the IOC, Fortune 500 firms, organizations, government offices, +200 national Olympic committees, sport federations, global media and universities.
Officials with INFOBAE have not returned inquiries as to their plans for Around the Rings and the reason for the change.
We lament as well the disappearance of the work of many fine reporters and the terrific information they delivered, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their loyalty and outstanding work.
Finally our plans for Paris coverage under the new brand of Hula Sport Communications proceed despite the challenge posed by breaking a hip after a fall while playing basketball in early May.
I’ve been on a constant routine of physical therapy and exercise to restore my ability to walk and chew gum at the same time, so to speak. It’s been some hard yards with more to go but every day my ambulatory skills improve. Thanks to the many offers good wishes I have received during my recuperation. We look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones in Paris.
Most of all, I’m looking forward to writing dispatches from the Olympics which you will see and hear on a regular basis from our perch in Paris.
Ed and Sheila S. Hula