Local papers regularly go over the top about Olympic stories. Take the Peterborough Evening Telegraph getting in a tizz about the visit of the 'iconic' Olympic torch.

The London Olympics seems about to score another own goal and possibly even provide a boost to Scottish nationalism. While the English FA and the BOA insist agreement has been reached on a Great Britain football team the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs deny they have made any agreement. The English FA insists FIFA has given assurances it will respect the home nations' independent status, not something those other FAs place much faith in. Of course, not long ago the English FA was prepared to play along with FIFA while it was trying to win the 2018 World Cup and criticised the British media for raising corruption allegations, so it can hardly be described as an honourable player. The BOA and Locog have just got over a family feud.

Paul Norman, he of Paul Norman's Olympics Blog, is off to greener pastures (but claims he'll continue to cover our 'Greenest Games Ever' - from a property speculation point of view no doubt). We at GamesMonitor were first alerted to Paul's coverage of Olympics (ahem) developments from his comments on Dave Hill's London Blog, and we've found him a useful source since. To his credit he allowed critical comments from Julian Cheyne in the past. However, I must take this opportunity to snipe that a comment of mine - along the lines of Jules Pipedream's legacy promises to the good folk of Hackney (whom he deigns to 'represent') of 10.000 quality jobs from the Media Centre would be straight down the drainpipe if the phantastic proposal for a ski resort on the Arena Fields site came into being - didn't make it past Paul's moderation.

London 2012's Editorial Style Guide

Internal guide for London 2012's media drones.

Completely credible
We tell it like it is. Always credible. Speaking factually, backed up by real information,

It was 20/12 day, to be marked by a celebration with the lighting up of the Pudding Mill White Elephant Stadium, to be attended by a raft of Clebs plus local schoolkids and site workers. Not sure what the schoolkid experience was, but following the tweets of one site-insider, on the grounds of Elf'n'Safety, it didn't turn out so Christmassy after all. The workers weren't wanted in the end:

Credit where credit is due, but not necessarily where the press is concerned. The Telegraph declared the Spectator and Games Monitor, in that order, had struggled for two years to get the London 2012 host contract released under Freedom of Information legislation.

Sport turns sour for the Brits yet again. After that drubbing at the hands of FIFA and the Russians and being told by Blatter they were bad losers comes more humiliation, this time from the IOC. The press has just noticed the host city contract which has been languishing on this website after an heroic Freedom of Information campaign for its release. Newspapers of all kinds, even including the Guardian, have vented their spleen over the conditions imposed on London in the contract. One of the clauses causing the most annoyance is the stipulation that the French language should take precedence in announcements and ceremonies and that Olympic notices stuck up around the capital should also be in French.

Last weekend an 'unconference' took place both on- and offline - London Neighbourhoods Online. By Monday two new hyperlocal blogs had sprung up in Olympic boroughs, both started by famous figures within the London Blogosphere.