The media have dispatched a new breed of journalists for this Olympics.

The LA Times has sent a team of ten. who also report on the lack of access to certain web sites and blogs from Beijing. “It is hard to imagine why I can get every U.S. newspaper site — but not these blogs,” observes Philip Herch who has been there for just a few days.

The BBC has secured five British Olympians -and promise more to come –to blog at Olympic Diaries.

Sports Illustrated and CNN (FanNation) has one.

NBC has sent four –even Diane Sawyer is listed as a blogger.

And there’s Lenovo, as I mentioned here before, which dispatched blogging-athletes in a unique sponsorship deal. What do we call these professional athletes who are amateurs reporters? Pro-Ams or Am-Pros?

In other news, however, access to an internet connection appears to be restricted and expensive in the Village.