Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Slanted Olympic Coverage?

Well, yes, the American media does slant their coverage toward their American viewers. People want to see the home team. I don't have a problem with that, but there are other good teams participating.

This is the first Olympics for which I have satelite TV, so I've been finding Olympic coverage on four channels belonging to NBC. It has been great to see live coverage in the mornings (my own private Breakfast in Italy!) I've tuned in to curling and found it fascinating because the commentators know what they are talking about and provide insight to the shot possibilities. And they are equally praising of good play by the other teams. This might be a hard sport to watch in person without that insight.

The TV coverage of the Cross Country Skiing has been better than in some past years, mainly because the course goes past areas that the cameras can cover.

Today one of the commentators was asking another commentator about the "dissappointing" results of some of the American skiers and skaters. He said something about a skater saying he would get 5 gold metals. The other commentator stated that the skater had never said that, rather the media had said that.

That is my main gripe about the coverage of the Olympics and my main irritation with the new media, in general: There is no longer a distinction between reporting the news, providing commentary on the events of the day, editorializing about the news, and providing entertainment. Ok, lets the sports shows be entertainment, not just reporting. But let real news be reported as real news and real editorials be reported as real editorials.

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