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This Week in HS Sports - February
12, 2010
Horrific accident will call attention to IOC, NBC
Warning:
this post has absolutely nothing to do with Houston high
school sports.
I feel compelled to write about the horrific accident near
Vancouver that resulted in the
tragic death of Nodar Kumaritashvili from the Republic of
Georgia during an Olympic practice run for the luge
competition on the same day as the opening ceremonies of
these Olympic Games.
Nothing is harder to watch than the raw footage of the
accident, especially when you realize you're viewing the
exact moment that a person's life comes to an end, but I
believe the thing that will define this tragedy is the way
that it is dealt with publicly by the International Olympic
Committee and their major broadcast partner, NBC.
The IOC is downright clandestine and they grant no
re-broadcast or video rights to any other media
organizations besides their official broadcast
partners, which means that we will only get as much or as
little information about the accident, the track safety, the
measures being taken to prevent further accidents and any
number of other related issues as the IOC wants us to have.
It will be interesting to see how the journalistic instincts
of those reporting for NBC on these games will be challenged
as questions come up about the safety of the athletes
participating in the Games, and specifically the luge
competition, even as the IOC will most certainly try to
sweep this under the rug as much as possible. NBC's coverage
will basically define whether they are, in fact, journalists
first or nothing more than a 'state-controlled' propoganda
machine for the IOC.
There had already been many questions raised about the
safety of this track. There are concerns among those who
are still scheduled to compete. People will want to know if
the IOC, which portrays itself as the ultimate in
humanitarian organizations, has done everything in its power
to create the safest possible environment for its
participants.
But if the IOC runs from the media at-large, who will ask
them the tough questions?
I've always respected many of the anchors and
reporters, from both the realms of sports and general
news, who are working the Olympics for NBC this year and I
will watch with interest to see if they become complicit in
any soft-pedaling or if they risk 'biting the hand that
feeds them' to ask the tough questions, speak out and speak
up for the facts.
Before today, I had very little interest in the Vancouver
Games. Sadly, someone had to die to pique that interest.
Previous stories
:
August 15, 2009
August
20, 2009
August
26, 2009
August
31, 2009
September 8, 2009
September 16, 2009
September 18, 2009
September 25, 2009
September 28, 2009
October 5, 2009
October 7, 2009
October 15, 2009
October 19, 2009
October 23, 2009
October 25, 2009
November 2, 2009
November 9, 2009
November 11, 2009
November 18, 2009
November 25, 2009
December 5, 2009
December 8, 2009
December 19, 2009
December 27, 2009
December 30, 2009
January 9, 2010
January 18, 2010
January 28, 2010
February 3, 2010 |
