Media and Race
I watched NBC coverage of the Olympics at randomly selected times toconsider in what ways their coverage addressed the diversity of theAmerican landscape. I did not include MSNBC or other secondary NBC At first glance, the broadcasts appear to be completely "color-blind,"with absolutely no reference made to a person's racial or ethnic originexcept when they had been born in another country. Thus, one femalegymnast, to all appearances African-American, was identified as having comehere from Cuba. She was not singled out for this comment, as thebroadcasts also pointed out other American athletes who had been born inanother country but were competing for the United States, as well as anumber of athletes who were born in other countries, lived in the UnitedStates but who were competing for the countries of their births. I nevernoted race mentioned in any of those statements by the commentators. However, while the athletes came from various subcultures in theUnited States, none of the serious commentators did. Partly this may havereflected cultural preferences for sports; perhaps there weren't anyexperts on diving from, say, Hispanic or Black-American background with the
It is possiblethe segment was his idea, as he has caricatured his lack of athleticabilities on other occasions on The TODAY Show. This isparticularly remarkable since the United States has recently been formallyat war with Iraq and still suffers losses nearly every day from continuedpockets of resistance. With such a history, the 2004 Olympics are remarkable because of thetotal unimportance regarding the race or cultural backgrounds of theathletes. In 1936, the Olympics were held in Nazi Germany. Nielsen research demonstrates that in theUnited States there are more than 10. For the synchronized swimming, Roker wore a life vest, andmade a point of putting on a nose plug. In the past, race has often been a significant issue for United Statesathletes at the Olympics. The broadcast of theOlympics athletes in a color and culture-neutral way demonstrated thatathletes represent the Olympics based solely on ability and qualifications. Both took some good-natured pokes at themselves. Two of the show's regular talent were featuredduring that time: Katie Couric and Al Roker. Then one morning I watched the NBC broadcast, The TODAY Show, whichwas anchored from Greece. Whilethe Olympics themselves have demonstrated that the United States is acountry of diversity with high achievement displayed from many groups, theNBC coverage sends another message -- that it is all right for minoritiesto achieve in athletics, but not to expect to be part of the media coverageof such events (in any serious way. However, some couldinterpret the segment as trivializing both him and the Olympic sport ofsynchronized swimming. Matt Lauer, the lead anchor for the TODAY Show broadcasts, did notparticipate in any humor segments during the times watched. Telemundo, is running advertisements designed specifically for theirSpanish-speaking viewing population.
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Acceptance Essays
