I watched NBC coverage of the Olympics at randomly selected times to
             consider in what ways their coverage addressed the diversity of the
             American 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 origin
             except when they had been born in another country. Thus, one female
             gymnast, to all appearances African-American, was identified as having come
             here from Cuba. She was not singled out for this comment, as the
             broadcasts also pointed out other American athletes who had been born in
             another country but were competing for the United States, as well as a
             number of athletes who were born in other countries, lived in the United
             States but who were competing for the countries of their births. I never
             noted race mentioned in any of those statements by the commentators.
             However, while the athletes came from various subcultures in the
             United States, none of the serious commentators did. Partly this may have
             reflected cultural preferences for sports; perhaps there weren't any
             experts on diving from, say, Hispanic or Black-American background with the
             skills to be part of the broadcasting.
             Then one morning I watched the NBC broadcast, The TODAY Show, which
             was anchored from Greece. Two of the show's regular talent were featured
             during that time: Katie Couric and Al Roker. Couric is female, and Roker
             is African-American. Both took some good-natured pokes at themselves.
             Katie went on the mat with a champion wrestler and tried to learn some
             wrestling move, and Al Roker got in the water for some lessons in
             synchronized swimming, again with Couric. It was very humorous: tiny
             Couric trying to wrestle some of the best wrestlers in the world, with no
             experience. For the synchronized swimming, Roker wore a life vest, and
             ...