How Will NBC Cover Gay Issues During Sochi Olympics? - Polidicks

[URL="http://www.npr.org/2014/01/13/260457414/how-will-nbc-cover-gay-issues-during-russian-olympics"]NPR Link[/URL] [quote=NPR]A 'Last Chance' To Shape Russian Attitudes Five channels and various digital streams will provide viewers 1,500 hours of coverage of Olympic events in Sochi. Jim Bell, the NBC Sports executive overseeing this 2 1/2-week extravaganza, will broadcast images of athletes unfurling rainbow flags in protest. But he says he has a simple philosophy for what he'll do in the absence of newsworthy events: "Show the Olympics. Show the events, show the competition, show the athletes," Bell says. "This is the athletes' moment. That's really what it's about." Ahead of the Sochi competition, Bell says, the network will sketch out for viewers the context in which the games take place in Russia. "I think our approach is to do a thorough explanation," he says. "To talk about President [Vladimir] Putin really being a driving force behind the games, gay rights, whatever else." Let's look at that second element: gay rights. Last June, Putin's government banned "gay propaganda." The change affects reporters: Even neutral news coverage of issues involving gays and lesbians appears to violate that law. Konstantin Yablotskiy, co-chairman of the Russia LGBT Sports Federation, says the effects have been severe. In the past Yablotskiy participated in the Gay Games as a figure skater. Now, he says, national networks devote documentaries to denouncing homosexuals. He looks to the Olympics for hope. "Probably it's our last chance to try to change this situation, to change attitudes of Russian society, to show people that we are not marginal sodomites," Yablotskiy says. "We are normal people who have their normal lives, who can do sports and win medals."[/quote]

They won't at all, it is terrible what Russia is doing, but the focus should be on the sport while covering it, not the social issues. Have that on a seperate section.

Russia is never going to fucking change. It's too ingrained in the culture that being gay is a serious mental illness that it will take decades to even accept that it might be a livable condition. LGBTQ people in Russia should try to get out as hard as possible while they still can.

[QUOTE=codemaster85;43530807]They won't at all, it is terrible what Russia is doing, but the focus should be on the sport while covering it, not the social issues. Have that on a seperate section.[/QUOTE] You can't take away social issues from sport. I mean David Cameron went on and on and on about how sport helped 'unite' and 'people feel proud and patriotic' and publicly derides anything but sport should be the focus in russia.

NBC is going to be far too busy shoving advertisements into every little chunk they can get away with to do anything political.

Why don't we cover it the same way we covered bad stuff in China for the 2008 Olympics