NBC Will Not Send Announcers to Beijing — for the Wrong Reason
Originally published at National ReviewWhen I saw the headline, I actually hoped righteousness was beginning to prevail around the Beijing Olympics. NBC says it will not send announcers to the Games.
Do the network managers actually care about the evil policies of the CCP? Has principle actually entered the board room? Alas, no. This announcement is merely Covid logistics. From the AP story:
NBC will not be sending its announcers and most hosts to the Beijing Olympics due to continued concerns about rising COVID-19 cases worldwide and China’s strict policy about those who test positive.
It will be the second straight Games for which the broadcast teams will work mostly out of NBC Sports headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, rather than the host city.
“Something significant has changed virtually every day for the last three months, forcing us to adjust our plan numerous times. And I expect that to continue as well as the challenge of doing the Olympics,” said Molly Solomon, the head of NBC’s Olympics production unit.
“With COVID’s changing conditions and China’s zero-tolerance policy, it’s just added a layer of complexity to all of this, so we need to make sure we can provide the same quality experience to the American viewers. That’s why we are split between the two cities.”
NBC shouldn’t cover the Games at all for reasons far beyond Covid-testing and isolation policies. Indeed, the world should shun the Olympics altogether. Here’s a brief list of the many reasons why:
- Uyghur genocide
- Organ harvesting of Falun Gong
- Social Credit System
- The suppression of Hong Kong
- Cultural genocide in Tibet
- Mass theft of intellectual property
- Private sector forced into in service to China’s spying
- Military saber rattling against Taiwan and in the South China Sea, and incursions at Indian border
- Covid cover-up
- Persecution of Christians
The world should have boycotted Beijing. It didn’t. NBC should cancel its coverage of the Games. It won’t.
But we can refuse to watch. Make the Games the lowest rated in the history of televised coverage of the Olympics. It’s not much. But turning our back to the CCP is a worthy endeavor and just might put some backbone into our leaders by letting them know that unlike Chamath Palihapitiya, we care about resisting evil.