There was good stuff in Australia and on Al Jazeera, but what about across the pond in America? What did it say, for example, in the NY Times article on the Paralympics Closing Ceremony?
....er.... where is that exactly? And is there really only a handful of blog posts about the whole Paralympics?
Now this isn't some local London derby, this is the second largest sporting event in the world.
I heard that NBC didn't show anything live and is condensing the whole Paralympics into a few extracts, but then this is the station that cut the tribute to the victims of the 7/7 attack from their broadcast of the Olympics Opening Ceremony (not cool guys).
But it does seem to me to be a shame and I've got to ask those American readers, what is going on?
Why so little coverage of the Paralympics in America?
6 comments:
Presidential race, Middle Eastern uprising, pointy football...Could be many things.
Yes, the Democratic and Republican Party Conventions were huge TV events in the US that dominated the same time period as the Paralympics were on, pretty much.
Actually they were quite similar to the Paralympics in that they showcased people, clearly not in full possession of all their faculties, competing in a once every four year event. Competitions included such events as Who Could Tell Most Lies in 20 Minutes, Best Speech by Candidate's Wife and Best Speech by an ex-President. The gold medal in the Over 80 Talking to an Empty Chair event went to Clint Eastwood. Thrilling stuff!
I think there must be more to it than that. Other countries have busy news cycles, including politics and other sports (it was the start of football season here) and it isn't a case or either / or. If there are multiple major stories then news organisations cover all of them - not covering a story implies its considered not major.
The NY Times certainly had resources to cover the Paralympics as it had a reporter in London, and NBC ditto.
It's not just me that's curious, its been a topic from the Sun all the way up to the head of the International Paralympic Committee.
Mitt Romney didn't mention the troops or Afghanistan in his acceptance speech at the Republican Convention. He justified his omissions by saying, "When you give a speech, you don't go through a laundry list. You talk about the things that you think are important."
Maybe NBC didn't think the Paralympics were as important as pointy football or Clint Eastwood mumbling to an empty chair? And they did sort of cover it. Several hours of highlights I think. Which is more than they did for sailing at the Olympics.
Romney will be delighted you paid such close attention to what he was saying!
Shame about coverage of the sailing in the Olympics :(
Interesting blog from a US paralympics athlete on the NY Times website here
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