NBC Olympics Coverage

I’ve been absorbing all the Olympics coverage I’m home for, and it’s time for me to give out my applause and my irritations. First, I must applaud NBC for showing coverage almost around the clock and across a range of events, even if some of the most interesting, such as water polo or dressage, are not receiving any primetime play. What irritates me, however, is the nearly complete lack of context for the games. The coverage, particularly the primetime coverage, shows almost no coverage of non-American athletes. And when there is coverage of non-American athletes, the commentators can’t stop talking about Americans. Last time I checked, there were 201 other countries in the Olympics, and in the medal standings the Chinese had 10 gold medals to the US’s 6. What have the Chinese won in? I couldn’t tell you, NBC isn’t telling us.