Why doesn’t the press report on the darker side of Olympics?
Roar Guru 
The artistically designed curved roof of the aquatic centre at the London 2012 Olympic Games precinct. AAP Image/Brian Cooper
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With the tightfisted frequency at which the Olympics transpires, it is undoubtedly an event that creates mass hysteria across the globe every four years it dawns upon us.
People all over the world channel their energy and focus towards this showpiece. Quite rightly so, since the Olympic Games is the amalgamation and celebration of several components of sport, with people both on and off the field from various backgrounds coming together as one.
The media, like always, has a significant role to play at the Olympics, supplying the consumer with news and information.
It is mandatory for them to offer fans as many features as possible, but is it too much to ask of them to tell us about the repulsive side?
While every host city reaps immense revenue and benefit by organising an event as enormous as the Olympics, there is a hideous side to all the joy, glamour and opulence that goes unnoticed.
It’s a shame that in the quest to portray one’s nation to the world as supreme, the Olympics might only equate to further misery for the poor and the deprived in the host country.
According to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), a Human Rights organisation based in Switzerland, the Olympic Games has displaced more than two million people in the last twenty years with the largest number resulting from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when an estimated 1.5 million people were forced to leave their homes.
A mind-boggling figure indeed and seldom do we come across stories from the media accounting for the difficulties and hardships these people are confronted with in the lead-up to the Games as well as later.
Moving on, the media has a ceaseless tendency to crave for skepticism. For instance, negative stories such as that of Australian swimmer Liesel Jones being unfit on the eve of the Games is an abhorrent approach and does no good but only further harm.
While the Games offers the perfect moment and platform to supply consumers good, positive and inspiring stories of athletes, it’s unfortunate that the media is content squandering most of their time scooping up an insipid story such as that of Jones.
But then, to be fair to the media, the real problem could be us consumers who show an inclination for pessimistic stories and therefore, the media is just catering to that particular aspect.
There seems to be a disparity that needs to resolved not just in regards to the coverage of the Games but sport, and more importantly, news in general. However, I am sure there are many sports fans out there who would be interested in stories about the other side of the Olympics.
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The Crowd Says (11) | Page 1 of Comments
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July 28th 2012 @ 5:59am
Purple Shag said | July 28th 2012 @ 5:59am | Report comment
An interesting perspective and an important balance for the zillion articles that go the other way. Olympic refugees – who’d have thunk? I remember Atlanta’s solution to their homeless problem was to pack them all on buses a few weeks before the Olympics began, and drop them in the next state knowing they wouldn’t have enough fold to get ‘home’. Humanity obviously not so high on their olympic agenda.
I did hear an English woman on the news saying how the Olympics is so great because it means we don’t have to listen to miserable news for 2 weeks… this lady clearly didn’t bank on K-man going into bat for the downtrodden. Cheers for the wake up call.
July 28th 2012 @ 10:56am
k77sujith said | July 28th 2012 @ 10:56am | Report comment
You bring up some good points like always Purple Shag. Thanks.
July 28th 2012 @ 7:44am
Rabbitz said | July 28th 2012 @ 7:44am | Report comment
There are two simple reasons why main stream outlets don’t write negative Olympic articles:
1) The average consumer doesn’t want to see their Olympic hero’s sullied.
2) They would have their current and any future Olympic accreditation pulled, so they miss out on the all the glory.
July 28th 2012 @ 10:58am
k77sujith said | July 28th 2012 @ 10:58am | Report comment
I agree with you Rabbitz but if that’s the case, do you think the media has got its role confused? Yes, the prime focus should be on the Games but I think the deprived need a voice as well…the world needs to know their story. Thanks.
July 28th 2012 @ 12:51pm
William Goat said | July 28th 2012 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
This is why the ’08 Olympics will always be the best ever, all the totalitarianism necessary for running a smooth event was already in place !
For me, the Olympics is the epitomy of hypocrisy & the sheer scale of them is a clear marker of just how far our society has descended into depravity.
July 28th 2012 @ 2:49pm
k77sujith said | July 28th 2012 @ 2:49pm | Report comment
You have a point William. But like they say, ‘the show goes on’ is the mantra I reckon. Thanks.
July 31st 2012 @ 9:41am
k77sujith said | July 31st 2012 @ 9:41am | Report comment
There’s currently a major ticket fiasco happening in London which is hardly reported in the news. Another story that deserves some footage but sadly, is not one of the prime stories followed by the media.
July 31st 2012 @ 4:42pm
lolly said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:42pm | Report comment
Are you talking about the issue of the sold-out, half-full venues? I can assure that it certainly is getting some coverage. Even the PM has made a point of needing to get it sorted.
August 1st 2012 @ 10:15am
k77sujith said | August 1st 2012 @ 10:15am | Report comment
Hi…I agree it is getting some coverage. I don’t intend to veer away from the main subject of this piece though and that is the media’s role in supporting the deprived. Thanks.
August 2nd 2012 @ 7:20am
jinesh said | August 2nd 2012 @ 7:20am | Report comment
well media nowdays instead of reporting jus make news..they survive more on sensationalism..the puzzling part is the mainstream media has vested interests at the right places n they decide wat news goes out..i thnk the consumer here is not given a choice..he just has 2 consume watever news tat comes his way n the mainstream media dont differ much with their content.. so the content is the same n the media which reports the darker side is apparently some small time newspaper which suffers from less visibility…good article..
August 2nd 2012 @ 11:07am
k77sujith said | August 2nd 2012 @ 11:07am | Report comment
Thanks Jinesh. Just wondering if we focus on the latest ticket fiasco at the Olympics, why doesn’t the media give a voice to the ticket-holder who might have sacrificed a lot just to buy a ticket. That’s a real story as well.