if you where one of the people glued to the Olympic coverage on the NBC networks chances are you don’t know how the largest dam in the world was built, or who Mao Tse Dong was(even though they would continually show his photo in their broadcasts.) or maybe that performers for the Opening and closing ceremony where held in small “camps” outside of beijing where they where fed very little& where held captive till their performances. NBC had marie carillo doing Light “reporting” about China as small snippet inserts in their primetime coverage.
she did all the tourist things, dumb americans often do when traveling abroad. she visited the worlds largest dam but didn’t mention how many people where left LITERALLY homeless because of the erection of the dam-or that there was parks that the authorities in China had set aside for protest, however they would either detain or arrest people that came with applications to police departments headquarters in beijing. how NBC showered praise on the volunteers in their broadcast that where given very little & worked long hours without compensation. maybe the walls that the government raised around what they considered “ugly” parts of beijing trapping people for the duration of the games.
China has history of manipulating it’s population to do whatever the government desired. it began during the dynastic period when the emperors would use the rivers in the rural provinces to control it’s people. if they wanted people to do certain things they would spread the word through the rivers. hence, people began the believe that the rivers “talked” when new rules would be mandated. China is still very much a communist country & work camps are still in use for speaking out against the government, neighbor spies on neighbor& the secret police take people without notice of where they are or what happened to them. or maybe project 119 & the athletic “farms” where little kids are forced from their parents to participate in the “program.” the program is of course getting a gold medal.
yet, all NBC showed was glam shots of beijing& played favorite to the host nation. there was no Bad stories about China as the goal of NBC was to keep it’s audience warm & fuzzy for it’s sponsors such as exxonmobile & smithkline beecham who ran lyrica ads throughout the taped broadcasts. the Olympics are over& the closing ceremony showed under nourished performers who looked scared & trapped. hopefully China’s firm hold of its people will change in the future, but i doubt it! there was no embarrassing human rights protest during the games, nothing embarrassing happened-but it should have as gleaming pictures of a dynastic & troubling country got to keep it’s dirty secrets thanks to NBC.
