NBC - whose coverage of the Olympics made records in the US - liked telling the stories behind athletes at the competition. They would talk about their familes, wives, husbands or partners, and pick out the supporters in the crowd who were there rooting for them. That was until Matt Mitcham, the 20-year-old Australian diver, won a gold medal in the 10m platform competition.
Even though Mitcham was the only openly gay sportsman at the Olympics, and even though his partner Lachlan Fletcher (who made it to Beijing thanks to a grant from Johnson & Johnson's Athlete Family Support Program), NBC never mentioned either fact, and never picked Fletcher out in the crowd, a privilege they clearly reserved for straight athletes. Even when Mitcham won his gold, preventing a clean sweep by China in the eight diving events - a remarkable achievement - and even when his win was made more emotional by him climping into the stands to reach his mother, and to hug and kiss his partner, NBC's cameras remained blind. If that's not a story of triumph and emotion, the stuff that TV sports coverage usually laps up, then what is?
When questioned about the fact that Mitcham's partner was ignored, while the spotlight was offered to other athlete's partners, NBC originally defended their decision not to cover Mitcham's personal story, saying that they can't cover every athlete's personal life. Fair enough, except, surely Mitcham's story - coming out to the Sydney Morning Herald 6 months before the Olympics, being apparently the only gay man competing, his dramatic gold medal win, and his victory being highest profile win ever by a gay man in an Olympic event - is worth a line from the TV network?
The website AfterElton.com, who first approached NBC for comment, makes the point:
But now NBC is backtracking, and as outsports.com reports, the network has apologised for snubbing Mitcham, saying simply, "We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham’s story. We apologize for this unintentional omission." Short, if not sweet.
So, did NBC simply 'miss and opportunity'? Was this an 'unintentional omission'? Or were the images of a young gay sportsman, hugging his partner in victory, quietly censored?
Even though Mitcham was the only openly gay sportsman at the Olympics, and even though his partner Lachlan Fletcher (who made it to Beijing thanks to a grant from Johnson & Johnson's Athlete Family Support Program), NBC never mentioned either fact, and never picked Fletcher out in the crowd, a privilege they clearly reserved for straight athletes. Even when Mitcham won his gold, preventing a clean sweep by China in the eight diving events - a remarkable achievement - and even when his win was made more emotional by him climping into the stands to reach his mother, and to hug and kiss his partner, NBC's cameras remained blind. If that's not a story of triumph and emotion, the stuff that TV sports coverage usually laps up, then what is?
When questioned about the fact that Mitcham's partner was ignored, while the spotlight was offered to other athlete's partners, NBC originally defended their decision not to cover Mitcham's personal story, saying that they can't cover every athlete's personal life. Fair enough, except, surely Mitcham's story - coming out to the Sydney Morning Herald 6 months before the Olympics, being apparently the only gay man competing, his dramatic gold medal win, and his victory being highest profile win ever by a gay man in an Olympic event - is worth a line from the TV network?
The website AfterElton.com, who first approached NBC for comment, makes the point:
"...the network frequently covered events involving upsets or controversial victories, especially those concerning the United States and Olympic hosts China: the Japanese upsetting the U.S for the gold medal in softball, the U.S victory over Serbia in Men's waterpolo, the controversy surrounding the Chinese women gymnastics team. However , Mitcham’s shocking derailment of the Chinese diving juggernaut didn’t quite rate...
NBC sports is a news organization and reporting historical, groundbreaking moments is their job. Had Mitcham actually been the first black diver competing, and had he pulled off the same stunning achievement, NBC’s ignoring it would be considered a travesty at best."
But now NBC is backtracking, and as outsports.com reports, the network has apologised for snubbing Mitcham, saying simply, "We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham’s story. We apologize for this unintentional omission." Short, if not sweet.
So, did NBC simply 'miss and opportunity'? Was this an 'unintentional omission'? Or were the images of a young gay sportsman, hugging his partner in victory, quietly censored?
9 comments:
For a company whose logo is a peacock with rainbow plumage...
I know, right?!
I saw this live in the states on cnbc (i think).. they didn't in fact snub the aussie, it was worse than that. the commentator said that he had had to leave the sport for a few years to deal with 'personal issues' and 'issues with his family'. I thought it was a really strange thing to say. Then when he took his dive, he waved to the camera and i thought to myself he is so gay. i couldn't believe it
Neil
I thought he was one of 4 gay people in the Olympics. Or perhaps he was the only gay man.
@ Ian: there were ten openly gay athletes competing in the Olympics (nine lesbians and one gay man) and one bisexual softball player.
Nailed on that at least 4 of the lesbians were rowers.
shit happens. sure it was intentional by NBC. are you saying they are homophobic?
@ cw: no rowers. A cyclist, fencing chick, two handball players (who are a couple, awwww), three soccer players, a tennis player and a softball player.
I would be astonished if none of the female rowers were gay.
Astonished.
The handball players were a couple? Pretty hot that. And I think I saw the lesbian cyclist too. There were a rake of footballers who could have been but I wish you would have said that all the lesbians were off the Dutch hockey team.
Splendid they were.
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