Allison Elkin was the Spring 2015 co-chief copy editor of the RRJ. Think the Americans miss CBC’s Olympic coverage? So do we
Not loving CTV’s Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games coverage? According to writer Joanne C. Gerstner, even our friends down South are peeved by the loss of the Olympic coverage bid by CBC. Gerstner’s article, posted on both The New York Times and Toronto Star, says people who live near the 49th parallel have become used to watching CBC for Olympic coverage over the years as an alternative to NBC, but now they find themselves without another option.
CTV is not readily available in the U.S. or along the border, as opposed to CBC, so viewers in the U.S. are stuck without it this time around. There’s even a small anti-NBC coverage Facebook group that says, “In Detroit, we miss CBC. They covered the games as if they were about the athletes and the competetion, and not self-promotion of network personalities.”
Alex Strachan, writing for Canwest News Service, broke down the pros and cons with CTV’s coverage of the games. His piece tends to favour CTV, saying it has brought fresh, entertaining coverage. And, with the added bonus that thankfully the CTV coverage doesn’t use our tax dollars. But he’s forgetting the main problem.
Last week Now Magazine‘s Susan G. Cole ranted about why the Olympics are bad. She ended with something to think about: “Remember when the Russians and the Americans won everything and our reporters–instead of themselves carrying the Olympic torch all over Canada or playing Canadian cheerleader while covering the actual events–dutifully reported on all those Canucks who came in 26th? Those were the days.”
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