Fallen Leafs

In my mind, there are no black-and-white answers to any of these questions, and they all need to be looked at, researched, analyzed and debated. We need more detailed coverage of these tragedies, not less, even if it damages our goal of escapism. That’s why CTV made the wrong move, going from a depressing story that needed to be covered to a potentially uplifting one that didn’t need to be focused on. In my mind, we need to take a hard look at these situations despite their tragic nature, rather than sweeping them under the rug and moving on to the next feel-good moment.

Andrew Bucholtz of Sporting Madness is perfectly on point about CTV’s very disappointing non-coverage of the 21-year-old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili who died earlier today in a training run accident. CTV is the main Canadian Olympics broadcaster, but chose to focus on the Olympic torch relay instead, rather than report on the tragic news. In contrast, NBC chose to repeatedly show the horrific video replay of the accident and made the decision to capitalize on the violence.

An important issue arises then over this unfortunate incident. Should the Olympics continue to focus mainly on the human spirit and hope, in amidst the horrific tragedy that occasionally occurs in such athletic, but dangerous sports?