Saturday, July 27, 2019

Here is an argument…for academic purposes only…

The counter argument for using the term  “concentration camps” which was used to describe the immigration detention facilities that currently exist in the United States by a United States congress women, is an unacceptable term in our highly charged polarized political environment. 

The term in many ways does not allow academic discourse within the confines of a democratic society without an emotional response, either positive of negative.
  
It is a dividing and divisive statement that harkens to gas chambers and death camps. The phrase concentration camps create's a gut reaction, which creates horrors, that defines man's inhumanity to man. The expression divides politicians and families and reinforces the split that is currently alive and well in our current political environment. 

In conclusion, the concept of a concentration camp, does not allow one to take sides, there is not a right answer for using such a toxic term, without an emotional response that alienates every part of society.    

Sunday, July 22, 2018

The Putin Olympics Sochi 2014







At one of the entrances to the Sochi Olympic Park, where the XXII Winter Games took place in 2014, is an amusement park. Apparently, it is there to attract children, except the park is closed. In the shadow of the park is a castle similar to Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle in Anaheim, California. It is comparable to King Ludwig's Castle of Bavaria. The Olympic castle, with the snow-capped Caucasus Mountains in the background, welcomes you with its Disney-like charm near the main trucking entrance to the park. At this entrance, incoming semi-trailer trucks are scanned for radioactive explosives and dirty bombs. Occasionally, a homeless dog ambles by, looking for something to eat, while the diegetic music of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake plays in the background over strategically placed loudspeakers.






When night falls, the castle is illuminated by multicolored floodlights, which change from blue to green to red. This mixture of a Disney fantasy and a deserted amusement park lies across the street from the stealthy security agency, FSB, or Federal Security Service. Welcome to Putin's Olympics.

These are the first winter Olympics in Russia, and they attracted considerable media attention since Sochi was chosen as the site for the games in July 2007, beating out Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea (IOC). Celebrated and lamented by both Russian and Western media, this Olympic media spectacle continues to create controversy as millions of dollars have allegedly been spent on corrupt officials and Olympic contractors. There was also the continued underlying threat of terrorism from Doku Umarov, leader of a Muslim separatist group in Caucasus Emirate. (He has since been killed by the Russian authorities two weeks after the Sochi closing ceremonies.) In addition, Russian antigay policies against its citizens and Olympic athletes have emerged as another distraction from Putin’s extravagant celebration of Russian nationalism.





Sochi is not the only host city that was in the midst of controversy. Beijing was selected for the Summer Olympics in 2008, and during that time, attention was focused on China's human rights' issues and the Falun Gong group. The Chinese government identified Falun Gong as a threat to political and social stability. In 1992, Li Honghzi founded the Falun Gong in northeastern China. Falun Gong followers practice meditative and slow-motion exercises and adhere to ideas from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism (Liu 8). In October 2000, the Chinese government increased efforts to destroy the Falun Gong by pronouncing the group to be a "reactionary and hostile" organization. As a result, by April 2001, as many as 830,000 Falun Gong followers had been arrested (Liu 9). Also, in 2001, there were many complaints to the International Olympic Committee concerning China's treatment of Falun Gong. The protests were so intense that the International Olympic Committee's fax machines had to be shut down due to the number of faxes being sent (Brownell 1).  



Such repression of human rights by authoritarian governments undeniably curbs viewers' enthusiasm regarding the spectacle of the Olympic presentation. NBC has paid $775 million for the rights to the Sochi Olympics; they must portray these Olympic events as non-controversial, politically correct, and pleasantly entertaining for the NBC family of broadcast, cable and interactive audiences. This will be very difficult if an undesirable event occurs during the seventeen days of the Winter Olympics. The problem, which NBC faces, is that its brand is entwined with the Olympics. NBC is the Olympic network, broadcasting every Summer and Winter Olympics Games since the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia, and until the summer games in Tokyo in 2020.  Unquestionably, American audiences see the Olympics as being a part of NBC, which is exactly the goal of NBC's marketing and branding efforts. Unfortunately for NBC, if something does go dreadfully wrong in some unexpected way, NBC could be held accountable, due to the repressive governments that the network supports with its rights dollars and the amount of publicity and excitement they have generated for the upcoming winter games through their own social networks, cable channels and broadcast networks.

Many journalists and media professionals were warned in advance about a number of critical safety issues at the Winter Olympics; medical facilities in Russia were not up to Western standards, and individuals should be prepared to provide their own prescription medications in case of an emergency. Drinking water was not potable in Sochi; subsequently; it was requested only to drink bottled water. NBC security detail advised that travel should be restricted to the town of Adler--where the Olympic park is located--and warned media personnel not to travel to the seaside resort town of Sochi, thirty minutes north of Adler. It was advised to not travel alone, always have a colleague when leaving and returning to your accommodations, and always carry your cell phone in case of an emergency. Additionally, the US Department of State issued a travel alert for any US citizens traveling to Sochi, Russia, for the Winter Olympic Games.

With medical care, terrorism, and gay rights all of concern, disregarding these alerts could be dangerous. Under these kinds of conditions, many negative aspects in Sochi could influence editorial decisions not just for NBC, but also for the press in general. It seems that a number of ad-hoc news sports reporters glossed over the threatening issues in Sochi and created a narrative on how much fun and how friendly Sochi is. For example, Sean Mooney's reports from Sochi for KVOA Television in Tucson, Arizona, made light of the fact that he has been warned by NBC of viable terrorist threats in Sochi. Mooney shows images of children playing in a park and interviews a Russian woman and two Dutch tourists who have a sense of safety and well-being in Russia as well as Sochi (Mooney).  Simply stated, these interviews were a superficial "man on the street" style, without any investigated depth in questions or answers.
This narrative was also on display at the network level. NBC's pre-Olympic program "Olympic Zone Show" also sustained the narrative by exhibiting the simpler, more carefree side of the games with charming interviews, colorful fast paced images and upbeat techno music. Thus, it catered to the NBC sports narrative of sports entertainment rather than sports investigative reporting, demonstrating to the audiences that all is safe and harmonious in Sochi. However, there was at least one publicized terror threat to the Sochi Olympics; two so-called "black widow" Muslim women were believed to be planning suicide bomb attacks on the final stages of the Olympic torch relay entering Sochi. Wanted posters were placed at security checkpoints entering the Olympic park, prompting fears that Russia's Olympic security plans had been compromised and the "black widows" had breached the "ring of steel" surrounding Sochi. Both the term "black widow" and the term "ring of steel" were used continually by the news media (Engle). The expression "black widow" was used for the female terrorist suspects because the women were seeking to avenge the deaths of their husbands by Russian forces. The "ring of steel" term originates from the security improvements around major financial districts in London after the IRA detonated a van packed with explosives on April 10, 1992, close to the Baltic Exchange in the City of London (Richards, 66). Both of these representations were used exclusively during the Winter Olympics by many media outlets, who also ratcheted up the use of military metaphors before the Olympics began; this increased the insecurity of NBC's target audience in the US. 


However, NBC's Olympics coverage had no intention of presenting the underbelly of the Sochi Olympics. NBC is not a news organization or an investigating arm of its parent company, Comcast, but a sports reporting entity interested in journalism that focuses on sporting events and their outcomes. NBC is not interested in letting Russian politics and Putin's regime interfere with their sports coverage and artistic interpretation of the sports spectacle. NBC believes the Olympics are bigger than any single sporting event and wish to present material that is interesting to a broad audience. However, they are prepared to present issues of news interest, if they surface. For example, Bob Costas interviewed Thomas Bach, the newly elected IOC President. Costas asked a number of incisive and meaningful questions concerning Bach's statements, apparently directed to those who might engage in terrorism, during his opening ceremony speech at the open-air Fisht Olympic Stadium: "Please respect their Olympic message of goodwill, of tolerance, of excellence and of peace. Have the courage to address your disagreements in a peaceful, direct political dialogue and not on the backs of the athletes". Costas also argued and energetically interjected statements, which supported President Obama's disapproval of Putin's anti-gay policy. President Obama did not attend the games, but sent two openly gay athletes--tennis great Billie Jean King and two-time Olympic hockey medalist Caitlin Cahow--essentially thumbing his nose at Putin. Costas's pointed questions for the IOC president did show assertiveness on his part and stated that there was more at stake at the Sochi Olympics for NBC than covering an Olympic sporting event. 
Although NBC Olympics wanted to convey a positive persona concerning the Winter Games, Russian governmental news agencies like PRAVDA have written critical articles concerning some editorial decisions NBC made regarding the Opening ceremonies. One PRAVDA article states, "The words of gratitude to the Russian Federation and the organizers of the Sochi Games from the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, were deleted entirely" (Pravda). Jim Bell, NBC Executive Producer, responded, "It was a very long speech. Inevitably, we made some edits to make the show fit, and inevitably, there will be somebody whose nose will get out of joint about whatever it is" (Mickle). Granted, the whole Thomas Bach speech was not broadcast, as well as the entire opening ceremonies on NBC. 

Following the close of the opening ceremonies, the staff had just a few precious hours to edit down a four-hour program. These segments needed to follow a linear path, tell a story, and fill a time constraint.  It's a very difficult job to turn these edited segments around in a short amount of time. Considering the pressures involved in the Olympic broadcasts with 31.7 million viewers, occasionally a scene gets omitted in the heat of battle and lands on the cutting room floor (Patten).
 PRAVDA was not the only faction who was critical of NBC's Olympic coverage; apparently, up to 14,000 #NBCFail negative tweets were counted by the social-analytics site Topsy. Most viewers' complaints were similar to the complaints made during from the Summer Olympic games in London. Viewers were annoyed they couldn't watch Sochi programming live and content online was not free. NBC's Live Extra online service required an account with an existing cable/satellite provider and a specific cable package (Radia). Even though NBC Universal offered live coverage of the entire one thousand hours and ninety-two events of men's and women's hockey, bobsledding, Nordic combined, cross-country skiing, speed skating, and ski jumping; however, many viewers were still disappointed in the amount of specific coverage and the number of commercials. Some viewers went so far as to set-up their own virtual private network--and pay a monthly fee of twelve dollars--to buy a Canadian IP address in order to watch an additional fifteen hundred hours of CBC online coverage not available in the US.


Granted, NBC could have elected to show the entire opening ceremonies and other "A Grade" venues live on their cable sports distribution outlet NBCSN, but instead chose the tape delay option on the NBC broadcast network.  With a nine to eleven hour time difference in the US, the opening ceremonies would have been cablecast late Friday morning--not a viable option for a prime time slot on commercial television. Other countries who bought the broadcast rights for the Sochi Olympics were non-commercial broadcast entities (like Canada's CBC and the United Kingdom's BBC) are not dependent on commercial sponsors and high ratings. For NBC and its stockholders, revenue dollars have exceeded expectations at the Sochi Olympics. During the first six nights, more than 140 million Americans watched Olympic content across a number of platforms (Seldman). Through prime time, cable, late night, and weekend viewership, and social-media delivery systems, audiences have witnessed live and taped events in record numbers.
The challenge for NBC programmers is to include and distribute content that has occurred and is occurring. This mixture of programming shown in its entirety with edited and condensed segments takes considerable planning. The networks have thrown aside past practices of not revealing race results since audiences now have many choices for their IP and video delivery systems that can receive event results in real time. Essentially, the goal of NBC Olympics is to portray the athletes in Sochi as individuals who represent nationalism, patriotism, and individual athleticism on a world stage. The Olympic competitor must endure personal sacrifice in order to achieve the ranking and status to be an Olympian. In addition, each athlete has a story of personal struggle with family, friends and self to achieve this coveted accolade. For example, NBC Olympics has painstakingly produced a number of high quality profiles. These biographies incorporated the latest in high definition video filming and editing technology to enhance each athlete’s story. Future and present Olympians were profiled in short, documentary style segments, which were intermixed within the Olympic competition segments. Respectively, each profile carefully portrays the athlete as a devotee to their respected sport. Nothing physically or mentally stands in the way for their ultimate goal--achieving a gold medal. 

Alex Bilodeau, who earned a Gold Medal in Freestyle Skiing Men's Moguls for Canada in Sochi, is no exception. Bilodeau's portrayal by NBC's producers included his role as a teacher, a dedicated competitor and his love and appreciation of his older brother, Fredrick Bilodeau. Fredrick has cerebral palsy, which has impaired his physical movements since he was young. Fredrick's disability is an inspiration for Alex. His courage, determination and outlook guide Alex through the ultimate challenges of Olympic pursuit and family unity. Granted, this compassionate profile is similar to other past profiles NBC has produced, which have dealt with medical issues concerning the athlete and their family; however, this particular narrative sheds an unquestionable emotional sobriety with the Bilodeau family and their emotional dependence on one another in a time of questionable security concerns at the Sochi winter games. Indeed, NBC Olympics wants to demonstrate a better side of Russia: the picturesque Russia of a cultured background, love of the outdoors and spirited competition and of making and drinking vodka as a drink of significant cultural relevance. This is the Russia that has accomplished the supposedly impossible dream of creating an Olympic venue of spectacular size and grandeur.

 NBC Olympics Mary Carillo's “Art on Ice” explains and demonstrates the brilliance and artistry of ice-skating in Russia, which has been in the soul of Russia for the past 300 years. With dramatic close-ups detailing the grace of Russian figure skaters in constant motion, Tamara Moskvina has been part of the ice-skating world with the Russian Federation for more than 50 years. Moskvina explains why Russian ballet dancers are so inextricably intertwined with the training of Russian skaters. Indeed, the skaters rely on ballet by studying the art and performance of dancers from the famed Bolshi Academy. By traveling to the Mariinsky Theater, Carillo shows the commitment, integrity, and overall seriousness NBC uses to present this art form on ice as being an integral part of Russian history and culture. This dedication to ballet is not present in other Western countries to the scale and commitment as seen in the Russian Federation. As such, the art form of ice-skating has survived both political and cultural upheaval under Czarist and Communist rule. Its artistic legacy has thusly been validated as it has thrived under internal pressure in a sometimes-volatile republic. 

Figure skating was first introduced at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London; 16 years year later, it was included in the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, Switzerland. Since the 1972 Winter Olympics, figure skating has been a prominent media event for NBC. Traditionally, in prime time, Tom Hammond and Scott Hamilton have been the customary color commentators, but in Sochi, NBC introduced an innovative pair of commentators, Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir. At the age of 15, Lipinski won the ladies' singles Olympics gold medal in figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Weir, in 2008, won the World bronze medal in Gothenburg, Sweden. Both of these younger, energetic commentators brought a new flair of enlightenment to this Olympic sport and also a new subtle narrative, which was beginning to emerge through NBC's sleight of hand in editorializing on Russian politics. Weir is openly gay; he is not only gay but rather flamboyantly gay in his appearance. He wears makeup, lipstick, and effeminate jewelry, not the usual attire for a network broadcaster. In some instances, television spectators would watch the Olympic coverage just to see what Weir was wearing on that broadcast day (Armour). Intentional or not, NBC's decision to use Weir was an additional way of demonstrating disdain and contempt for the anti-gay atmosphere in Russia. While Weir is openly gay, he did not use NBC as a platform for LGBT issues, which did enrage some members of the LGBT community. But as NBC has said in the past, "As we've previously stated, NBC will cover all newsworthy issues as they are relevant to the Games, including the LGBT law" (Morabito). 

Also, uncharacteristic at the Sochi Olympics are cultural events--such as ballet and musical performances--were absent in Sochi and Adler. Usually, the host city provides a variety of dance, art and public recitals, which create an artistic ambience, intermixed with the athleticism and excitement of the Olympic events. The games, as one academic from Southern Federal University clearly stated in 2007, "...the organizers of the event in Russia aim at showing the individuality and uniqueness of the country..." and "...the objective is to position the city of Sochi as the center of cultural life..." (Barabanova, 48). Clearly, with the absence of many social events and other major obstacles Sochi experienced, a question many have asked is, why was Sochi selected in the competition over a UNESCO World Heritage site similar to Salzburg, Austria? Salzburg ranked first in nine of the eleven categories and was considered the favorite to win the bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics (Baylor). Also, Salzburg could have offered a true cultural experience for the athletes and spectators. The birthplace of Mozart and the annual Salzburg Music Festival could have highlighted and enriched the Olympic spectacle. 

Many people believe Sochi was chosen through the shear personal strength and force of Vladimir Putin. Putin delivered an impassioned speech to the International Olympic Committee on behalf of his country's 2014 Winter Olympics bid. Putin spoke in three languages, including English, which he rarely does in public (Sullivan). He also bought a house in Guatemala City for just two day's lodging and then had 120 builders and technicians render it secure for privately entertaining IOC members following his arrival (Miller).  Also, to impress the Olympic community further, the world's largest cargo jet flew in 150 tons of equipment to create an ice rink in this sub-tropical city on which Olympic figure skating champion, Yevgeny Plushenko, could exhibit his skating skills (Miller). (Plushenko, a four-time Olympic Gold medalist, won a gold medal in the team competition in Sochi, but later pulled out of the men's single event due to a back injury). 
Another question remains: what does Putin have to gain during this event as a world leader?  The Sochi Olympics and its legacy are inextricably connected to the success or failure within a seventeen-day period. Putin must be proud of how he has transformed the town of Adler from a wetland and cooperative state farm to a premier Olympic venue. 

Putin has boasted that this was the largest construction project in the world, yet still met an ambitious deadline in accordance with the IOC, uprooting thousands of families who had no option, but to get out of the way of the bulldozers (Craggs). In addition, this seven-year construction project is undeniably Putin's St. Petersburg; the fifty-five-billion-dollar remodel of Adler and the Caucus Mountains is reminiscent of the construction of St. Petersburg by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. It took Peter the Great nine years to build his new capital of Russia, with mostly peasants and soldiers, working in very primitive conditions and dying in great numbers. This area was considered of high strategic importance, so Peter the Great continued constructing the city, despite all the losses and extra expenditures (Massie, 524). 

For Putin, this great Olympic venue was built to grow and promote the Black Sea for summer vacations and the Caucus Mountains' for alpine skiing in the winter. Unlimited sums of money were spent to build this empire as to entice the populace within Russia. Putin's type of capitalism is undoubtedly at work here. He has authorized the building of a mecca for the masses with high-capacity high-rise apartments. These structures are similar to the concrete-block Khrushchevki style residences that are cramped and uncomfortable, surround the outskirts of Adler, and were meant to house journalists and visitors. However, wild dogs in the Olympic Park, polluted air from burning trash, the constant roar of diesel trucks, moving debris, and a lack of proper safety equipment has made this Winter Olympics the most expensive to date, but less than entirely successful in promoting the success of Russia’s economy. This outcome has dulled the luminescent shine of Putin's Olympic creation.
The games' opening ceremonies were a better example of the image of Russia that Putin hoped to deliver. The grandiosity of the opening ceremonies at Fisht Olympic Stadium in Adler was artfully classic and modern in its presentation and stature. Particularly noteworthy was the music from Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's music from Swan Lake, and the Russian Internal Affairs Choir singing "Get Lucky" from Daft Punk. Visually the artists Kandinsky, Chagall, and Malevich were on display as well, and the works of writers Tolstoy, Pushkin, and Chekhov were also prominent in this extravaganza (Services).  Mendeleev and his periodic table and Sputnik, the first Russian satellite, also appeared in cosmic splendor. 


About 3.5 billion people around the world watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sochi (Pravda), which was produced by Konstantin Ernst, the general director of Channel One, Russia's largest state-controlled television network (Yaffa). As a spectator, one noticed the grandeur of this event, which seemed to be played for Putin's center stage position in this grand stadium. Since these are Putin's Olympics, as the media and social networks brand them, one could assume that this command performance, as it were, was directed at Putin, with all the care and authority that any authoritarian figure would command in the Russian Federation. 

After the opening ceremony, a political storm was brewing in the Ukraine and Crimea, which created a narrative that could not have been envisioned by Vladimir Putin. Ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, a supporter of the Russian government, fled Ukraine under the threat of civil and political unrest. As Bob Costas was beginning his commentary in prime time, the Ukraine crisis was in full swing. Costas' two-and-a-half-minute observations and opinion clearly summarized the anguish and suffering the Ukrainian people were undergoing as a muted celebration was taking place in the medals plaza in Sochi after Ukraine's gold medal victory in women's team biathlon relay. Costas's inference acknowledges protesters being cut down by gunfire, as teams of protesters carried bodies away under sniper fire. However, Costas later capitulated and recognized the accomplishments and success of the Sochi Olympics--without any terrorist attacks—with a gracious and hospitable Russian host and a newly modern retrofired Olympic Park. But as Costas has pointed out, this does not justify the brutal treatment of Ukraine citizens in the midst of a political uprising with the thugs of Putin to squelch the political aspirations of the Ukraine citizenry. 
As these events were unfolding, Putin and the Russian Federation stood by (somewhat helplessly) as the largest sports media spectacle was taking place. This volatile situation, with rioting in the streets in Kiev and the watchful eye of millions of television viewers across the media landscape, held the Russian Federation in limbo, as the Olympics evolved over a seventeen-day period. During this sports spectacle, there has been speculation that Putin was moving behind the scenes politically to liberate Crimea from Ukraine. Unquestionably, if not for the Sochi Olympics, the Russian government would have had a more aggressive stance both militarily and politically towards the unfolding instability in Crimea and acted accordingly to quell the insurrection that was taking place in the Ukraine.

Putin considered this year's Winter Olympics as being the largest in the history of the Winter sport -- with almost 670 hours of competition that included twelve new winter events which created a daunting technical and logistical task for the newly-formed Sochi Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games. However, this required transforming a swamp farmland into the Olympic coastal cluster in the Russian Riviera region of Sochi. Before the Winter Olympics, Sochi lacked major venues, housing, and transportation options, so its preparation and transformation took seven years. For years, environmental groups have called for more attention to the damages this region's natural reserves incurred due to the large-scale construction of sports facilities, residential areas, tunnels, roads, and railways needed for Sochi to host the Winter Olympic games.

In a somewhat out-of-character instance, the destruction machine that is Putin’s Olympics managed to preserve only one original site in Sochi: the Old Believers' cemetery, which is now located in the middle of the Olympic Park (Koekamp). In addition, the Sochi Olympic Committee was also embroiled in multiple human rights violations as reported by Human Rights Watch, with 700-immigrant construction workers complaining of nonpayment of wages and excessive delays in payment of wages totaling to eight million dollars (Russia).

Even with the current state of affairs, and despite fears of an all-out invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, the continuing human rights violations in Sochi, and the looming threats of terrorist attacks from Caucus rebels, NBC celebrated the first Sunday night of the Olympic broadcasts with record viewership that surpassed the Winter Olympics held in Calgary, Canada, with more than eight million viewers (Koddolojy). Clearly, NBC understands its audience’s lack of appetite for political turmoil, cultural genocide, and environmental eradication; thus, it avoids these controversial subjects. But, as Putin’s patriarchal stranglehold continues to tighten around the neck of the Eurasian regions. Sports media broadcasters, similarly to NBC, continue to reflect Putin’s dominant and aggressive influences by avoiding many of the contentious issues his regime has inflicted on the Russian people and the Olympic spirit of Sochi. Indeed, the lack of investigative journalism and factual reporting concerning numerous egregious acts committed during Putin’s Olympic reign of terror only reinforces his tyrannical thirst for power and control. Putin’s “free pass” is reflected in the miniscule amount of broadcast time allotted to his political and cultural cleansing. Granted, NBC wanted to be a gracious guest in their host country. But, they do bear some responsibility for not communicating the grievous actions of Putin’s regime in this time of volatility. Indeed, within the NBC family of cable, broadcasting, and interactive distribution, there could have been an investigate unit, similar to HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumble, who tackles controversial subjects such as marijuana use in the NFL, the NFL’s accountability in the concussion crisis, or more poignantly, Bernard Goldberg reporting in Sochi for a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations of the 2014 Winter Olympics and the allegations of massive corruption schemes tied to the Sochi Olympic Games (Goldberg).


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