In much of the media coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics, it appears as though there are only two types of athletes competing in Rio: Michael Phelps and not-Michael Phelps. If an athlete falls into the latter category, don’t bother confusing readers with names. Just find some other distinguishing character characteristic to reduce them to.
Like …
Screen shot
This was how the
San Jose Mercury-News decided to share the news to Twitter that Simone Manuel had
made history Thursday night. The Team USA Olympic swimmer tied an Olympic record for the women’s 100-meter freestyle and was the first black American woman to win an individual event in Olympic swimming. It was a deeply resonant moment, considering the
historical connection between swimming pools and racism in the United States.
But according to the
Mercury-News, Manuel was just an African-American who happened to also be present at the same athletic competition with Michael Phelps.
Twitter was not pleased.
The tweet has since been deleted, and the
Mercury-News posted an apology where it managed to learn the African-American swimmers’ name.
At least it managed to show photos of Manuel receiving her gold medals. NBC didn’t think the medal ceremony itself was very newsworthy,
cutting away to pre-recorded gymnastics footage. Later on, after midnight, the network managed to air the long-over ceremony.
Is it really too much to ask that media covering the Games a) learn the names of non-white athletes and b) show them when they make history? Apparently so.