The situation with China is blowing up in everyone’s faces. The Walt Disney Company is now joining NBC in pulling its staff from the Olympics in China. While the ESPN reporters would not have been allowed to do live broadcasts, they still would have done interviews, news coverage, etc. Now, they’ll be doing whatever they can from home.
With the pandemic continuing to be a global threat, and with the COVID-related on-site restrictions in place for the Olympics that would make coverage very challenging, we felt that keeping our people home was the best decision for us.
— Norby Williamson, ESPN Executive Editor
While the media has often touted China’s government numbers for the pandemic, that strategy seems to be failing as the Olympics put the reality in full display. China has now mandated that the public there is no longer allowed to even go to the Olympics. Instead, the government will be selecting actors to fill the stands in an action reminiscent of North Korean propaganda strategies.
From ABC News:
The organizing committee said this change is due to the “grave and complicated situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the safety of all participants and spectators.”
The continued failures of the Olympic Games for 2022 is likely to have a rippling effect throughout the entertainment industry as companies deal with a market that is increasingly unsafe and puts corporations at odds with the awakening western world.
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