The media world is not a principled one, and its decisions are often not moral in nature. Standards of coverage are rarely dictated by the metric of right versus wrong but by popular versus unpopular—determined more by what’s likely to attract viewership than what certain subsets of the viewing public may deem the right thing to do. Despite this depressing reality, American media do have a remaining obligation, as voices in a free society, to act within the parameters of basic moral standards: Don't lie, don't misquote, don't infuse with hysteria, and don't pretend like burning down city blocks in the name of "justice" is somehow rational or justified.
This gets dicey in the world of American domestic politics, and there are deep arguments to be had about how different outlets succeed or fail to live up to their obligations. Answering this question, however, should be less dicey: Should American media support totalitarian regimes engaged in genocide on the other side of the world? "No" would be a reasonable response. Yet one news outlet decided that a "no" was too much to ask of it.
In January, NBC announced it would not be sending its announcers to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, keeping their teams home to call the events from their American studios. Was this NBC standing up to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its brutal genocide against China's Uyghur population? Was it a brave refusal to share the same stage with CCP advocates and give even a hint of legitimacy to China's veneer of normalcy? To avoid waxing poetic: No, it was not. It was because of "COVID concerns," even though the network is maintaining a significant presence in Beijing, including that of lead prime time host Mike Tirico, rendering this decision truly nothing more than a corporate response to public health directives.
Let's be clear about this: Is every life lost to COVID-19 a tragedy, especially given the accessibility of vaccines? Yes. Any life lost too soon, and especially needlessly, is a tragedy. Which means it is also a tragedy when innocent Uyghurs are tortured, forcibly sterilized, and subjected to crimes against humanity—crimes an independent tribunal labeled as genocide in December of last year. That is a tragedy the CCP has had no qualms about perpetrating…
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