{"id":14893,"date":"2018-02-14T18:32:06","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T04:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14893"},"modified":"2018-02-14T18:32:06","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T04:32:06","slug":"wash-post-nbc-apologizes-to-koreans-for-olympics-coverage-praising-japans-brutal-occupation-rightly-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14893","title":{"rendered":"Wash Post: “NBC apologizes to Koreans for Olympics coverage praising Japan\u2019s brutal occupation”, rightly so"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. PyeongChang. \u00a0It’s Olympics time again, and, as long-time readers know, I’m a fan of the athleticism but not the nationalism (and inevitable comparisons of strengths and weaknesses along national lines) that is endemic to bordered sports. Too many people compete for glory as representatives of whole societies, not for individual bests, and that particularly takes a toll on Japan’s athletes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’ve been<\/a> a relentless critic <\/a>of Japan’s<\/a> sports commentary<\/a>, but now that I’m watching it in the US, fair game. I was quite incandescent with rage at times listening to NBC’s stupid, overgeneralizing, and often borderline racist commentary of the Opening Ceremonies. (One of the most annoying was when Katie Couric noted how internet addiction is allegedly a problem in South Korea, and used it as a segue into a shameless plug of her upcoming show on internet addiction in America; and this relates to the Olympics how!?)<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I was not alone, and Korea protested not only the overgeneralizations, but also the ahistorical comments that were ill-considered. Fortunately, NBC apologized (and told the press that the offending commentator’s “assignment is over”), which is better than I’ve ever seen NHK do for its nasty coverage<\/a>. Here’s the Washington Post on the issue. Dr. Debito Arudou<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
\nNBC apologizes to Koreans for Olympics coverage that praised Japan\u2019s brutal occupation<\/strong>
\n By Avi Selk February 11, 2017<\/strong>
\nhttps:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/arts-and-entertainment\/wp\/2018\/02\/11\/nbc-apologizes-to-koreans-for-olympics-coverage-that-praised-japans-brutal-occupation\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s Opening Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in South Korea were, by most accounts, spectacular. NBC\u2019s coverage of the spectacle, on the other hand, was considered hit and miss. Occasionally disastrous.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t so much the hosts, Katie Couric and Mike Tirico, who annoyed critics, but rather the network\u2019s analyst, Joshua Cooper Ramo.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Slate wrote that Ramo\u2019s commentary amounted to bland trivia about Asia \u201cseemingly plucked from hastily written social studies reports\u201d \u2014 such as his observation that white and blue flags stood for North and South Korean unity. Variety compared his commentary to a Wikipedia article.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But Ramo\u2019s big misstep came when he noticed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan in the crowd and offered what he knew about the country\u2019s history with Korea.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Japan was \u201ca country which occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945,\u201d Ramo said, correctly (though he did not mention that historians say the Japanese army forced tens of thousands of Koreans into sex slavery.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u201d Ramo continued, \u201cevery Korean will tell you that Japan as a cultural and technological and economic example has been so important to their own transformation.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This was definitely not correct. Every Korean did not agree that Japanese colonialism had its upside. In fact, thousands signed a petition demanding that NBC apologize for Ramo\u2019s statement.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHis incorrect and insensitive comment about Korea\u2019s history has enraged many of its people,\u201d the Korea Times observed.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSome say it\u2019s questionable whether Ramo has been even following the news leading up to the current Olympics, as some of the disputes between South Korea and Japan erupted even during the preparation phase of the games,\u201d the Korea Herald added, mentioning as an example the unified Korean flag that Ramo liked so much.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, the Herald reported, an earlier flag design had outraged Japan because it included a group of islets still claimed by both countries.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Japan and South Korea have not even fully reconciled over atrocities committed during the occupation. While the Japanese government has expressed remorse and set up a fund in the 1990s to help victims it once referred to as \u201ccomfort women,\u201d some politicians and academics claim estimates of 200,000 sex slaves are exaggerated. Many South Koreans, in turns, compare those skeptics to Holocaust deniers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The morning after the Opening Ceremonies, NBC apologized for Ramo\u2019s remarks. \u201cWe understand the Korean people were insulted by these comments,\u201d an anchor said during a Saturday broadcast, according to MSN.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement to The Washington Post, NBC Sports said that the network also apologized in writing and that \u201cwe\u2019re very gratified that [the PyeongChang Olympics] has accepted that apology.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports reported this was the second time that Ramo, who co-directs a think tank founded by former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, has appeared as an Olympics analyst for NBC. He shared an Emmy Award for his commentary during Beijing\u2019s Summer Games in 2008.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ramo could not be immediately reached for comment. An NBC official told The Post that his assignment is over.<\/em><\/strong>
\nENDS
\n==============================================<\/p>\n

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It’s Olympics time again, and, as long-time readers know, I’m a fan of the athleticism but not the nationalism (and inevitable comparisons of strengths and weaknesses along national lines) that is endemic to bordered sports. Too many people compete for glory as representatives of whole societies, not for individual bests, and that particularly takes a toll on Japan’s athletes.<\/p>\n

I’ve been a relentless critic of Japan’s sports commentary, but now that I’m watching it in the US, fair game. I was quite incandescent with rage at times listening to NBC’s stupid, overgeneralizing, and often borderline racist commentary of the Opening Ceremonies. Fortunately, I was not alone, and Korea protested not only the overgeneralizations, but also the ahistorical comments that were ill-considered. Fortunately, NBC apologized (and told the press that the offending commentator’s “assignment is over”), which is better than I’ve ever seen NHK do for its nasty coverage. Here’s the Washington Post on the issue.<\/p>\n

WaPo: [NBC’s network\u2019s analyst, Joshua Cooper] Ramo\u2019s commentary amounted to bland trivia about Asia \u201cseemingly plucked from hastily written social studies reports\u201d \u2014 such as his observation that white and blue flags stood for North and South Korean unity. Variety compared his commentary to a Wikipedia article.<\/p>\n

But Ramo\u2019s big misstep came when he noticed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan in the crowd and offered what he knew about the country\u2019s history with Korea. Japan was \u201ca country which occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945,\u201d Ramo said, correctly (though he did not mention that historians say the Japanese army forced tens of thousands of Koreans into sex slavery.) \u201cBut,\u201d Ramo continued, \u201cevery Korean will tell you that Japan as a cultural and technological and economic example has been so important to their own transformation.\u201d This was definitely not correct. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,28,36,22,50,35,20,13,65,17,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pinprick-protests","category-anti-discrimination-templates","category-bad-social-science","category-cultural-issue","category-gaiatsu","category-good-news","category-history","category-media","category-racist-images-in-media","category-sport","category-tangents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14894,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14893\/revisions\/14894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}