The New York Times has rejected suggestions that it delay posting results of Winter Olympics contests until after they are broadcast by NBC. Clark Hoyt, the newspaper's public editor (in effect, an ombudsman for readers), said that the Times "has no intention of changing its approach report results as soon as it can, as prominently as they deserve." Hoyt quoted sports editor Tom Jolly as saying, "Our job is to report the news. ... We're not beholden to presenting the news the way NBC does." His remarks come as complaints mount on the Internet about NBC's decision to present most of the events via tape delay. On the TechCrunch website Thursday, co-editor Erick Schonfeld wrote "What's the point of watching the women's downhill super combined when you already know that Lindsey Vonn crashed because half the people you follow on Twitter decided to spoil the race earlier in the day when it actually happened?" On the Sports Illustrated website, columnist Michael Rosenberg added "In 2010, how are you supposed to avoid that news [that Vonn had won]? ... Tape-delayed coverage is a time-honored Olympic tradition, as venerated as the rings and political boycotts. But it seems especially ridiculous now." But Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests that NBC "simply doesn't know how to do live coverage anymore" -- and that when it did, Wednesday night, it broadcast a pep talk being given by a coach that included verboten language. "Has the network forgotten the seven-second delay?" Knapp asked. "Putting live mikes around any athlete, without an editing function is asking for trouble." And then there's the case of Dutch speedskater Sven Kramer, who, after winning a gold medal, was asked by an NBC reporter, "I need you to say your name, your country and what you just won here." Kramer replied "Are you stupid? Hell no, I'm not going to do that."

19/02/2010