Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
The smarter people at NBC never will admit it, but Kirsten Cooper’s interview of Bode Miller was exactly what the network’s producers wanted: painful, and thus dramatic, video of a grown man losing his composure and breaking into tears when asked one question too many about his brother’s death.
Miller graciously absolved Cooper of misbehaving in the interview, but that doesn’t absolve NBC, or television in general (and in particular, the worst offender, CNN), from the reprehensible practice of asking those it interviews not what happened, but “how do you feel?” in hope of inciting an emotional outburst that will set the internet and talk radio abuzz with outrage or admiration, and thus improve ratings and increase profits.
That’s what Cooper and her bosses set out to do. They did it expertly. And they did it because America’s Olympics transfixed couch potatoes aren’t that interested in an interview about the technical aspects of running the Super G. “Bode, please tell us how you gained time at Gate 6 when everyone before you lost almost four-hundredths of a second,” elicits “well, I noticed everyone was skidding on the ice, so I shot a straighter line and increased my edge angle by 15 degrees,” which elicits a change of channels by society matrons in Savannah who don’t know shush from schuss but tuned in hoping Bode, or someone, would cry during the post-race interview.
Olympic coverage has become tearjerker television, reality television at almost its worst (the worst is National Geographic’s Snake Salvation), highly offensive but highly profitable. It’s a damned disgrace.