Bob Costas, a former NBC sportscaster who covered 12 Olympic Games as host and commentator, didn't shy away from discussing the challenges journalists face during next month's Beijing Winter Olympics.
"The IOC deserves all the scorn and hatred that comes their way to go back to China," Costas told CNN's "credible sources" on Sunday.
Costas references the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2015 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, as examples of the International Olympic Committee's disregard for the prevalence of human rights abuses when selecting host nations. But now, "there is a greater understanding of everything that China represents," he said.
"They are brazen about this stuff," Costas said of the IOC.
Journalists will face a unique challenge during the Beijing Games - balancing politics and sport, said Brian Stelter, CNN's chief media correspondent, adding that there are many unknowns in terms of censorship and international competition when it comes to reporting on events. How free will journalists be in and around sports.
“Some journalists going to Beijing are taking precautions like bringing burner phones and laptops,” Stelter said, citing an old Washington Post story.
There's a lot of money on the line — NBCUniversal has a $12 billion contract to broadcast the Olympics through 2023. And both NBC and ESPN announced this week that they would no longer send their usual crew of journalists and producers to the Games due to COVID concerns. ,
NBC previously announced that it would include geopolitical references during its Beijing coverage, but would focus on athletes.
"We're going to focus on telling Team USA stories and covering the competition," Molly Solomon, executive producer and president of NBC Olympic Productions, said during a presentation to reporters on Wednesday. "But the world, as we all know, is a really complicated place at the moment. And we understand that there are some difficult issues with respect to the host nation."
Costas described Olympic reporting as "quasi-journalistic", acknowledging his respect for the challenges facing his former colleagues in Beijing. That's because NBC pays sizable rights fees along with production costs, putting the network in somewhat of a promotional position for the games. He added that covering the Olympics is not just a news event, but also an important "cultural panorama" and "travel log" of the host country, aspects that may have been greatly reduced due to COVID and are under constant monitoring by the Chinese authorities. Chances are. ,
"It's the centerpiece of the entire network strategy in a time where everything is divided," Costas said.
During the fanfare of the Games, Stelter asked how spectators should expect the geopolitical context to be covered.
"I would guess... [NBC] will acknowledge the issues initially," Costas said, "and then address them only if there's something specific that can't be overlooked during the games."