Tedious Nitpicking (of the Beijing Olympics)
It looks the media coverage (read: China bashing) of the Beijing Olympics shows little sign of easing. However, a glimmer of hope can be found in the comment section. Money quote,
“It is getting tedious how western media is finding faults with practically everything in this Chinese Olympics.”
Still, one can’t help asking the question: why the seemingly non-stop nitpicking? Looks like Americans are in good company when it comes to whiners.
Making An Olympian Mountain out of Lip-synching Molehill
You could be forgiven for thinking that the media are competing for gold in China bashing, as if spurred by Michael Phelps‘ epic success. What else can explain they’re abuzz with ‘fake’ footprints of firework and ‘miming’ child singer?
UK’s Telegraph scooped the computer generated fireworks but it pales in comparison to the human interest story, as every newspaper worth its salt has duly reported the “sleight of voice“. Some even go so far as to connect the 9-year-old girl’s lip-syncing (to another girl’s voice) to the fabricated fake dumpling fillings of cardboard, surfaced last summer in the height of another bout of China bashing.
Perhaps they’re too caught up in the Olympic fever, reflexively making a mountain out of a molehill. But what they fail to highlight is the fact that both controversies came to light in the Chinese media. The main reason given by the producers of the opening ceremonies, it seems, was aesthetic in nature. Then there’s such a thing as reading too much into the Chinese psyche – obsessiveness with perfection, control freaks, and worse yet, paranoia.
Let the Games Begin
On BBC’s website, under a catchy caption, “Beijing Games open with a bang”, is this stern warning: “Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory.”
The territory in question is, of course, the US, where the 29th Olympiad is in the firm grip of NBC. Despite the pre-Games ad blitz, you won’t catch a glimpse of the opening ceremonies until almost 12 hours later, unlike the rest of the world.
And holding viewers hostage is not the only offense. According to FT’s Matthew Engel, should athletes, especially those in endurance races such as cycling and marathon, find Beijing’s heat, humidity and haze intolerable, they’ll take NBC to task. Money quote,
The Chinese wanted to hold the Olympics in September, when the Beijing air was clearer, cooler and drier. They lost the argument to what in Olympic terms is a far more powerful force: the American TV network NBC.
Chase Credit Card Woes
Last week Bob Garfield hung up his boots after an 11-long months of crusading against Comcast. In the interim, many thousands “angry, mistreated” customers have visited the site to voice their grievances. Now their efforts appear to bear fruit: Griping Online? Comcast Hears and Talks Back.
Besides cable providers, credit card companies also deserve a place in the pantheon of abusive customer service. And we’ve had our fair share of woes with Chase credit card, part of JP Morgan Chase.
If you google “complaints about Chase credit card”, you’ll get hundreds of thousands of results, with the most recent ones dated yesterday. Which makes you wonder: Is Chase listening at all to those complaints or is it business as usual? If our experience today is any guide, the answer might be the latter.
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