New York Times: Why Aren’t Olympic Officials More Outraged About Russia?

Here’s what NBC really said in the article linked by Fischer:

NBC officials might have been expected to speak forcefully, given that the network paid $775 million to broadcast the Sochi Games, and that its journalists face the potential of being prosecuted for addressing the issue of homosexuality. NBC Universal reiterated on Tuesday a statement that it “strongly supports equal rights and the fair treatment of all people.” Recently, Mark Lazarus, the chairman of the NBC Sports Group, told television critics, “If it is still their law and it is impacting any part of the Olympic Games, we will make sure that we acknowledge it and recognize it.”

The Times also notes that the IOC itself might quash pro-gay protests.



Just as Russia now prohibits “propaganda” in support of “nontraditional” sexual orientation, the Olympic charter prohibits athletes from making political gestures during the Winter and Summer Games. So it is entirely possible that any bobsledder or skier wearing a pin, patch or T-shirt in support of gay rights could be sent home from Sochi, not by Russian authorities, but by another group that suppresses expression: the International Olympic Committee. Would the I.O.C. inflict such a public-relations disaster on itself? Perhaps not. But Olympic officials worldwide, including those in the United States, along with NBC and corporate sponsors, have put themselves and athletes in an awkward position by only tepidly opposing the Russian law that bans “homosexual propaganda.”