Former NBC sportscaster Bob Costas, who has covered 12 Olympic Games as a host and commentator, did not hold back when discussing the challenges journalists will face during the Beijing Winter Olympics next month.
"The IOC deserves all of the disdain and disgust that comes their way for going back to China yet again," Costas said on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday.Costas referenced the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2015 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia as examples of the International Olympic Committee's seeming disregard for the prevalence of human rights abuses when selecting host nations.
NBC previously announced it would include geopolitical context during its Beijing coverage, but that its focus will be on the athletes. "We are going to be focusing on telling the stories of Team USA and covering the competition," Molly Solomon, executive producer and president of NBC Olympics Production, said during a presentation to reporters Wednesday."But the world, as we all know, is a really complicated place right now.