Jingo Lingo

   An American sports website apparently got wound up over what it perceived as "jingoistic" coverage of the Olympic Games, and counted the number of times the words America or USA were said by NBC commentators. The conclusion was that the network was guilty of jingoism.
   Consider: All news is local, and media -- both print and broadcast -- cater to (if not pander to) the interests of their readers and viewers. Baseball play-by-play announcers are often employees of the teams they comment on, rather than 
employees of the TV or radio station. In any case, there is sometimes little difference between bias, slant, discrimination or jingoism. This aspect of journalism is true not only for sports, but for politics and government and other information as well. For example, Philadelphia newspapers and TV stations pay little notice to robberies, fires, shootings, etc. in Chicago, New York, Washington or any other major city, and vice versa.
   To a large extent, news media do not mold public opinion so much as they reflect it.

   But would it be rational to expect NBC to give extensive coverage to the performance of all the other teams competing in the Olympic Games? Mexico, for example, or Argentina, or Brazil, or bobsled teams from France or Germany, or skaters from Australia or Italy, or many of the other athletes from any of the many other countries represented at the games.

   And as for American "bias" toward focusing on American athletes, other news coverage is little better. Our correspondent reports that Canadian commentators were ecstatic and danced around the TV studio when the Canadian hockey team won an early game. And BBC commentators cheered when an Austrian skier fell, thus ensuring a bronze medal for an English competitor. 
   Our Dublin correspondent noted, "I know that it's not always easy to show restraint during these events, and I do not expect balanced commentary from something like professional wrestling. However, I would hope for better standards for such major events as the Olympics. After all, if the commentators can show self control for the World Series or the Superbowl it should be possible at other events."

   Possible, maybe. Likely, no. Sports reporters emphasize the activities of the home team, just as political reporters focus on the doings of local, regional and national government officials. Whether American TV networks and major newspapers should give more coverage to events in Canada and Mexico, or Ireland or Lithuania or Malaysia is an interesting question. As a practical matter, there is neither time nor space to devote detailed reporting on all aspects of every country. Moreover, the target audience wants to know how the home team is doing.
   Is it jingoism? No, because the term is usually applied to unreasoning emphasis on one group to the extent that it is destructive to others. Rather, it is national pride and journalistic preference. All news is local.

   Choosing which factor to emphasize in covering any story is standard journalistic practice, which textbooks call a slant. The word "bias" has negative connotations implying prejudice and bigotry, but every garment maker knows that when you cut or stitch fabric on the bias, it is slanted.
   And "jingoism" has very strong negative connotations, suggesting political and ethnic bigotry. When NBC, the only American network broadcasting the competition, focuses on American athletes, they are serving the public interest, since that's what the American public wants.
   Similarly, Canadian broadcasters will stress Canadian victors, the BBC will emphasize British athletes, and broadcasters from other countries will focus on the activities of their home team competitors.
   That's not jingoism. Perhaps the website editors should check their definitions.