On scene sports reporting may have hit an all time low Sunday night in the form of Christin Cooper, NBC sport’s reporter at the Men’s Olympic super event. Her classless and disgusting interview with Bode Miller, one of the all time great USA men’s down-hill skiers, should, in my estimation, be career ending. Bode was in a joyous mood having won the bronze medal in what will in all probability be his last Olympics. The moment was even more poignant because he recently lost his brother. So Bode’s victory was bittersweet.
It was clear that Bode was struggling to keep his emotions intact, mentioning his greatest wish would be for his brother to be there to share the moment. And then Ms. Cooper began her classless, insensitive, boorish and unrelenting questioning of Bode. She was clearly attempting to elicit an emotional reaction from him. It worked, and she completely destroyed what should have been a celebratory moment. Bode Miller, who no one could accuse of being anything less than a red blooded macho man, was finally reduced to tears.
This incident is indicative of the state of news reporting, particularly by the major news networks. They will, whenever given the chance, turn a positive to a negative, the upbeat to a downer and the truth to a distortion. They are so blinded by their own arrogance and hubris to see this mind set is why the networks are swirling down the porcelain goddess.
Bode, demonstrating more class than Cooper will ever achieve, defended her later, because he said they are friends. This makes Cooper’s behavior even more egregious. First, it doesn’t excuse her lack of professionalism, and second, it reveals her true character that she would exploit a friend foolishly, as it turned out, to advance her career. Hopefully she will quickly pass into oblivion.
Steve Hyle
Lewes
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to viewpoints@capegazette.com. All letters are considered at the discretion of the newsroom and published as space allows. Due to the large volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt of each submission. Letters must include a phone number and address for verification. Keep letters to 400 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content or length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Letters should focus on local issues, not national topics or personalities. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days regarding a particular topic. Authors may submit a second letter within that time period if it pertains to a different issue. Letters may not be critical of personalities or specific businesses. Criticism of public figures is permissible. Endorsement letters for political candidates are no longer accepted. Letters must be the author’s original work, and may not be generated by artificial intelligence tools. Templates, form letters and letters containing language similar to other submissions will not be published.
