"It is frustrating. Yes, it's frustrating," said Tim Shriver, CEO of Special Olympics International. Shriver is disappointed in the lack of national media attention, but even more disappointed because he thinks Americans could benefit, right now, from the lessons of these games. "The country's very distracted right now, there's a lot on people's minds, there's a lot of news coming out of Washington and New York and there's a certain focus on those things. It's too bad because I think a lot of people would be delighted to see there's a message here about what you do in a crisis. There's a message here about what a crisis affords you the opportunity to do, to think differently, to change paradigm, to reinvent yourself in some respect," said Shriver. "So, we just have to keep telling our story the best we can and we hope people will come and pay attention, when they don't, we're frustrated and disappointed, but it doesn't change the fact that the story is the best story out there."
Lack of U.S. media attention on Special Olympics games baffling
Lack of U.S. media attention on Special Olympics games baffling
10:16 AM MST on Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Alyson O�ten/KTVB
Games get worldwide coverage
BOISE -- Weather played a factor today at one of the events for the Special Olympics was canceled.
After a great morning of Alpine Skiing up at Bogus Basin, the events had to be postponed around 2 p.m. because of fog.
Despite the downhill delay -- other competitions are well underway -- as athletes from 96 countries hit the slopes and the rinks across southern Idaho.
But it's not just Special Olympics participants who've traveled the globe to be here.
When you visit the venues like Qwest Arena, you see media crews from all over the world -- reporters and photographers from nearly everywhere, it seems, except the United States.
They've spent hours, if not days traveling here.
"Twenty-four hours, basically," said Robin Scott Vincent, Television New Zealand.
Their lenses are now trained on the athletes from their respective countries.
"We're making a documentary about the Dutch team participating in the Special Olympics," said Walter Goverde, Dutch documentary crew.
A team of four from Holland, a reporter from ESPN's Asian network, photographers from Hungary and a crew shooting for the Middle Eastern Broadcast Network -- just to name a few of the international outlets here for the World Winter Games.
But what about the American media? Other than our local journalists, the national networks appear to be paying little or no attention to this gathering of nearly 2,000 world athletes.
"I think there needs to be a lot more media training," said Vincent.
Vincent and her team flew 7,000 miles to get here -- they're following athletes for Television New Zealand.
"These are fantastic stories and we're story tellers, so they don't get it that these are wonderful stories," said Vincent.
"That's very strange. We come all the way from Europe," said Goverde. "The American media doesn't have any interest?"
"It is frustrating. Yes, it's frustrating," said Tim Shriver, CEO of Special Olympics International.
Shriver is disappointed in the lack of national media attention, but even more disappointed because he thinks Americans could benefit, right now, from the lessons of these games.
"The country's very distracted right now, there's a lot on people's minds, there's a lot of news coming out of Washington and New York and there's a certain focus on those things. It's too bad because I think a lot of people would be delighted to see there's a message here about what you do in a crisis. There's a message here about what a crisis affords you the opportunity to do, to think differently, to change paradigm, to reinvent yourself in some respect," said Shriver. "So, we just have to keep telling our story the best we can and we hope people will come and pay attention, when they don't, we're frustrated and disappointed, but it doesn't change the fact that the story is the best story out there."
Vice President Joe Biden is expected to be in Idaho this Thursday, and perhaps that visit from the White House will inspire some of the coverage organizers are hoping for.
