OLYMPIC ISSUES - National Bias

National Bias is common in all countries. Especially during the Olympics because that is when countries compete with others. But what is National Bias? How does it occur in the Olympics?
I believe most of you have your own supporting countries, don't you? And you would wish to read more about them.
Therefore in Hong Kong you will find many detailed articles about Chinese or Hong Kong athletes. Such as in the Chinese newspapers. There are at least 3 pages on Chinese Athletes and only 1 page about international athlete. In Australia the newspapers are mostly concentrated Australian athlete.
National Bias may be that it's showing that they concerned about their own losing team. Such as in Hong Kong, there are lots of articles about San-San. It is not true that she only lost but she also blamed others for her failure. So why is she the only one that the press concerned about her? That is because they are BIAS and concern mostly on their own country.

National Bias on the Internet and TV

There are, also, things in the internet that are 'National Bias' They are either boasting about how well they covered the Olympics like the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Television quote:
'No other Australian radio or television network, and few others in the world, can claim such a long record of Olympic broadcasting'
And also 'With Australian teams and athletes having their greatest-ever representation' It might not be national bias but if you compare how other countries are presented to how 'well' Australia is then... well, you get the point! They can also do this by saying how bad or how 'undeveloped' about the country who won the gold medal. Take this for example, it is from the Internet Edition of Sydney Morning Herald on 13th October 2000 talking about Cameroon winning a football match:
'A country of 15 million people, 40 percent of them living below the poverty line, a life expectancy of just over 52 years of age, if you are male'
I mean, what does that have to do with the game? It's totally off topic! Even if is has something to do with the Olympics, you won't say something like this towards another country. It's just like me telling you 'You are poor and have a low life expectancy, so there!' It's not right to say something like that, not to mention it is disrespectful towards the country. And if a 'poor' country loses, it'll be:
'No doubt mindful of his likely status as national scapegoat' (from Internet edition of Sydney Morning Herald, 13th Oct. 2000)
It's just not fair to both the person and the country that he is representing. Also, if you ever go into Fox Sports, you'd find that this is a whole American based website all because of how they wrote the articles. They only say how 'good' they are and how 'well' they did and how they are the 'best' at everything. You can see it being illustrated in an article called 'Sportsmanship' by Stuart Hothem on 2nd Oct. 2000
'SYDNEY, Australia-At Sydney's "Friendly" Games, ugly unsportsmanlike Americans abounded'
If you even have a chance to go in there, click into the article about sportsmanship and into the 10 athletes who personify sportsmanship, you'll find that it only has American athletes (said to be the 10 'good-guys' in sports).
Quote from the part about Shaquille O'Neal: One man can't guard Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal in the post. Often, two men aren't enough. True, the leader of the reigning NBA champions shoots free throws with all the smoothness of sandpaper and has to be taken out of games late in the fourth quarter, but he is still the dominant force in the NBA.

But since the internet is an 'International Meeting Place', less is spoken or at least not as obvious or they might be sued. Not only does the internet has it's own national bias portrayal but it is also in television broadcasting. Hong Kong, a big international city, has it's own way of national biasing. Like in one part of the opening ceremony where the athletes comes into the stadium, the commentators talks about how 'small' the country is and how 'little' amount of athletes there are. They are forgetting the fact that it is at least bigger than Hong Kong.

Hong Kong shows National Bias even though it is said to be an international city, and Australia is no better even though is says it is multicultural.

Conclusion

• Nationality bias is when you treat someone differently because of their nationality.
• In the media, nationality bias can be as subtle as a flippant remark or as deliberate as an open directed criticism.
• Nationality bias can be closely linked with racism.

• Nationality bias often comes up in times of competition and the Olympics were no exception.
• Nationality bias is common in all countries, most of you have seen one form of it or another.
• Nationality bias can be as simple as choosing a certain article over another because of the athlete's nationality.( gate- keeping ) Or as in depth as an anti- nationality article.
• Even the host country is not more diplomatic, Australian newspapers display a sense of gate- keeping, with most of the attention being given to their own team.
• National bias is also liked to inter- country ties, so sport is not free of politics.
• Nationality bias boils down to a matter of human nature, and a sense of pride.

Ariel Mak