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South Korean Channel Apologizes After Using 'Inappropriate' Images To Represent Olympic Countries

Eric Spring
Jul. 26, 2021
MBC

Last week, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games kicked off, as all Olympic games do, with the Opening Ceremonies.

With the Tokyo games coming a year late, thanks to the pandemic, people from all over the world were eager to tune in to watch the light show and procession, meant to highlight each competing country and its athletes.

And while the broadcasting television networks handle their on-screen displays in a variety of ways, one broadcast in particular has raised some eyebrows.

South Korea's MBC television network has been forced to apologize for its unconventional and allegedly inappropriate approach to illustrating the many countries involved in the opening ceremonies.

Critics were particularly outraged by the way MBC handled the portion of the ceremonies during which each country's athletes walk in a group and are announced.

Like many broadcasters, MBC showed each country's name, flag, and medal count in a graphic on the side of the screen.

But in addition, MBC also included a photographic image apparently meant to convey the essence of that country.

Things began well enough with a pizza flashing on screen for Italy and some salmon appearing when Norway walked through.

But it all went off the rails when MBC decided to include a photo of the Chernobyl blast site for Ukraine and streetwide upheaval in for Haiti, whose president was recently assassinated.

The eyebrow raising graphics eventually led to someone calling MBC out on Twitter.

Many people on Twitter weighed in to criticize MBC.








Eventually, MBC president Park Song-je appeared in a press conference to apologize for the offensive graphics.


With the Tokyo Olympics scheduled to continue through August 8, MBC will need to tighten up the screws for a couple more weeks to prevent any further criticism.