Toronto Star ePaper

Readers dismayed by Star Week’s coverage of American Olympians

Bruce Campion-Smith Public Editor Bruce Campion-Smith is the Star’s public editor and based in Toronto. Reach him by email at publiced@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @yowflier

The Canadian delegation at the summer Olympics now underway in Tokyo is the largest in almost four decades, with some 371 athletes proudly wearing the Maple Leaf.

They include past medallists like Penny Oleksiak, Andre De Grasse and Rosie MacLennan, as well as medal hopefuls Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, Ellie Black and Evan Dunfee, among others. There is a compelling life story behind each of the athletes representing Canada at this Olympic competition.

But you wouldn’t know that by reading the July 24 edition of Star Week, the weekly television guide published by the Toronto Star.

Instead, the cover featured a picture of American Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky and a reference to coverage on “NBC and other outlets.” It pointed to an article inside titled “U.S. swimmers seek to make a splash.” Another American swimmer was profiled in an article a few pages later.

Nary a word to be found about Canadian athletes or Canadian television coverage of the Games.

Dozens of readers were quick to register their dismay.

“How could anyone think it was appropriate to issue this week’s Star Week magazine with the cover photo and lead article featuring the U.S. swim teams’ quest for gold at the Olympics?” wrote one reader from Thornhill.

“Why oh why are you featuring American athletes when we have such stellar Canadian athletes who deserve the recognition??” wrote another, reinforcing her pointed query with double question marks.

One reader noted that it was the second week in a row that Star Week had touted American network coverage of the Olympics. “Where are the Canadian stories highlighting our Canadian Olympic athletes?!” he added.

While Ledecky’s Olympic performances have undoubtedly been impressive, I know Star subscribers would have much preferred to learn more about Canadian athletes and the Canadian television coverage they could expect during the Games.

Like many readers who reached out, I too was keen to discover why Canadians had been left out of the spotlight.

Well, as several of you rightly guessed, Star Week content is produced in the United States. Normally that doesn’t cause a problem, since its entertainment coverage focuses on television shows enjoyed on both sides of the border.

The fact it was an American athlete on the Star Week cover on the opening weekend of the Games was a glaring slip-up that should have been caught during the production process

But the fact it was an American athlete on the Star Week cover on the opening weekend of the Games was a glaring slip-up that should have been caught during the production process. No wonder readers felt let down and unhappy that the Canadian Olympians had been overlooked.

This particular edition of Star Week was no gold medal performance.

Rest assured that post-mortems have occurred and discussions are underway about Star Week content.

“We all realize what readers want to watch,” said Ed Cassavoy, director of content strategy and partnerships, who oversees the syndication department that includes the production of Star Week.

“We have already discussed with our content provider that we expect Canadian content,” Cassavoy said.

That’s encouraging. For all the television listings available online, Star Week remains an important offering in the Saturday newspaper and has a loyal following.

I do note that the Star’s editorial team in Tokyo has been shining the spotlight on the achievements of Canadian athletes, in words and pictures. Throughout the week, the front page of the Star’s print edition has featured pictures and columns about their performances, including the delightful photo of swimmer Maggie Mac Neil basking in a gold-medal glow after winning the 100-metre butterfly.

Last word: A reader wonders why “said” is used so often in stories when other forms of attribution exist. It’s done quite deliberately. The Canadian Press stylebook describes “say” and “said” as “honest and inconspicuous.” It says that substitutes for those two words are “risky or, at best, vague.”

Words like admit, affirm, assert and declare carry meaning that might not be appropriate. So “said” it is.

INSIGHT

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2021-07-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://torontostar.pressreader.com/article/282935273369108

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