Pizza for Italy CHERNOBYL for Ukraine South Korean TV apologizes for inappropriate graphics during Olympic nations parade
A South Korean TV station has issued an apology after using âinappropriateâ graphics to represent nations at the Tokyo Olympics, including a photo of riots for Haiti and the deadly Chernobyl meltdown for Ukraine, baffling viewers.
The Seoul-based Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) turned heads with its questionable image choices as the games kicked off in Tokyo on Friday. While some countries were represented with more innocuous items â" a tantalizing pizza was used for Italy, and a juicy hunk of salmon for Norway â" others were more controversial.
Haiti, for example, was portrayed with a photo apparently captured during a riot, with what looks like burning tires roasting in the background. When the countryâs athletes entered the stadium, the TV outlet explained with on-screen text that Haitiâs âpolitical situation is fogged by the assassination of the president,â according to South Korea-based journalist Raphael Rashid.
Ukraine, meanwhile, was heralded with a stark black-and-white image of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which experienced a major disaster in 1986 after explosions tore through its reactors. Why the tragedy was used as an exemplar of the country itself is unclear, but the decision nonetheless sent âChernobylâ trending on the Korean segment of Twitter, Rashid noted. âNational disgraceâ also reportedly rose in the trends, over the outletâs bizarre geography lesson.
South Korean news will never pass up the opportunity to show how absolutely batshit insane they areFor MBC To use a photo of Chernobyl cite and the riots in Haiti because of the assassination for how they introduce countries for the Olympics is absolutely bonkers to me pic.twitter.com/vVGGZx21ga
â" BBCollectionð (@BBCollection4) July 24, 2021MBC eventually issued a mea culpa as controversy swirled, saying, âIn todayâs Opening Ceremony broadcast, inappropriate photos were used when introducing countries like Ukraine and Haiti. Also, inappropriate photos and subtitles were used for other countries.â
We apologize to the relevant countries mentioned, including Ukraine, and to Korean viewers.
Netizens nonetheless panned the TV station, one arguing the image choices showed a âlack of respectâ toward the countries in question, though some maintained it âcouldâve been worseâ for certain nations.
Did they literally just pick whatever the first picture was that popped up on Google when they did an image search for the country?
â" Kevin Roberts (@ripkevinroberts) July 23, 2021I am italian. Could've been worse for us, honestly
â" Kuma (@Kumawastooshort) July 23, 2021The oddities in MBCâs coverage did not end with the ill-advised graphics. In introducing Sweden, the outlet apparently intended to describe it as âdeveloped country of welfare,â but a typo transformed âdeveloped countryâ into âcow blood soup,â a Korean dish. While the image used for the country at least included Sweden, MBC inexplicably went with a graphic showing all of Europe with a small marker denoting Stockholm.
The mishap is not MBCâs first Olympic gaffe. According to Rashid, during the 2008 games in Beijing, the outlet introduced the Cayman Islands as a âfamousâ tax haven and Chad as the âdead heart of Africa.â Zimbabwe, meanwhile, was said to be known for its âmurderous inflation.â The broadcast earned MBC a stern warning from Seoulâs media regulator.
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