I happened to be in Chicago this past weekend when the 2016 Olympic site was awarded to Rio de Janeiro. With Chicago in the running, the atmosphere was filled with enthusiasm and anticipation. The news media had certainly helped in building up the excitment.
Although, not the top story for the last six months, Chicago and its chance of getting the Olympic bid was certainly in the news enough to believe that it was a strong possibility.
That morning, though, on my hotel televison, one of the news channels that was covering the story said that Madrid and Rio de Janeiro were the favorites. I had never heard this before. Apparently the other news outlets had done a pretty good job of keeping this fact hidden from the American public.
When Rio was announced, the media filled the airwaves with stories of shock and disappointment. My shock and disappointment, though, was geared more towards the media as it became more and more apparant to me that this false sense of anticipation was created by the media themselves.
If one news outlet knew that the favorites were Madrid and Rio de Janeiro, you can bet good money that the other outlets knew this also. But, then again, that would not have made for a very good story.
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