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the Political lmportance of
the Olympic Carnes
Read here why the Soviet government considers the 0 /ympic Games vital to national self-interest
and what the Bible revea/s about the true way to international harmony and brotherhood.
F
OR THE FIRST
time in history,
the Olympic Games will take
place in a communist country.
T he events are slated to be viewed on
television by an estimated 1
1
h bill ion
people-more than one third of all
mankind! Never before has Moscow
had such far-reaching global cover–
age.
'Polltical lmportance to U.S.S.R.
of Global Exposure
The 1980 Summer Olympic Games
in the Soviet Union will have a
concentration of television and press
coverage virtually unsurpassed in
history. More than 7,000 press repre–
sentatives from around the globe will
April 1980
by
Keith W. St ump
be streaming into Moscow to cover
the games.
Not all of these journalists will be
sports writers. Customarily, a large
portien of the media's coverage of
the Olympícs is devoted to topics
aside from the sports events them–
selves.
Those millions of viewers who,
four years ago, sat entranced for
dozens of hours before their televi–
sion sets saw a great deal more than
sports. They witnessed hours of trav–
elogue material about the city of
Montreal (site of the 1976 Summer
Games) , romantic views of Canada,
"Up Close and Personals" about
prominent (often Soviet) athletes,
cracker-barre! political commentary
from sportswriters turned foreign
correspondents, man-in-the-street in–
terviews and tours of top "night
spots" in the area.
Wide-ranging media coverage of
this kind has always proved a
political boon to the Olympic host
country. This accounts for the
often-fierce competition among na–
tions for the privilege of playing
host to the Games. It also explains
the Kremlin's desperate attempt to
salvage this year's planned Mos–
cow Games.
It's not like all this were something
new, however. T he Olympics have
always been political, as a brief
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