This post is extrapolated from the comments section of an earlier post. The view that we should not boycott TV coverage of the Zimbabwe matches was being questioned and one writer (Pratyush) expressed the view that cricket fans should turn off their televisions. Pratyush felt that this would create pressure on the sponsors and that this in turn would create pressure on the TV networks who might then put pressure on the ICC.
Possibly he is right. And possibly I am blinded by my desire to see some cricket and to see Shane Bond and am willing to bend ethical boundaries in order to do so without feeling guilty. And perhaps I am also blinded by my annoyance at the hypocritical grandstanding on the issue by some New Zealand political parties, and the Greens in particular. But I also do feel that boycotting the TV coverage really will have a greater impact on cricket fans and cricket players (who have done nothing wrong) than it will on the guilty (the ICC, the NZ government, Robert Mugabe). Not only that but I cannot see any immediate positive impact for the innocent people of Zimbabwe. In my view stronger and more direct impact can be had by the tour going ahead and the media that accompanies the tour turning some of their considerable spotlight onto the impact of Robert Mugabe's policies. It is partly for this reason that I find the Dominion Post's refusal to even mention the tour strange and self-defeating.
Thursday, 28 July 2005
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2 comments:
Myself, I don't feel I can follow this tour without feeling guilty. But that shouldn't be a problem as this whole business has put a serious dent in my enthusiasm for cricket and the tour should come and go without me paying much attention to it.
I am disappointed that nothing could be done to stop this tour. However, that the tour is going ahead is simply a loss for my point of view and as a sometime New Zealand cricket fan I am used to losses. However, even though there was nothing reasonable that could stop the tour, I am not contractually obliged to be happy with the situation.
That's just my opinion of course. I just wanted to point out that not all fans are being punished by the poor media coverage.
And as for the media accompanying the tour, you will not see the spotlight shone on anything negative about Zimbabwe's current situation. Foreign journalists must sign a contract saying they won't report on anything other than the cricket and could have their visas taken away at any moment. I understand that a number of media bodies are not sending journalists for this reason - perhaps including the Dom Post. In fact it may be that the only New Zealand reporter in Zimbabwe will be Brian Waddle. Really, the only non-cricket reporting will be propoganda for Mugabe's regime, as happened when Australia toured.
One more thing. I see you list the government as one of the guilty in this situation. From my perspective, the government is the only group in this drama that has tried to do the right thing and do it the right way. Goff put considerable effort into arranging to allow the tour to be abandoned up to the point of legislating, which would have been a step too far. (Also, I don't think it is political grandstanding to act when an issue is relevant.) The real villain here is of course the ICC. I believe that the ICC should make it difficult to abandon tours, but their current rules are too strict and don't meet the needs of some of its member countries.
Thanks for your thoughts Ben. I can understand where you are coming from.
Perhaps another way to feel better about watching the cricket is to think about the people involved. Five years ago would you have enjoyed watching Heath Streak bowling to Stephen Fleming? Yes? Then what have those two players done in the intervening five years which makes watching them something to feel guilty about?
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