Media should be covering Olympic Torch Run not be part of it

EMC Lifestyle - One of the things I was taught during my first year of journalism school was that journalists are not the news, they cover the news.

Don't make yourself part of the story, but rather tell the story. You might find yourself in the middle of a protest, rally, celebration, or a concert, but remember you are there to do a job. You are part of the event insofar as you are there to report on it and present the facts to others. Nothing more, nothing less.

While that can be challenging at times, it is a rule that most journalists strive to adhere to. After all, if you are part of the story, how can you be objective in your coverage of it?

Well, I am starting to wonder if other members of media missed the day that lecture was given when they were studying to become journalists. Why? Because members of the media will be carrying the Olympic torch as it makes its way across Canada with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games at its final destination.

There will be roughly 12,000 torchbearers - ranging from athletes to civic leaders to community volunteers and average Canadians - selected through programs organized by Coca-Cola and RBC.

HEADING OFF THE RAILS

But, here's where it goes off the rails to me. A total of 27 members of the media will also be torchbearers.

That might seem bad enough, but it gets worse. Those media types are employees of CTV and its affiliates and will be covering the games. Add to that the fact that CTV has the rights to the Olympics and it just smells horrible.

Sure the media participants are all household names. They include 'Mr. Olympic' coverage himself Brian Williams, CTV news anchor Sandie Rinaldo, Michael Landsberg and James Duthie (with whom I went to Carleton University and I am sure he got the same lecture on covering news as I did) of TSN, and Stephen Brunt of 'The Globe and Mail', to name a few. Locally, Carol Ann Meehan of CTV Ottawa is supposed to be a torchbearer as well.

My question is, how can this happen? Were there not enough Canadian athletes or deserving citizens who could have carried the torch? I mean, RBC ran this big promotion asking everyday citizens to be part of the experience and apply to be torchbearers.

Sure, some area residents have been selected but with so much media involvement, I would think legitimate spots have been lost.

How can this be remotely considered ethical? Talk about a gift or junket? It doesn't get anymore blatant than carrying a symbol of sportsmanship and athleticism.

Those media types chosen to carry the torch will, for the most part, all be covering the Games. How can they be at arms length of the stories - good, bad, controversial and exceptional - when they have been part of the Games as participants?

The whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I think it is shameful that media personalities get to carry the torch while an Olympian, like rower Alison Korn, was not selected.

In an Op-Ed column she wrote for Sun Media, Korn did her best to be diplomatic but it was clear she was not impressed with the selection process.

"I recently received a nice e-mail from the Canadian Olympic Committee inviting me to apply to be a torchbearer. But I didn't get picked," Korn wrote.

"I brushed off the disappointment, figuring it was for the best. After all, I've been out of rowing for longer than I was in it, and now as a newspaper columnist, I realized it would be weird - and also unscrupulous - to insert myself in to activities that I might end up covering as media. Right?"

She got it.

I get it.

Where are the rest of my peers on this? Hello...anyone out there?

I for one will question the objectivity of coverage on CTV from this point on. I don't see any need for media to be involved in the Olympics in this way. If media personalities jump at this chance, what is next? Senator Mike Duffy being asked to report on the Canadian Senate?

People often have a bad view of journalists and this fiasco only adds fuel to the fire. Personally, I want to see television journalists report the news and I think most Canadians feel the same way.

PRIVILEGE OF COVERING THE GAMES

Your Olympic moment, as a journalist, should be being privileged enough to cover an Olympic Games, interview one of Canada's medal hopefuls or winners and be able to watch the greatest contests in sport take place. Anything beyond that is just plain greedy.