While most of the broadcasters consider themselves news organizations, they pay exorbitant sums for the rights to show the events, and they know that advertisers and some viewers, not to mention sports’ governing bodies, want nothing to do with stories about human rights abuses and corruption. But they usually make an attempt to cover larger issues, with varying degrees of commitment. Hosting NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in Beijing earlier this year, Mike Tirico directed attention to the U.S. government’s conclusion that China’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population amounted to a genocide. NBC also covered myriad issues related to the coronavirus during its broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics,…