NBC To Sting Its Broadcast Partner

Via Michelle Malkin, we get news that NBC is soliciting Muslim volunteers to participate in a hidden camera sting operation. The idea here is that the camera team would follow two Muslim men to a NASCAR event to see if they trigger any "discriminatory comments or actions while being filmed". The operation would take place 2-3 times this Summer, with a story to be aired later this year.

I'll leave the media bias charges to somebody else, but here's another angle that folks in the sports biz ought to think about: What in the world are the folks who run NASCAR going to think about this when they find out?

Last time I looked NBC was still one of the circuit's broadcast partners, and now NBC News is attempting to provoke a racial confrontation at a NASCAR race, one that is sure to not only paint certain individuals as racists, but paint the entire NASCAR culture as racist too.

If I were at NASCAR HQ, I'd be blowing a gasket about now, and getting on the phone to NBC Sports in New York. After all, this is ocurring against a backdrop of NASCAR's increased efforts to bring minority drivers and owners into the series, and expand its appeal outside of the traditional Southern fan base.

In other words, something like this may very well cost NASCAR some money. And while there are undoubtedly racists at any large sporting event that draws literally hundreds of thousands of people each weekend, I can't help but think that NBC's choice wasn't a coincidence.

UPDATE: Welcome to readers of Instapundit. Here's hoping you kick the tires and stay for a while.

Eric 05:54 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.ericmcerlain.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/5944

Comments

Posted by: at April 4, 2006 08:17 PM

Post a comment