U.S. swimmer ignites interest in unusual chest condition; KPNX, 8/19/16

Pete Scholz, KPNX; U.S. swimmer ignites interest in unusual chest condition:

"It was June 2016, right after Cody Miller, 24, qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. It was then he shared with the world what he had been dealing with for the past 10 years or so...

Doctors told Miller his breathing was likely reduced by as much as 20 percent. ASU student Michael Mihuc had a similar experience as a young teenager...

Miller inspired many, many people to not let pectus slow them down, and the same could be said for Mihuc. He's gone back to school to become a doctor to help patients who are also dealing with this tough condition."

Rendell: USA shows off its wonderfully diverse athletes at Olympics; Philly.com, 8/19/16

Ed Rendell, Philly.com; Rendell: USA shows off its wonderfully diverse athletes at Olympics:

"The first thing I noticed about our team was that there were more women than men (292 to 263). Then it quickly became apparent that our team was more diverse than ever before, as fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad - the first Muslim-American Olympian to compete wearing a hijab - was part of the contingent. As the games unfolded, that diversity became even more apparent...

As the Olympics draw to a close, America is again proving its greatness when it comes to sports. We have won nearly twice as many medals as our nearest competitor, China. Our team is diverse, inclusive and encompasses Americans from every region of our country and from every possible background.

While I have enjoyed all of the success the team has had, perhaps the most enjoyable part of the Olympics for me is learning about all of the incredible life stories and backgrounds of our athletes. Though we still have problems, we are a great country with great people, and our diversity is one of the most important things that makes us great.

CC: Donald Trump"

Recruiting Leslie Jones May Have Been a Cynical Move for NBC, But Damn Is She Making Their Coverage Better; Slate, 8/18/16

David Canfield, Slate; Recruiting Leslie Jones May Have Been a Cynical Move for NBC, But Damn Is She Making Their Coverage Better:

"In 2016, regular contributors on NBC’s Olympics team have shown little interest in departing from the network’s standard narratives. Inadvertently or not, their default styles of commentary have sometimes marginalized the accomplishments of American women, people of color, and LGBTQ people...

Jones, meanwhile, fixates on Biles’ pure athleticism. “She is … BAD,” she said, awestruck, after watching Biles win a gold medal. “Whew! She’s a flipper.” (She also shrieked at full force during one of Biles’ routines.) And she has similarly applauded the skills of Gabby Douglas—Biles’ Gold Medal-winning predecessor. Her enthusiasm is boundless: “Michael Phelps is a BEAST!” she yelled after seeing Phelps take gold. Amid a lineup of cookie-cutter correspondents in Rio, her passion is contagious, her style uniquely candid. She’s a perfect proxy for the rest of us watching the games at home. Since arriving in Rio, she has been delivering NBC’s messages with the kind of authenticity and energy that the network had been otherwise unable to muster. She relays genuine interest in every event. She gives “harmless nationalism” some spike."

Daily Beast Removes Article on Gay Olympians in Rio; New York Times, 8/12/16

Christopher Mele and Niraj Chokshi, New York Times; Daily Beast Removes Article on Gay Olympians in Rio:

"The article drew significant backlash from gay leaders and athletes.

Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and chief executive of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said on Twitter: “Thoughtless @thedailybeast piece puts LGBT athletes in danger. It should be removed & replaced w a real story about violence LGBT ppl face.”...

Robert Drechsel, who retired last week as the James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics and director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, described the article as “thoughtless, insensitive and unethical.”

He said it was good that the article had been removed but that it came too late.

“It’s hard to find the words to describe,” he said. “Why in the world — why in the world of journalism — would anyone do this?”"

Gay Olympian Amini Fonua Has Words for the Grindr-in-Rio Journalist; Slate, 8/11/16

J. Bryan Lowder, Slate; Gay Olympian Amini Fonua Has Words for the Grindr-in-Rio Journalist:

"The queer internet was dominated on Thursday by backlash to Nico Hines' exploitative Daily Beast story on athletes' use of sex apps in Rio, with condemnation from LGBTQ press-watchers (including us here at Outward) being universal. But, likely for reasons relating to safety and focus, we've heard relatively little from athletes themselves. That changed Thursday afternoon when Amini Fonua, an Olympic swimmer and gay man representing Tonga at the Rio games, let fly a tweet storm that powerfully captures the damage this story will cause...

As of 5:30 p.m., the article was still posted on the Daily Beast site

Update, 9:18 p.m.: Later on Thursday evening, the Daily Beast took down the piece entirely."

The Other Olympic Sport in Rio: Swiping; Daily Beast, 8/11/16

Nico Hines, Daily Beast; The Other Olympic Sport in Rio: Swiping:

"Editor's Note: A number of readers complained to The Daily Beast after the publication of the original iteration of this story. We take such complaints seriously because a central part of The Daily Beast's mission is to fight for full equality and equal treatment for LGBT people around the world. Publishing an article that in any way could be seen as homophobic is contrary to our mission.

There was legitimate concern that the original version of this story might out gay male athletes, even by implication, or compromise their safety. This was never our reporter’s intention, of course. No names were ever used and some of the profiles described were of straight women. But there was a concern that even mentioning the home nation of some gay athletes could compromise their safety. We apologize for potentially jeopardizing that safety in any way. As a result, we have removed all descriptions of the men and women’s profiles that we previously described.

The concept for the piece was to see how dating and hook-up apps were being used in Rio by athletes. It just so happened that Nico had many more responses on Grindr than apps that cater mostly to straight people, and so he wrote about that. Had he received straight invitations, he would have written about those. He never claimed to be anyone he was not, did not offer anything to anyone, and immediately admitted that he was a journalist whenever he was asked who he was.

Some readers have read Nico as mocking or sex-shaming those on Grindr. We do not feel he did this in any way. But it’s up to us to deliver stories that are so clear, they can’t be misinterpreted—and we clearly fell short of that standard in this article.

Accordingly, we have made some editorial changes to the article, responding to readers' concerns, and are again sorry for any upset the original version of this piece inspired."

—John Avlon, Editor in Chief