During a press conference yesterday, Mark Lazarus, the chairman of the NBC Sports Group, promised that the network would cover social and political issues during the Winter Olympic Games. "We will cover any social issues or political issues as they are relevant to the games from a sports perspective," promised Lazarus. "NBC News will be there in full force with all of their journalists and all of their shows to cover news items. We've been doing this on an ongoing basis whether it's related to security or, as you've already seen, as it relates to the LGBT situation that is in Russia." When asked how the social and political issues will influence the coverage and tune-in factor, Olympic broadcasting veteran Bob Costas said that he and his team "will discharge [their] responsibility in a straight forward way, because framing those issues is part of the backdrop."
What they mean by "social issues" and "political issues" is the recent terrorist attacks in Russia and the ongoing discrimination against and persecution of member so the LGBTQ community.
