Commenters on social media noted that other outlets used the same photo for the athlete and is a common shot in weightlifting
Article content
Photos used by Reuters of Chinese gold medal weightlifter Zhihui Hou drew criticism on Saturday from the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka on Twitter, critiquing depictions of western athletes compared to Chinese.
Article content
“Among all the photos of the game, @Reuters has chosen this one, which only shows how ugly they are,” the embassy tweeted. “Don’t put politics and ideologies above sports, and call yourself an unbiased media organization. Shameless. Respect the spirit of #Olympics.”
Article content
Some commenters on social media pointed out that Reuters wasn’t the only outlet to use the photo in their coverage of Hou’s gold medal victory in the 49kg weightlifting category, nor is it uncommon for outlets to use similar photos of athletes from other countries. The photo shows Hou in motion during the weightlifting competition.
The Embassy responded to the criticism of its tweet with another on Saturday: “Same day, same Olympics, same @Reuters, different faces. Maybe it’s because everything good in life comes easier for the white westerners? We said that these biased MSM are ugly. Never the athletes. They’re beautiful.”
Article content
Hou won gold on Saturday in the women’s 49kg weightlifting competition, one of nine golds and 21 medals the country has won so far in Tokyo. She is also the 2018 world champion in the weight class.
No comments:
Post a Comment