Broadcasters Ordered To Censor Crowd ‘Reactions’ When Trump Attends The US Open Men’s Final
Sept. 8, 2015, (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)
Broadcasters covering the U.S. Open men’s tennis final on Sunday have been “asked” to censor any audience reaction to President Donald Trump, who plans to attend as the guest of tournament sponsor Rolex.
Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg wrote Saturday for his publication Bounces, “An internal email sent by the U.S. Tennis Association leadership to U.S. Open broadcasters, obtained by Bounces, requested that broadcasters censor any possible protests or other reactions to President Donald Trump’s presence at Sunday’s U.S. Open men’s final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.”
Rothenberg included “key text” from the letter:
With respect to Broadcast Coverage, the President will be shown on the World Feed and the Ashe Court Feed during the opening anthem ceremony. We ask all broadcasters to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the President’s attendance in any capacity, including ENG [Electronic News Gathering] coverage.
The last time Trump attended the U.S. Open championship was in Sept. 2015, when he was still a candidate for president. He was booed by the crowd as he watched from The Trump Organization suite during a quarterfinal match between Venus and Serena Williams.
Rothenberg continued, “The USTA’s plan to show Trump during the anthem, one of the noisiest and bombastic portions of Sunday’s events, is already an effective way to insulate Trump from likely booing.
“But the preemptive instructions outlined by the USTA in this email—asking broadcasters to censor and avoid any possible protest or negative crowd reaction to Trump for television audiences watching around the world—is further complicity in broadcasting Trump’s desired stagecraft for his first appearance at the U.S. Open in a decade.”
When Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard, was asked about playing in front of the president of the United States, he told reporters, “For me, playing in front of him—to be honest, I will try not to be focused, and I will try not to think about it. I don’t want myself to be nervous because of it. So, but I think, you know, attending the tennis match, I think it’s great for tennis to have the president into the final.”
The men’s final is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Eastern Time at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York.
