American media have long stood accused of partisan partnering to tilt their coverage of national politics. Now, the broadcast of the 2024 Olympics has reminded us of another arena in the world of competitive storytelling. Our society’s participation in reality, sometimes outsourced to movers and shakers, could use a more level playing field.

Much of our  news content, especially as it surfs along the spectrum to opinion and entertainment, emerges from multipart enterprises which package pieces of truth into products for people to consume.

The July 26 NBC broadcast from the opening day in Paris showed us the risk when we say “super-size it.” The network and its associates served up a hefty portion of highly processed food, containing a few by-products and fillers which thoughtful consumers found harmful, or at least tasteless. Their sincere concerns over certain avant-garde videos—which some “creatives” probably had deemed de rigueur—were well reported elsewhere.

The programming didn’t need those narrative-additives in order to impress the audience. Viewers enjoyed the parade of eighty-five boats with their athlete-passengers, plus a range of musical virtuosity. We were dazzled as high-tech wizards played with water and smoke, spotlights and lasers, camera angles, recordings, and more.

When it stayed grounded in reality, the TV script provided authentic parts to play, from French President Macron opening the games, to the youth of 206 countries waving enthusiastically, to a plethora of folks everywhere reflecting our planet’s best efforts at diversité, équité (fairness, in French), and inclusion.

We witnessed the three official Olympic values—excellence, respect, and friendship—inspiring a celebration of unity. We admired the scenes of thousands across the city who were able to position themselves, free of charge, to take in the drama from one or another site.

Of course, only viewers of the exclusive broadcast received the full smorgasbord. Narrators guided our tour as we darted between locations, performers, and genres of content with precise timing and artistry.

The four-hour showcase that evening required months of preparation by teams from many fields. NBC said its production cadre alone numbered about 3,000.

Behind-the-scenes work engaged experts in high technology, leaders in business and advertising, performers, and orchestrators of sports/entertainment, as well as countless governmental and non-governmental organizations, local and global.

This expansive, expensive approach to reality almost demanded  project leadership from communications-sector elites who could properly display the panorama of various talents—just as campaign consultants say U.S. presidents can’t survive on their governance skills unless they’re also masterful communicators. Appearance means a lot.

When observers of national and international alliances cite the usual membership rolls from politics, media, academia, corporations, techies, show-biz wunderkinds, charities, and advocates, we can affirm their powerful outreach.

Such formal and informal networks exist. There’s no need to conjure up “conspiracy theories” or suspicions of wrong-doing when saying this. These folks simply play well together, and their presence is far better than anarchy.

They contribute much more than Olympian spectaculars, often functioning as filters of reality. And yes, many probably pivot to chats about public policy and shared power, strategizing to grow their market clout.

The structures give us hope for global prosperity and solidarity, along with abundant offerings to amuse and distract us in these secular times. Their strategies must evolve, too, because the world is frantic and fragile. No doubt, decision-makers are tempted more than ever to play hardball.

The bulk of the world’s population has no direct connection to most of these dynamics. But lovers of Venn diagrams—you know who you are—will spot many intersections between elites and the masses.

For example, the ethos of public administration and civic life is shaped powerfully by our educational institutions, especially when family, community, and religion surrender their roles in forming hearts and minds.

Profit motives in high technology and other image-sensitive industries prompt executives to hire those who share their values or signal their virtues.

Too many innovators in arts and entertainment want to grow their audiences by diverting popular tastes toward enhanced realities, alternative excellence, artificial intelligence, and escapist addictions.

Unfortunately, artists forget Pope John Paul II’s classic 1999 message about “epiphanies of beauty.” He spoke of a God who calls them “to share in His creative power,” not to claim it for themselves by substituting new truths, or no truth.

We’re told human creativity should be “edgy” and constantly evoke a “wow,” but we become bored with the splendor of God’s creation as our source of wonderment.

Influencers may think the market for their brilliance will be boosted by widespread relativism, isolation, ego, self-identification, emotions, and zeal for the path of transhumanism. They don’t realize these are dead ends, deterring persons from investing in future fulfillment of their innermost longings.

Again, these worst-case interpretations of secular reality—in the Olympics, politics, or any other endeavors—have more to do with myopia than malevolence. They see a shallow humanity, one disconnected from a love for God’s created order. This love moderates our self-centeredness and energizes our relay race toward wisdom and peace we can share.

Ironically, concepts of purposefulness, personal dignity, and pride in homelands and common roots are exactly those seen as godly in a Judeo-Christian sense—and as honorable reflections of Olympic tradition. But some opening night videos opted for less uplifting history, such as a salute to Dionysus, the Greek god of partying.

Another distraction from the highest ideals occurred during the TV blockbuster that evening. As we floated along with the currents of “reality” on our screens, we were treated to a musical performance sung from a craft on the Seine. Hauntingly, the singer was accompanied by a piano that had been set ablaze.

John Lennon’s lyrics from Imagine echoed his critique of such concepts as religion and country. The song provided a deconstructed glimpse of “living for today,” not an orderly integration able to anchor society’s aspirations.

As NBC reported, Lennon’s anthem of pretend-optimism oddly has been customary at Olympics ceremonies since 1996. Can such an anthem proclaim “let the games begin”?

Our duty to occasionally anchor our boats and douse fires of chaos is both an individual and team event. It relies on acknowledging and scrutinizing the realities around us, including those sizeable, audacious forays of imagination and hubris where talents may go rogue and souls may go awry.

We must judge reality wisely in order to serve the truth, which communicates to us in all its joys and sorrows, in its moments of clarity and bouts of mystery.

Greater awareness of higher, unifying truths will help us discourage games of hardball that can do damage in either the public square or the volleyball arena.

Here’s a thought about discerning between those media-aided collaborations we can live with and those which can deaden us:

The Olympics opening ceremony, as a product of our legacy television infrastructure, offered us what seemed like a big, beautiful reality—a piece de resistance to elevate our hearts.

But let’s realize that, in a sense, it was a small reality. One of those multi-talented teams produced and customized the puffed-up experience for our private, individual consumption—albeit consumption reproduced a billion times on screens around the world.

Events were packaged. We were packaged as receptive spectators, digesting a whole product while passively spoon-fed from amalgamated viewpoints and values.

A better alternative to this economy-sized packaging comes from old-school journalism. Writers and readers preferred savoring reality in small pieces, not as a single download of truth. Reporters were told to diligently dig up accurate facts for each day’s story, trusting that those would accumulate into overviews and the “whole story” step by step, with the drama of All the President’s Men.

Of course, we all hope the grandeur of the Olympics will “wow” us right from the start, for many years to come.

However, the best, most complete messages about reality come over time, through community, relationships, and digging where we’re planted. Such insights can be customized gracefully—by the “creative” who really knows His customers.

We couch potatoes should emulate the connectedness experienced by those throngs in Paris cheering as the athletes sailed by, or those attending one of the sporting events—or, better yet, those on the field, striving for a medal.

We don’t want to be mere spectators, letting small but dazzling impressions become our dominant, instant reality. That could overwhelm the rewards of personal growth and agency in our lives.

This general rule applies during election cycles as well as Olympiads. In dealing with political news, our society needs to take time for critical thinking about actual issues. Much of our intake may come from the “media-industrial complex,” but we should diversify our sources and see other people beyond our screens.

We can step up our game as participants in right-sized reality, using plenty of curiosity and a soupçon of healthy skepticism. We might find our own grass-roots collaborators who are less constrained by elite preoccupations, helping us to intersect reason and faith.

The sharing of our own heartfelt stories and beliefs can actually influence movers and shakers. Without instituting a cancel culture, free speech can raise everyone’s consciousness. At the Olympics, amid an ongoing dialogue of different statements and interpretations, the video of Dionysus and drag queens was highlighted on some platforms and removed from others, as of this weekend.

Eventually, we can bring more views of reality to our screens—and more wisdom to our polity—as small but strong communicators of excellence, respect, and friendship. Think of all this as passing the torch.

Image from Clipsafari.com, a collection of Creative Commons designs.