i Editor's Letter: Let's concentrate on the moment
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
It’s now more than 24 hours since Andy Murray beat Roger Federer to win an Olympic gold medal and I’m sorry, but I’m still wandering around in a little glow of happiness. We British don’t like to think of ourselves as overly emotional. There is a view that succumbing to an expression of nationalistic fervour is somehow demeaning. It’s the sort of thing the Americans might do.
The BBC is criticised for showing the emotional reaction of its commentators to Mo Farah’s amazing victory; it’s condemned as a contrived display of sentiment. And there are superior smiles at the idea that because our athletes are doing well, we might feel better about ourselves.
Oh for goodness sake, lighten up, people! We are so busy with our endless negative self-analysis in this country, it’s a wonder we ever have time to win any medals at all. Do you think the rest of the world’s nations ever stop to wonder whether they should feel patriotic or not, or beat themselves up about whether a sport is “middle-class”? Of course they don’t. They just get on with training their sportsmen and women to the best of their ability, and celebrating when they win.
Can you imagine a member of the Royal Family or a government minister giving the sort of pep talk Michelle Obama gave Team USA at the start of London 2012? She told them: “Try to have fun. Try to breathe a little bit. But also win, right? In the end winning is good.”
Yup, winning is good. Let’s clear all the junk out of our heads, take a deep breath and concentrate on the moment. That’s what our athletes are doing, and it seems to work for them.
Stefano Hatfield is away
Follow @VBackyard
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments