A Summer Country’s Coverage of a Winter Event: Australian Nationalistic Broadcast Focus of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games

Abstract

Broadcast commentary of sport programs often is seen as biased for the “home team.” This study sought to determine differences between how the media framed narratives of Australian and non-Australian Olympians by analyzing prime-time coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games across all of Australia’s Seven Network channels. Because Australia is not a traditional powerhouse at the Winter Games, how the media portrays home team and foreign athletes is of interest in this summer sport country. Results revealed that overall, non-Australian athletes were covered and mentioned more frequently than Australian athletes. However, results found taxonomical differences in Seven Network’s depiction of Australian and non-Australian athletes’ successes—Australian success was attributed to athletic ability and courage, whereas non-Australians’ success was more frequently linked to intelligence, experience, and consonance. Differences in the attribution of failure by nationality were also found, with Australian’s failures more likely to be characterized by a lack of commitment and luck compared to their non-Australian counterparts. Athletes’ personalities also were described differently, with Australians receiving comments regarding their emotions, while non-Australians received either more neutral comments or had their appearance and body parts described more often. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are provided.