Media Framing of the Unified Korean Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team

Abstract

North and South Korea competed with a unified women’s ice hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Although the two nations had fielded unified teams at previous international sporting events, the decision to form a unified women’s ice hockey team in 2018 became a contentious political issue. To investigate the relationship between traditional media and social media when covering a controversial political issue in sport, the researchers in the current study examined newspaper coverage and Twitter commentary focused on the unified Korean women’s ice hockey team. Results indicated that newspapers played an important agenda-setting role; progressive newspapers were active in framing the team positively throughout the Olympic Games period, whereas conservative papers covered the team less frequently and framed it negatively. Discussion about the unified team on Twitter was initially positive but turned primarily negative when controversial statements from politicians and issues of unfairness in team selection arose. Ultimately, the results highlight elements of the symbiotic relationship between traditional media and social media.