Determinants of Sports Coverage: Newsworthiness in U.S. Media Coverage of Foreign Athletes During the London 2012 Olympic Games

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session and Reception
  In Interactive Paper Session: Journalism Studies Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

The present study is an examination of how U.S. media reported the London 2012 Olympic Games. An analysis of NBC primetime telecasts and sports coverage in The New York Times found that the coverage of foreign nations and their athletes was not significantly affected by any given nation’s performance in the Olympics. Instead, U.S. media emphasized only a few elite countries –such as China, Russia, Britain, and Japan – just as they do in selecting other foreign news. In addition to a few elite countries’ dominance, the military expenditures of a given country, its linguistic proximity to the U.S., and the number of sports celebrities and gold medals won were important predictors of that country’s media visibility.

Author

• Seong Choul Hong, Kyonggi U