Home Nation First, but to What Degree?: Nationalism in Chinese Central Television’s Broadcasts of the 2018 Winter Olympics

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze China Central Television’s (CCTV) broadcasts of the 2018 Winter Olympics and how their various narratives presented home and foreign athletes. The findings indicate that CCTV devoted more name mentions to home athletes even though their medal achievements were inferior to foreign athletes and that home athletes held at least 40% of the top 10 mentions in the three examined sports. In terms of word-by-word descriptors, broadcasters were more likely to attribute the success of Chinese athletes to subjective factors (e.g., concentration, composure, commitment, and intelligence) and to attribute the success of non-Chinese athletes to objective factors (e.g., experience). Moreover, the network tended to attribute the failure of Chinese athletes to strength, experience, and consonance and to attribute the failure of non-Chinese athletes to lack of athletic skill. Theoretical and practical implications are both discussed.

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