Abstract
The Olympics and Paralympics are two mega sporting events that have received lots of scholarly attention over the years, but have hardly been analysed from a Global South perspective. This study explores the Olympic and Paralympic frames, amounts coverage, and news production processes used by South African mainstream sports casters SuperSport and South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. An investigation is also launched to determine reasons for how the frames came to exist on these two broadcasting organisations through semi-structured interviews with the journalists (presenters and producers) responsible for the Olympic and Paralympic shows. Framing theory in conjunction with qualitative framing analysis is employed to identify Olympic and Paralympic frames. Comparative analysis further allowed the researcher to compare and differentiate the identified Olympic and Paralympic frames. Results show that Olympians and Paralympians are framed in similar inspirational, disappointing and nationalistic/continental ways, with the biggest difference being that South African and African Olympians are subject to underdog framing as well. Additionally, it is further revealed that a positive representation of Paralympians on SuperSport is becoming increasingly evident. On the other hand, quantitative and comparative analyses enabled the researcher to uncover the amounts of coverage given to Olympians and Paralympians and how they ultimately compare against each other. SuperSport give more or less the same amount of coverage to both, whereas SABC did not broadcast the 2020 Paralympic Games. The exact factors that influence the Olympic and Paralympic frames on SuperSport and SABC are intentional framing of inspirational stories, failure to deliver on high expectations, the dual relationship between bigger nations vs. developing nations, the inevitability of nationalistic elements, the internal and external influences on the two broadcasters’ news production processes, and their news sourcing routines. The employed news gathering techniques by the two broadcasters confirmed the establishment of the inspirational, disappointment and nationalistic frames. All-in-all these broadcasters uphold the goal of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to promote peace amongst nations, and SuperSport positively contribute to the Paralympic Movement’s pursuit of equal representation.