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Olympic Games masked by doping scandals
London versus Rio: Analysis of international TV news before and in the first week of the Games
Zurich, August 16, 2016. The Olympic Games have started but the image of the IOC has not turned positive. Doping-related topics have prevailed in the coverage on international TV news in the run-up to the games and still make up for a significant part of overall reporting. This is the result of an international TV news analysis conducted by Media Tenor International regarding the period of January 1 - August 11, 2016.
“In comparison to the London Games in 2012 doping has been casting a long shadow falling over the news from the Rio Olympics“, says Matthias Vollbracht, researcher at Media Tenor. The IOC‘s ruling to relegate the ultimate decision about the participation of Russian athletes to the individual sports federations has completely failed to calm the storm. Coverage of doping issues has quadrupled compared to 2012 before the opening and during the first week of the Games. Consequently, the IOC’s image remains captured by doping issues even after the start of the Games. “Sponsors are facing significant reputational risks from the Olympic brand”, says Vollbracht. The criticism is all the more serious for the image of the IOC as it comes from the ranks of athletes. German discus thrower Robert Harting, the 2012 London Olympic champion openly criticized the IOC and especially its President Thomas Bach. This shows how much the confidence of the own clientele is damaged.
Brazil, the host country, has received mixed coverage so far. While culture and tourism have been framed as positives, inequality and poverty, environmental problems and the economy downturn have been reported rather negatively.
Media Tenor has analyzed 154,320 / 242.314 reports on 13 international TV news (2012/2016) for this report. Since 1994, Media Tenor’s mission has been to contribute to objective, diverse and newsworthy reporting by bringing together the diverse parties who impact and are affected by the news.
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