ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of quantitative and qualitative analysis carried out on Japanese television coverage of the Beijing Olympics. In the first half of 2008, Japanese television news coverage of China focused on negative news. However, this kind of news was overshadowed as soon as the Beijing Olympics began, with subsequent China coverage focusing overwhelmingly on Beijing Olympics-related news. Televised news on the first day of the Olympics, 8 August, was dominated by positive coverage of the opening ceremony. The Beijing Olympics succeeded as a ‘media event’ in this respect, with the Japanese media largely refraining from negative news coverage about the games. However, when three negative aspects of the opening ceremony came to light, media reports quickly turned negative again. We may, therefore, reasonably conclude that the Beijing Olympics qualified as a bona fide ‘media event’ in Japan, but did not result in lasting improvements in China's general image in the Japanese media.
