ABSTRACT
This essay tracks selected Australian print, online and television coverage of the 2008 Olympic torch relay at various stages and places between Greece and the Chinese mainland. Initial reference is made to the Olympic Charter, and to the political and philosophical issues that it (directly and indirectly) invokes. Host cities and nations are then appraised in relation to matters of concern both domestically and in the international sphere. It is noted that previous Olympics have seen sustained media coverage of such controversial areas as, in the case of the Sydney 2000 games, reconciliation with Australia's indigenous people. There follows a series of analytical observations of the relay, including that the Sichuan earthquake had the impact of producing more sympathetic coverage of China than was evident beforehand, given the previously dominant international press emphasis on political protest, especially on the subject of Tibet. Thus media coverage is revealed to be both routine and unpredictable in nature.
