ABSTRACT
While analysing the way China was presented by the Greek media in relation to the torch lighting and relay ceremony (24 March–30 May 2008), the author makes some introductory and summarized remarks on the social and cultural background in Greece against which the reports were broadcast. This paper examines the main news reports of two television stations: one is the public television channel NET, and the other is MEGA CHANNEL, a private station. Moreover, two daily newspapers with a wide national readership, namely the morning Kathimerini and the afternoon Eleftherotypia, have been studied. In addition, information was gathered from two Internet portals (in.gr and pathfinder.gr) and from several websites and blogs. Three major events concerning China occurred in the period examined: the ceremony of the lighting the Olympic flame in Ancient Olympia, the torch relay in Greek and foreign territory, the doping scandal of the Greek weightlifting team and the earthquake and the influence on the games.
