ABSTRACT
This chapter explores backstage conventions and conditions for national and local broadcasting of the Olympic Games. While the Olympic Movement sees sport as a means to the larger end of intercultural understanding, American media largely frame the Games as a competition among nations for the glory of athletic victory and superiority. The Olympics ignite a global passion, and fans travel great lengths to celebrate the Olympic ideals of sport, culture, peace and humanity. The author argues that Athens 2004 represents an important example of how the tensions and limitations found within the field of American television production marginalize intercultural stories and limit the American public’s understanding of global events. To show how American television production marginalization develops, The author analyses the struggles among those who package the news—reporters, videographers, producers, news directors and executives—and show how news stories are determined to be newsworthy.
