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Abstract
Through studying the turn from conflict to function in one of the most expensive media events in history, the Beijing Olympics, and by building on Jeffrey Alexander's cultural pragmatics theory, the article proposes a theoretical framework for studying mega-events as a transnational social drama, i.e, a strategic contest whereby media engage social institutions in stylistic but contentious public performances. Eventually, which performance stands out as resonant is contingent upon the script, the actors, the audience, the mise-en-scène, and social power. Initially, the performance of Free Tibet protesters was judged to be more authentic through coherent media framing. But the subsequent redress phase saw a return of the affirmative narrative made possible by the redefinition of the mise-en-scène following the Wenchuan earthquake and authorities’ enhanced capability in controlling symbolic production. The Chinese performance came to be seen as more or less authentic, hence strategic public diplomacy was transformed into a ritual-like experience. The article reads media events as neither a mythical system functioning in a consensual way nor merely an ideology serving instrumental interests. An interactional approach focusing on the contention among performers in which conflict may be ritualized, with media playing a crucial but not determining role, comes closer to explaining the course of the Games and similar global media events to come.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is grateful to James Ettema, James Webster, Pablo Boczkowski, Chin-Chuan Lee, Judy Polumbaum and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, as well as the journalists who graciously agreed to be interviewed whom she cannot name here.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. The term “media” mentioned in this paper primarily refers to international media based outside of China and the term “audience” refers to their targeted audience. For one thing, the high level of support for the Beijing Games among the Chinese means the event moved within a “sphere of consensus” in China. Consensual reporting on the Games by Chinese media was all but certain. The uncertainties in the mediation of the event lie with foreign media and their audience, which are the real targets of the Chinese Olympic public diplomacy.
2. Interviews with journalists, August 26 and 28, 2008.
3. Personal communication with a senior director at CCTV, October 12, 2008.
4. Interview with a reporter for a major US newspaper, August 28, 2008.
5. Interview with a former legal consultant for BOCOG, December 10, 2011.
6. Interview with a veteran China correspondent for a British news magazine, August 1, 2008.
7. Television documentary, Olympic Archives: Hook vs. Spear, CCTV Sports, January 9, 2009.
8. Television documentary, Olympic Archives: Hook vs. Spear, CCTV Sports, January 9, 2009.
9. Interview with a long-time China correspondent from a major international news agency, August 26, 2008.
10. Interview with a long-time China correspondent from a major international news agency, August 26, 2008.
11. Interview with a long-time China correspondent from a major international news agency, August 26, 2008.
12. Interview with a media commentator for CCTV News, April 10, 2009.
13. Interview with a sports correspondent for a major international news agency, March 17, 2009.
14. Interview with a chief producer of CCTV Sports, August 2, 2009.
15. The sports stories further include articles on athletic performance (1172 pieces), bidding or organization of subsequent Olympics (65 pieces), and comments on national sports strategy/Olympic legacy (40 pieces). A story is considered “neutral” if the Beijing Games were merely introduced as contextual information, “positive” if it contains explicitly favorable comments on the Games and/or China (e.g., its growing strength), and “negative” if it associates the Beijing Games with China’s social and political problems in critical terms.
16. Interview with a US reporter of a major publication, August 28, 2008.