Sport, gender, and national interest during the Olympics: A comparative analysis of media representations in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Researchers have documented patterns in sports media coverage across a variety of geographical and media contexts extensively, but relatively few studies focus on the Central and Eastern European region. This study examines the agenda diversity of European public service media in Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia on their sport-related Facebook accounts during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. A content analysis identified featured sports, gender balance, and the role of national interest in the events and athletes represented. Sports agenda diversity was driven by the hegemony of men's football and national success at the Olympics. Gender imbalance in media coverage persists in the region even on public service broadcasters’ social media accounts. Women received coverage only when representing the home nation at an Olympic event. The hegemony of men's football is a transnational phenomenon, while Olympic coverage emphasizes sports that share historical associations with national identity. Sports agenda diversity in the three countries is heterogeneous and regionally distinct. In practice, broadcasters might temporarily minimize gender imbalance in Olympic coverage, but in ways that routinizes the national focus. Theoretical developments in agenda setting in coverage of international events should account both for transnational patterns in public service media in the region and local particularities.