Framing Analysis on the Commentaries of American ,Japanese and Australian Telecasts for the Cultural Performances of the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony
A framing analysis as well as a comparative analysis are conducted on the telecast commentaries on the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony of the three broadcast systems in the United States ,Japan and Australia . The study focuses on the complete cultural performances of the opening ceremony telecasts by NBC in USA ,NHK in Japan and Australia's network SEVEN . The broadcasting feeds provided by Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co .(BOB)and the background materials from the official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (www .beijing2008 .cn) are used as important references . Based on both audio and visual data , the study attempts to combine quantitative and qualitative methods to compare the initiative ,agility ,selectivity and orientation of the three broadcast systems'commentaries . It also analyzes the four dimensions of the telecast commentaries ,such as proportions of times ,the distribution of types ,the emphasis of themes and the slant of attitudes ,so as to find the different modes and extents of commentary framings in the Olympic-style international field . Research findings indicate that there are media multi-constructions of the Olympic host in the telecasts of the ceremony conducted by different broadcast systems in different countries . Despite varied constructions and interpretations of the ceremony ,China's overall image portrayal across the three opening ceremony telecasts was positive . The finding further indicates that all of the three broadcast systems tend to achieve some convergence in their modes of commentaries while still maintaining their own distinctive features . The study also demonstrates that the conflict and the compromise between internationalism and nationalism in the Olympic-style international field can be presented more directly by the vocal commentaries rather than the visual images .