Prof. Francisco Buitrago Castillo
University Lecturer and Researcher at Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores, Faculty of Communication Sciences, Bogotá, Colombia. He works in the field of Sport Communication, in the lines of Geopolitics, Mediatization, Mega events, Gender in Journalism and Journalism Innovation.
E-mail: lfbuitragoc@libertadores.edu.co
Twitter: @franbuitragoc
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will be one of the most relevant mega sport events of the year and will garner the world’s attention due to the geopolitical context that has surrounded it, the technological deployment to be transmitted and, in the context of this research, for being the ideal epicenter to analyze the journalistic quality that was reflected in the coverage in relation to the Colombian audience.
As Alina Bernstein explains, “sports journalists can act as agents of change in society since they have a unique and powerful platform to influence public opinion, raise awareness, advocate for various issues through their reporting and commentary, and overall promote positive change in society.”
Only three Colombian mass media channels had access to the competitions and transmission rights of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Two of them were private media, Caracol Televisión and RCN Televisión; and the third was a public medium, Radio Nacional de Colombia. The coverage that each channel published on their respective YouTube channels between July 26 and August 11 were reviewed based on Ramón and Gabo’sEthical Decalogue for good coverage sports.
The characteristics of the principles proposed by the Ethical Decalogue relate to the quality necessary in sports journalism: “The commitment to the truth is what distinguishes the journalist, made to serve the intelligence of the recipients of his information (…) as a journalist, I am serving with information, not with entertainment because journalists are there to inform all not to entertain”. Ten fundamental principles are used to guide this quality: 1) Challenge the lack of representation. 2) Be rigorous and avoid speculation. 3) Do not emphasize narratives and war imagery. 4) Find authoritative and representative sources for coverage. 5) Make underrepresented sports visible. 6) Go beyond the playing field in your journalistic pieces. 7) Respect the separation between journalistic genres. 8) Don’t erode the credibility of your work by fueling virality. 9) Spread the message of non-discrimination and 10) Use appropriate language.
Results
The total of 160 journalistic products were analyzed, allowing representative findings from a qualitative perspective. In relation to the first and second principles analyzed, the entirety of content generated and broadcast by Caracol Televisión, RCN Televisión and Radio Nacional de Colombia exposed coverage that was generous in addressing profiles of historically relegated people, as well as adhering to the facts and verified data. The context of the social origin of most Colombian athletes, as well as the life stories and results was handled with rigor and certainty.
Regarding principles three and four, it is important to highlight that although none of them used warlike language in the coverage, Caracol Televisión and RCN Televisión “footballized” the tone, language and journalistic descriptions to the extreme. Radio Nacional de Colombia presented greater diversity in terms of preparation and way of approaching competencies, with relevant plurality and level of specialization. Regarding the plurality of sources consulted, each network demonstrated a strong creative sense to present voices linked to the Olympic organization, the athletes, the public in Paris and even journalists of other nationalities, thus enriching the information provided.
Regarding principle five, the two private media outlets focused their coverage on country’s more popular sports: soccer, cycling, boxing, but failed to allocate time and space to underrepresented sports. However, the public media outlet, Radio Nacional de Colombia dedicated more than a quarter of its total content on YouTube to representing sports and athletes from other fields less popular, including breakdancing, marathons, and swimming events. In all three cases, as a traditional and positive characteristic of Colombian sports coverage, more than a third of the total information analyzed highlighted traditions, the presence of tourists from all over the world, thus adhering to principle six.
Finally, the three Colombian media outlets showed relevant care and did not erode the credibility of the work by fueling virality, spread the message of non-discrimination and use appropriate language. These aspects were managed with precision, highlighting colorful and dynamic styles in the coverage, with good narratives, devoid of sensationalism, vulgarity or sexism. Only in the principle number seven, Respect for the separation of journalistic genres, did the three media outlets reflect weakness, since two thirds of their coverage available on YouTube focused on the genres of news and current affairs interviews, without offering a generous margin to the chronicle, the profile or the report – genres essential for high-quality coverage, even more so in the context of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
