Mediating the Olympics

The Olympics have long been an incredibly elaborate media spectacle. This article explores, through the 2008 Beijing Games, the transformation of the Olympic spectacle as new media forms become more regular partners in its production, distribution and exhibition, as well as producing other forms of interpersonal mediation that are part of what can be called new media communication. Because of the Olympics’ close association with broadcasting — and, over the last 50 years, specifically television — this article will argue that looking at the new forms of delivery of the Olympics identifies the power-shifts at play between older media and new media as industries.