From Beijing to Paris: Media representation and sentiment dynamics of the Olympics and Paralympics across traditional and social platforms (2008–2024)

Abstract

This study examines the sentiment dynamics and media representation of the Olympics and Paralympics across five Olympic cycles (Beijing 2008 to Paris 2024), drawing on data from both traditional media (The New York Times and The Guardian) and social media platforms (YouTube and Reddit). In total, 37,898 news articles and 87,098 pieces of social media content related to the Olympics were analyzed, alongside 3,804 articles and 17,500 social media entries concerning the Paralympics. Sentiment analysis was conducted using a fine-tuned RoBERTa model, and non-relevant content was filtered using BERTopic. The findings reveal sustained public discourse leading up to each Olympic event. Over time, traditional media exhibited increasing sentiment polarization, with a notable decline in neutral coverage, aligning with Media Representation Theory. Social media, particularly in user comments, demonstrated a broader range of opinions. Peaks in Reddit activity frequently coincided with traditional media spikes, which likely reflects the synchronized nature of Olympic media coverage rather than one source unilaterally influencing the others. A substantial disparity in media attention was observed between the Olympics and Paralympics, with the former receiving significantly more coverage. However, Paralympic content, especially on YouTube, showed signs of increasing engagement and a comparatively less negative sentiment profile.