Covering the Home Nation at Its Home Games: An Analysis of Australian Nationalistic Broadcast Coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

This study examines how nationalism was expressed in the Australian broadcaster Seven Network’s prime-time coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games held on the Gold Coast, Australia. Using social-categorization theory, the analysis of over 31 hours of broadcast content revealed that Australian athletes received significantly more name mentions and more favorable descriptions of success and personality traits compared to non-Australian athletes. Australians comprised 76% of the top-21 most-mentioned athletes and accounted for 56% of all name mentions, reflecting both their strong performance and the broadcaster’s nationalized focus. The study highlights how the Seven Network’s coverage emphasized in-group (Australian) athletes to foster national identity and viewer engagement, contributing novel insights into media nationalism beyond the commonly studied Olympic Games context.