Beijing Olympic Games Torch Light Ceremony And Torch Relay

Leonardo Boccia Prof. Dr. of Scenic Arts, instrumentist, composer and professor of the School of Music and research professor of the Graduate Program in Culture and Society at the Federal University of Bahia - Brazil. His research interests are: music in modern media; sounds communication in the contemporary screen media; sonorous multimedia effects; Key measures on visuals, media cultural trends, contemporary aesthetic media strategies.

Beijing Olympic Games torch light ceremony and torch relay Brazilian warm-up’s coverage

Abstract This article examines media coverage of the Olympic torch light ceremony and torch relay by Brazilian most representative newspapers, week’s magazines and TV stations. It will analyse and compare similar news that has aired by Brazilian most influent broadcast network televisions since March 2008. For instance, the different ways to divulge same events, even by the same TV station in Brazil grab the attention because of the national, transnational and global cultural trends, in which rise peculiar forms of multicultural communication. However, on May 12th a violent earthquake in Sichuan province astonishes the world; most recent reports of China’s national mourning and the torch relay pause are here also examined and commented. This article discusses the way in which most significant events before 2008 Beijing Olympic Games divulged from similar visuals and texts provided by international news agencies interlace them selves with Brazilian media contents and culture-specific interpretations. The main purpose of that is to highlight how TV, as the most popular medium in Brazil, and probably therefore, keeps culturespecific characteristics to communicate to its huge audience.

Keywords: Brazilian Olympic Games coverage, Olympic torch light ceremony, torch relay, torch pause, media cultural trends, TV culture-specific solutions.

Cultural enchantment The articulation of values like ethics and internationalism marks the Olympic movement as a solid platform for the global sport mega-event that embraces human feelings and interests. The time anteceding the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games reveals an integration necessity of Sino-Western civilization, however shacked by political protests and claims for human rights. “The West considers that the rest of the world should be like the West, and there is a lack of understanding of China” (Brownell, 2008: 4). Analyzing Olympic reports of the torch relay - TV, Internet, newspapers and magazines in Brazil during March, April and May 2008, collective memories, stereotypes and neglects emerge as evidences of that lack of understanding of China, holding many images and sounds of millenary Eastern culture far away form most of Brazilian people. In fact, despite the Chinese migration and the multicultural reality in Brazil, it is far from easy for Brazilian people to understand Chinese cultural manifestation and Weltanschauung. For instance, “Chinese people who have thought about human rights consider them as part of a historical process. They think the situation in China was very bad thirty years ago. It is much better now, and they have faith that it will continue to get better in the future” (Ibid. 5). However, journalist remarks in Brazil show that knowledge about China resumes it self to recurrent stereotypes like: Chinese gigantisms, patients and colorful imagination that enchanted when: “a very high color concentration provides that eyes forget all problems”. Now, the violent earthquake in Sichuan province changes deeply several prejudices about China. Chinese solidarity and humility in front of a natural catastrophes show the strong side of millenary culture, a part which has been neglected in the recent reports and visuals distributed by influent international news agencies all over the world. In this contribution, we analyze Olympic reports of the Olympic torch light ceremony, torch relay and torch pause in the newspapers Folha de São Paulo and its concurrent Estado de São Paulo that with respectively 309 and 231 thousand daily exemplars sell are two of the most representatives Brazilian ones. From the second one we utilize some online material from www.estadao.com.br which had dedicated to Beijing Olympiad daily reports entitled Pequim 2008. Newspapers and magazines reports are here compared to TV programs by Globo Television Network, one of the world’s biggest TV station and significant export quota that, for its very high audience share, has a hegemonic influence. Despite the most of visuals, photos and texts provided by international news agencies like Reuters, France Presse, Associated Press and Efe among others, the observation of media content in Brazil during the torch relay around the world reveals few original audiovisuals traces of TV production and post-production, some creative trends of TV programs editing and caricatures of political protests involve 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. What media preference concerns, even considering the rapid growth of Internet access in Latin America, television is still the most popular medium and its programs seduce the attention of huge audience, in Brazil the situation is not different. However, not only images compound the mass media coverage; sounds, speech, noises and music constitute a significant part of mediates audiovisual constructions. Therefore, the reality of mass media in the contemporary world can also be given by fictional technological combinations and culture-specific trends that cross world boundaries. Audiovisual primacy is defined by Key measures and visuals of national, transnational and global elements edited in a post-production phase. In Brazil about 97% of domiciles have at least one color TV set, but the transition from analogical to digital TV technology had recently began. The comparison of text, visual and audiovisual media contents its interpretations and contradictions edited by Brazilian most representative newspapers, magazines and TV stations in relation to the Olympic torch light ceremony, torch relay and torch pause is the aim of this contribution. 2

China Olympiad prelude on Brazilian mass media March 20th 2008, a picture on page 2 of the influent newspaper Folha de São Paulo attracts the attention of its readers; it is a caricature of the Brazilian cartoonist Angeli, entitled Sem Palavras (Without words). Four days before the torch light ceremony in Greek, a mute protest accuses China to oppress Tibet. That will be one of the few images divulged in the most representative newspapers of Brazil during March and April produced by a Brazilian artist reflecting feelings of fear that surrounded and threaten the global freedom expectative for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The other ones are photos provided by international news agencies; images and Key visuals seen all over the world selected to give a mainly perspective over the preparations of a global sport mega-event such the Beijing Olympic Games.

Angeli - “Sem palavras” March 25th, “In the first exit of the torch, Beijing 2008 lives its first day of fury”. That is the headline of Folha de São Paulo in the sport session on page D1. Full page accomplished by six images provided by France Presse, Efe, Associated Press and Reuters, probably showed all over the world. A drawing of torch relay map completes the visualization of that page. The central photo of Kostas Souliotis, provided by France Press, have the following subtitles: “Activist with Tibet’s flag repressed by Greek policeman during protests in the streets Olympia’s”. The five more photos are smaller and show: 1) Greek actresses as pristine during the torch light ceremony (Efe); 2) Dissidents extending sash on hotel façade (Associated Press); 3) Woman with red ink on her face (France Presse); 4) Flag withdraw from France activist (France Presse); 5) Chinese security vigilant authorities (Reuters). The here anonym local reporter of Folha de São Paulo writes: “Transmission of the ceremony invasion was censured in China, where begin protests against the Olympiad in August”. At the same time www.estadão.com.br shows the images of Greek actresses as pristine in Olympia, the main headline is: “To China, protest during the ceremony was ‘shameful’ president of organization committee of the Games criticized the activists of Reporters sans frontieres”. The translated comments of Chris Buckley and Lindsay Beck, Reuters reporters are: “Beijing - China criticized the protests realized during the torch light ceremony in Greek as to be ‘shameful’ for the Beijing Olympic Games”. And in his statement, for a collective interview on Tuesday the 25th, the spokesperson of Chinese foreigner’s ministry, Qin Gang affirms: “The Olympic torch symbolized the noble ideals of humanity and nice inspirations, anyone who perturbs or sabots the Olympic torch relay is shameful and deserve any support”. 3

March 25th, the Estadão on-line brings seven more reports concerning China and the Olympic Games which headlines are: 1) Death, prisons and protests in Tibet dirty China Olympiad; 2) Sarkozy don’t discard boycott to Beijing; 3) China will restored Potala palace in Tibet; 4) Tibetan authorities arrest 13 manifestants; 5) Everest - Olympic torch locks tracks; 6) China limited the entry of batteries in flies during the Olympiads; 7) Protests pro-Tibet causes the death of a policeman in China1. While Brazilian newspapers reproduce mostly news and images provided by influent international news agencies, Globo TV network on March 24th transmits visuals direct from Beijing. In the Globo Esporte, one of the famous sport program of Brazilian TV, China correspondent, the young journalist Pedro Bassan shows and comments different moments of Olympia torch light ceremony mixed to visual flashes from Beijing street, where a huge screen reports to the pedestrian the very unforgettable Olympia’s events. This TV Globo report of 2 minutes and 23 seconds duration is introduced by journalist in studio who announced: “Today, the world travel of the Olympic torch has begun in Greek’s Olympia; the ceremony was beating by protests”. Then, visuals of the ceremony are showing with comments about bad weather in Olympia and the need to anticipate the ritual in one hour. Suddenly, visuals of people in the principal street of Beijing, takes by Wanderley Serbonchini (Globo TV press photographer), are shown. Back to Olympia visuals, the reporter Pedro Bassan comments: In the wisdom of Gods, Apollo wakes up in bad mood the Sun’s God, father of Olympic flame, hidden himself beyond a clouding day. To avoid the rain, the ritual must be anticipated in one hour. Was already afternoon’s end in Beijing and the main street of Chinese capitol stopped turned the eyes to Greek, and was necessary ‘Chinese patient’ to waiting for the flame. In front of the concave mirror the torch was extended during 1 minute and 23 seconds until Apollo sprouts his bless. This is a moment when the Western tradition meets the ‘gigantism of China’ to start the biggest Olympic torch relay ever. [Showing a recurrent world map with a popular melody on the background], 137.000 kilometers travel over the planet, 135 cities in 25 countries, passing through the five continents. In China the torch will travel around all provinces, before arrives to Beijing. The itinerary includes Tibet, stage of blooding conflicts in the last weeks. For Tibetan people the torch symbolized the Chinese oppression so it is not welcome there. Today the president of IOC solicit the end of hostilities, Jacques Rogge had spoken with Chinese and everyone, clarifying that the Games cannot be realized in a violent atmosphere. A signal of what is waiting for the torch was seen in Olympia, during the statement of the president of the Beijing Organizing Committee. Suddenly, beyond Liu Qi appears manifestant showing a black flag, in the right side of the video he appears holds by policemen. The French entity Reporter sans frontieres assumes the protest; the ceremony continues normally, the pristine give the flame to the first athletes, the Greek of taekwondo Alexandros Nikolaidis, in his hands began for the peace’s flame one of the hardest trip2.

A trivial rhetoric charged and tensioned the report above. The facts are narrated by keys of collective memories and recurrent ‘stereotypes’. The need of ‘Chinese patient’ to wait during 1 minute and 23 seconds for lighting the Olympic torch may be a joke or a gentle tentative to approximate most Brazilian audience of an unknown and distant culture? However, superficially manners to comment world events in the most popular programs 1

See also: Chris Buckley e Lindsay Beck - Reuters. Para China, protesto em cerimônia da tocha foi 'vergonhoso'. Retrieved May 12, 2008 from: http://www.estadao.com.br/esportes/not_esp145436,0.htm 2 Retrieved May 12, 2008 from: http://video.globo.com/Videos/Player/Esportes/0,,GIM806964-7824CERIMONIA+ABRE+CAMINHADA+DA+TOCHA+OLIMPICA,00.html

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like sport and domestic TV journals recur frequently in TV Globo network. The sensationalism is also to be noted, highlighted by a clear circle on the right corner of the screen; images of protest by the organization Reporter sans frontieres are shown. Taking advance of Olympia landscape in which are staged freedom and Olympic ideals, the international entity articulates protests against China, and that seems to be all what particular Western interests pretend to spread. For instance, that increases in the case of the same report on the same day in the same Globo TV network. In Globo news program Em cima da hora (in the nick of time) for cable TV audience, (according to a survey on the use of information and communication technologies in Brazil 20063, only 5.4% of Brazilian’s domiciles has cable TV signature). The same report would mix down with different remarks and visuals that are here relevant to compare. After a short report’s presentation of a female Globo TV journalist introduces the audience to the protests of Reporter sans frontieres, the international correspondent in China, Pedro Bassan comments same events in a new key. The visuals show the huge screen in Beijing main street and people looking to the images arriving from Olympia: It is a historical moment for the Chinese people; somebody brings modern equipments, other people observe with a look of that who never will forget. With the feet in Beijing and the eyes in Greek the crowd holds the breath until the flame appears. Out of China, the world is scared from another moment of the ceremony. The president of organization committee of the Games is speaking, suddenly, the image catches more attention then words, how can you see in the screen corner, the flash protest is repressed by the police; the France organization Reporter sans frontieres assumes the protest. [Here the visuals stopped and two photos of the black flag with the five rings as handcuffs are showing during tree second each one, and again the visuals show the huge screen in Beijing principal street]. China transmits the ceremony with delay and censured the scenes of protest that was replaced with Greek’s sculptures [rhetorical emphasis of the reporter and again visuals from Olympia]. In the moment when the pristine gives the flame forward the ceremony finishes. [New visuals from Beijing and the reporter Pedro Bassan saying:] begin a travel of 137.000 kilometer around the planet and at this time the journey will be full of obstacle on the way, [Visual of street protests around Olympia] and they appear in the first meters of the route. Already around Olympia tree manifestants defending Tibet independence were arrested. [Visuals of protests around the world are showing], Tibetan exiled continue protesting all over the world, in Katmandu Nepal, monks had conflicts with the police, 40 people where arrested. Even IOC’s president, who usually don’t comments political subjects, speaks for the first time, Jacques Rogge says that what are happening in Tibet don’t combine with the Olympics values. [Images of release of a white down] Today in Greek, freedom tries to bless the Olympiads, but almost nobody perceived it4.

The different way to report the same news by the same TV station, but directed to different audiences, is a practical way to select informations as a differential privilege for cable signature. It is also relevant to note that critics to China are sharper in the cable TV program that deserves new post-production edition with provocative assertions like: almost nobody perceived that freedom bless the Olympiad. Political preferences of rich cable TV audience suggest the way how Globo TV network shows and comments the contemporary Olympic torch events in Greek; suddenly the message is not the same for everyone.

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Retrieved May 12, 2008 from: http://www.cetic.br/tic/2006/indicadores-2006.pdf Retrieved May 12, 2008 from: http://video.globo.com/Videos/Player/Noticias/0,,GIM807073-7823TOCHA+OLIMPICA+E+ACESA+NA+GRECIA+COM+PROTESTO,00.html 4

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However, cable TV is not popular in Brazil; it is still an expansive and selective medium resource adopted by a restrict sector of Brazilian population.

Folha de São Paulo - March and April reports Mostly Brazilian mass media had reported news of the Olympic Games since the decision by the IOC in Moscow in July 2001 to award Beijing. To highlight the crescent interest about Beijing Olympiad, some newspapers, magazines and TV reports examples of the past two months March and April may be representatives. The Newspaper Folha de São Paulo since March the 1st reports Olympic news frequently; its China correspondent Raul Juste Lores sends news direct from Beijing. On March the 1st, the headline of sport section, title page D1 announced: “Beijing airport inaugurate mega-terminal”. A photo shows the airport with the following subtitle: “Policemen, in the new Beijing airport terminal host city of the Olympiad this year”. On page D4 of the same sport section in full page the headline informs: “China inaugurate the entry gate for the Olympiad - new terminal in Beijing has 1 million m2 and had consumed US$ 3.65 billions”. On the next day, Raul Juste Lores reports direct from Beijing, on page D1 the headline asks: “Would China change in the time of Games?”. On page D5, below two main photos the subtitles are: 1) Students receiving etiquette classes to work in the award ceremony, English classes for the Olympiad voluntaries; 2) Notice board with wrong English sentences, a common problem in China; lot of traffic in Beijing streets, which suffered with pollution; attempts to organize rows on the bus stops”. In the headline the reporter observes: “Beijing fears lack of time to make effective changes, 5 months before the Olympiad, the population keeps still old habits, actions against pollution may be palliative only”. During March, nine editions of the newspaper Folha de São Paulo bring no reports about Beijing Olympiad. Five reports coming direct from Beijing and one, by Marcelo Ninio, direct from Geneva. China international correspondents reports the following news: 1) New Beijing airport terminal; 2) Beijing’s pollution; 3) Growing of censure in China, the case Tang Wei; 4) New pollution report; 5) Taiwan election and Dalai Lama decision to visit Beijing. And Swiss correspondent reports: “Tibet against boycott to the Olympiad Parliament president in exile says that the event will catches the international attention, therefore, China shall have to open it self”. Other reports are from local redaction and journalists and bring following headlines: 9 March 6th, “Now China fear for the first place awards. Government affirms to stay beyond USA and Russia and will contracts psychologists to help the athletes”; 9 March 8th, “Beijing’s pollution can be helpful, says Wanderlei, bronze medal in Athens-2004, the marathoner affirms that the bad air conditions will favor Brazilians athletes in the Chinese Olympiad”; 9 March 15th, “Taiwan classified baseball and may confuse China”; 9 March 17th, on the title page “Dalai Lama accuse China to practice ‘cultural genocide’” and on page A12: “Dalai Lama had accused China of ‘cultural genocide’ against Tibet, region where in the last week repression to protests killed about 87 people, according to the opposition, he stated that ‘Tibet nation is still dieing”; 9 March 19th, “IOC ignores Tibetan protest - manifestants ask for a statement of the Olympic entities against the Chinese repression in Tibet”; 9 March 24th, “Torch party turns a headache for Rogge, the torch relay had in program to slope the Everest and is target of protests pro-Tibet; IOC’s president affirms that the committee is not political one”. 6

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March 27th, “Beijing boycott get stronger and divides EU”; March 29th, “Greek holds press out from Olympic event”; March 30th, “Beijing lives turbulence that encompassed Seoul in 1988”; March 31st, “Greek’s armor the torch handing over - cordon holds activists far away from ceremony”.

On Friday, April 11th, on the title page of Folha de São Paulo, beside a provocative Madonna picture, the newspaper shows the following photo of Dalai Lama provided by Reuters and with the following subtitle:

“Dalai Lama accuse China to see him as demon” And for the next April edition, on Saturday 12th, the headline is: “After days of fury the torch celebrate in Argentina - the worst is over says entity about the Olympic flame adventure all over the world”. International reporter Adriana Küchler direct from Buenos Aires comments: “Under strong security plan, the Olympic torch passes yesterday in the afternoon across Buenos Aires, without big accidents”. A photo shows Jin Jing smiling and holding the torch and in the little one, Jin Jing in wheelchair; both images provided by Associated Press:

“Jin Jing with the Olympic torch that she protects in Paris (see detail)” April 26th, on the title page the headline informs: “China announces that will receive representative of Dalai Lama”. And on sport session page D4 the headline is: “In Japan, torch has removed opposition, Falun Gong from the in China repressed sect, arriving to 7

Nagano and manifests him self”. And more, in a terror warning headline on the same page: “China may suffer attack during the Games”. Surprising so many official critics and remarks seems to be full of prejudices and fear of the unknown and even an effort to attract bad luck to China. An ideological reluctance against Sino-Western civilization integration and to recognize the relevance of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was constantly repeated in recent daily news. Furthermore, few alternative information’s reports or documentaries in the West do not had prepare readers, people or audience to participate of this relevant historical moment. More reflections or news of different points of view may give clear panorama over Beijing Olympic Games and China sport history, but instead of that, an exaggerate concentration of visuals and texts provoked basically by Western political and economic interests which main focus is to divulge fear and dissidence5. For Latin America, and many other countries (even the rich ones) where Internet access is still limited or restrict to reduced parcel of population, alternative news and visuals are not translated and insufficient to propitiate more elements about other cultures. That is the case of Chinese TV network CCTV programs available in You Tube6; the coverage of May 12th, Sichuan Wenchuan earthquake. By information diversity it is possible to find culturespecific elements that eliminate many doubts. In the Chinese coverage of Sichuan earthquake, for example, even don’t understanding Chinese language and considering the political partiality of a public TV channel, it is possible to see and to feel Chinese culture beyond the midiatic wall that still divides East from West. Following, more critics and stereotypes reproduced Ipsis litteris by Brazilian week’s magazines are related. Visual and rhetoric media hegemony continues spreading world events with ideological partiality. Alternatives media contents and propositions are still distant; the increase of digital technology may be a solution for these des-information habits around the planet. Currently, the reality of mass media about international events in many countries is mostly a construct of influent international news agencies then the own independent cultural interpretation or opinion about the facts7.

China political aspects on Brazilian week’s magazines With more then 1.5 million exemplars the week’s magazines are classified from the Brazilian citizen as opinion former, where it is possible to access to “nobles”, economic, politic and international reports. Veja week’s magazine, one of the most representative in Brazil has also an open online version where anyone can access the reports8, for Epoca magazine it is similar, but the reader needs to register him self9. However, the first reports here commented are not from online versions. Veja print exemplar on March 26th reveals critical report about China politic versus Tibet. The provocative headline is: “As monks prove - for Tibet, Beijing Olympiad is already begins and its sport is thrown stone”. Two 5

Silberstein-Loeb, Jonathan (2007): “The flow of information is a complex process dependent upon a wide range of economic, political, social and technological factors”. See also: http://www.unige.ch/ses/istec/EBHA2007/papers/Silberstein.pdf Accessed May 22, 2008. 6 Retrieved May 22, 2008 from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=easLG6tWoSw 7 Chris Paterson argues: “Because news agencies must please all news editors, everywhere, they must work harder than their client journalists to create the appearance of objectivity and neutrality. In so doing, they manufacture a bland and homogeneous, but still ideologically distinctive, view of the world; stories challenging the ideological positions of the dominant political players on the world scene (in agency eyes, the US and UK) receive little attention”: http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/cicr/exhibits/42/cicrpaterson.pdf Accessed May 24, 2008. 8 See also: http://veja.abril.com.br/arquivo.shtml Accessed May 15, 2008. 9 See also: http://revistaepoca.globo.com/ Accessed May 15, 2008.

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photos, provided by Reuters and New York Time show: 1) Chinese soldiers beyond shields to protect them selves from the thrown of stones; 2) Tibetan monk with blooding head, and the following subtitle: “Chinese soldiers defend them selves from stone’s thrown by Tibetans, in Lhasa, and wounded monk in Nepal”. In the tentative to inform most of the readers about China and Tibet, a map with geopolitical dates illustrates the report. The headline of the map is: “In the shadow of giant - Tibet, even representing a considerable parcel of Chinese territory is irrelevant in terms of economy and population”. The map shows the relation between China and Tibet geographic territory, dates on it inform about economy, education and population of both sides. In Epoca magazine of March 31st, Beijing Olympiad is criticized by two readers. On page 11, a ‘mail box’ session shows reader’s letters, one of them is about China and Tibet. One photo, without any news agency reference, shows China’s soldier pursuing Tibetan monk. The reader from Rio de Janeiro comments: “Since the decade of 1950 the repression is going on, nations all over the world turns a blind eye for the bitterness suffered by a very rich peace and religious culture”. He continues comment that it will be shameful nothing to do to press Beijing; boycott were necessary not only to the Olympiad but to Chinese nation as well. However, political positions are opposite as much in the popular as in the scholarly literature: Two diametrically opposing views of Tibet's political status vis-à-vis China have dominated both the popular and the scholarly literature. The pro-Tibetan school argues that Tibet had been an independent state conquered by the Chinese Communists and was wrongly incorporated into the Chinese state. The pro-Chinese school sees Tibet as a traditional part of China which split from it, as a consequence of British machinations, after the fall of the Manchu dynasty but which was rightly reunited with China in 1951. In both schools, impartiality often takes third place to polemical oratory and political expedience, with selected international events used in isolation to substantiate one position or the other (Goldstein, 1992: preface).

In its online version of April 16th, Veja magazine brings more critics to Beijing Olympic Games; the headline is: “The discord torch - Olympic torch parade turns a race of 13.700 km with obstacle. The journalist of that report Thomaz Favaro write: “Already four months before the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games it is clear that for this Olympiad it will be not easy to separate sport from politic”. Five pictures complete the online report, 1) Athletes with the Olympic torch in San Francisco, provided by AFP; 2) Torch relay protests in London (AP); 3) Torch relay protests in Paris (AFP); 4) Smiling Dalai Lama (Reuters); 5) César Cielo after his victory of GP in Ohio (AP). In its online version, Epoca magazine international reporter Florência Costa, direct from New Delhi affirms: “The cross-road of Dalai - catches by the protests radicalization against China day before Beijing Olympiads, the Tibetan lieder loses the control on his followers and begins to prepare the succession10”. Obviously, most of that headlines and comments about China and Beijing Olympic Games are very similar to that distribute all over the world by international news agencies11. Generally, most representative Brazilian mass media seems to have no time or place to propose different programs about China culture and politics. Then, the official media everywhere prefer to assume an aura of objectivity, neutrality and primacy.

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Retrieved May 12, 2008 from: http://revistaepoca.globo.com/Revista/Epoca/0,,EDR83049-6013,00.html According to Maria José Baldessar, Brazilian information agencies reproduce news of the international news agencies: “sometime resumes or put together in the same text informations of two of them, nothing more than that”. See also: http://www.usp.br/agen/repgs/2007/pags/003.htm Accessed May 15, 2008.

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Sport passion TV Bandeirantes, one of the most popular TV station in Brazil gives great emphasis to sport events. Founded at the end of 1950 decade, Bandeirantes network or simply Band begins its sport tradition in 1970 transmitting the Soccer World Masters Cup. Since 1983, invests more in sport segment with the program Show do Esporte. During many years, Band TV was considered the Canal do Esporte (Sport Channel). An edition of program 2008 o Ano Olímpico (2008 the Olympic year) transmitted on April it is available at You Tube12. Presented by ex-gymnast Luisa Parente, the program provides informations and special reports over the preparations of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Right on the programs’ begin music title theme and TV Band’s logo. Following sport images and Beijing Olympic Games logo accomplished by Chinese melodies and drum rhythms. Then, Luisa Parente presents: “Hi folks, good afternoon, in the air O Ano Olimpíco we are nearer to the event which has everything to be the greatest edition of the Olympic Games in History”. Parente follows presenting main themes of the program for the April edition, music always in fore and background: 1) An artistic gymnastics’ class of Diego Hippolito to Fabi, women’s volleyball team athlete (at the end interplay of Beijing Olympic logo); 2) In the Olympic story: the boycott of USA to the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, (interplay of Beijing Olympic logo); 3) Direct from Beijing polemics over WCs in the ambient of the Games (interplay of Beijing Olympic logo); 4) Technology serving sport, polemic innovations (interplay of Beijing Olympic logo); 5) And more: the Olympic experience of the gymnast Daiane dos Santos (interplay of Beijing Olympic logo); 6) Brazilian bronze in Miami for the sail competition (interplay of Beijing Olympic logo); 7) The victory of Brazilian athlete Cezar Cielo at the international swim competition in Ohio USA. The program continues with a funny reporter in the street March 25th, São Paulo biggest popular market, the reporter try to teach Chinese language to people whose are shopping in the street market. After those humoristic moments, Luisa Parente presents the visuals of crisis between China and Tibet. Then, a Chinese melody introduces the Olympic story segment over the USA boycott to1980 Moscow Olympic Games. The program is available in tree parts: the first part of 10 minutes an 11 seconds; the second one of 7 min. and 28 sec. and the third one of 6 min and 37 sec., melodic citation always in fore and background of visuals. The program shows culture-specific dynamics of Band sport journalism, the young Luisa Parente communicate very well to the sport audience and to everyone, she presents all the events with enthusiasm and sympathy. Brazilian sport passion for Olympic Games, soccer competitions, Pan American Games, among others reveals that “One Dream One World” coulded be a valid slogan for Brazilian culture too. Right in Brazil, Olympic hope overcomes any political meaning and weight which encompasses the powerful world of the Olympic Games.

China’s national mourning and the torch pause May 12th, 14:28 pm, a violent earthquake in Sichuan province astonishes the world. China turns stage of natural catastrophes; thousands of people died. Solidarity for the victims, China government sends rescues military troops to Sichuan and many common people help any needy. May 19th, 14:28 pm, China began 3 days’ national mourning, horn sounds, and Beijing Olympic Torch Relay is paused.

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Retrieved May 15, 2008 from: http://br.youtube.com/results?search_query=2008+o+ano+olimpico&search_type=&aq=o

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May 18th, Brazilian cable TV program Globo News13 shows visuals of Sichuan and announce the national mourning in China. Gilberto Scofield Jr., China reporter of TV Globo Network informs that also President Hu Jintao, normally impassive was much motioned during the visit to a shelter for the earthquake victims. May 19th, Ana Maria Braga, anchor woman of Globo entertainment program Mais Você14 (More of you) comments Sichuan earthquake, per telephone asks Globo reporter in China, Pedro Bassan were he found him self at that moment, Pedro Bassan replies to be back to Beijing, but that he and his colleagues, the press photographer Wanderlei Serbonchini, passed six days in Sichuan to cover the earthquake in that region. During Pedro Bassan commentaries, victim’s rescues mute images are shown, back to Globo TV studio, the anchor woman asks: “which are your sensations as journalist and as man so near to the events, how do you feel as human being?” Pedro Bassan, that during March and April reports the Olympic torch events and protests with rhetorical comments now seems to show his emotions about Chinese people, and replies: “It can be seen as a cliché, but we all rethinking our live, suddenly that people dies and we… why are we still alive? What can we do to go forward after loose so many people, people that we don’t knew, imagine the feeling of them relatives and families? It is a very sad situation”. Pedro Bassan still comments about the earthquake which shakes even Beijing, 1.500 kilometer far away from epicenter, were he found him self on that Monday of May. May 20th, Globo begin its TV journal Journal Nacional showing images recorded by video amateur soon afterward the earthquake15. Globo international reporter in China, Pedro Bassan comments the images and argues: “Sichuan earthquake will be reminded because of the suffering of children”. In the same edition, Sung Tien Lo, Chinese economy professor living in Campinas in the state of São Paulo and of Brazilian nationality, were in China during the earthquake and back to Brazil comments about the dramatic scenes experienced at Chengdu University during his lecture. Professor Sung Tien Lo was very impressed about Chinese solidarity; he affirms: “Just one hour, and about 5 or 6 thousand voluntaries appear there”. Brazilian TV, not only Globo network, but all the other TV channels in Brazil, public and private, open or cable TV give great moral support to the earthquake victims and to China’s national mourning. On television, national’s integration media of Brazil, reporters don’t stay impassive in front of the impressive visuals of China’s earthquake. Social disparity in Brazil extends easily an emotional interface to natural catastrophes victims; a wide bridge over human and civilization fragility. For Brazilian people, China’s prejudices, stereotypes, political polemics and ideological pressures are at the moment simple vanished. The world over muted in front of a real reality, not a media virtual only but in front of the certainty that a strong nature advise shakes humanity ones again; what happened to China has bended just everyone. After tree days national mourning, the torch relay resumes its route around Chinese provinces. Now the possibility to find any survivors is very remote; in the affected regions buildings are demolished. Today, May 23rd, the Olympic torch arrives to Xangai, in the biggest financial center of China; streets are packed of people that made one minute silent to homage Sichuan earthquake victims, tomorrow the torch relay continues.

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Retrieved May 20, 2008 from: http://video.globo.com/Videos/Player/Noticias/0,,GIM829240-7823TERREMOTO+NA+CHINA+PAIS+VAI+DECRETAR+LUTO+NACIONAL,00.html 14 Retrieved May 20, 2008 from: http://video.globo.com/Videos/Player/Entretenimento/0,,GIM8295847822-TERREMOTO+NA+CHINA,00.html 15 Retrieved May 20, 2008 from: http://video.globo.com/Videos/Player/Noticias/0,,GIM830324-7823MAIS+DOIS+SOBREVIVENTES+DO+TERREMOTO+SAO+ENCONTRADOS+NA+CHINA,00.html

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Concluding remarks Having compared different mass media reports of the Olympic torch light ceremony in Olympia, and torch relay around the world and torch pause by the most representative newspapers, magazines and TV stations in Brazil, it may appear that most part of Brazilian population received exclusively bad news about China. The critical phase concerning proTibet protests has take huge part of the reports all over the world and the dominance of photo and visuals provided by influent international news agencies create a homogeneous feeling and imagination about world events. However, “The Olympic movement and Olympic Games are so huge that they seem to create their own myth and they are surrounded by mysteries” (Pound, 2004: xiii). It was always very difficult to separate sport from politics because a world mega-event such the Olympiad is the perfect stage to represent political conflicts, sometime real ones, otherwise strongly dramatized and even fictionalized. “Although many sport fans consider ‘politics’ an unwelcome intruder in the Olympic Games, politics are in fact an integral part of the Games. The glamour and attractiveness of the Olympic Games and the fact people care give Olympic performances great political significance and weight” (Senn, 1999: x). The lack of more images and sounds as counterpoint to that provided by international news agencies had strongly favored the polemic side of the medal. Certainly, the popular audiences are influenced by the main visual perspectives divulged all over the world and the other side can be shaded; invisible or misunderstood. During the Olympic torch light ceremony in Olympia, and torch relay, Brazilian mass media has mostly shown what the world have seen and ear. However, the multicultural character and social disparity of Brazil are resistant factors to interprets the ways how world events and news are represented and divulged. Newspapers as Folha de São Paulo or Estadão, week’s magazines like Veja and Época riches together a few millions of 186 million of Brazilian people. The most popular medium in Brazil is still TV and there, sounds, visuals and spoken text assume national, trans-national and global cultural trends and characteristics that can mold or convince most part of the audience. In Brazilian cultures, sport’s passion and Olympic Games is stronger than interest for political conflicts. The collectivist cultures in Brazil preserve the dimension of Games as fundamental for human communication and TV programs here explore very intensive that particular side of the audience. Brazilian TV programs, it is already possible to see and ear those cultural trends in the gesture and voice’s intonation of the reporters and in the need to accomplish visuals and music or sound effects very frequents. That music-visuals combination is also present in the Chinese TV network CCTV program on You Tube website (footnote 5). For instance, the mimic of the reporter in Globo Esporte program (first TV report examples, on page 3); introducing the news of Olympic torch light ceremony is very representative for that particular emotional form to comment the news. Cultural diversity provides different way to communicate with people and, despite the visuals world hegemony; Brazilian most popular medium preserves some originality, especially in the way how combines and edit sounds and visuals. That seems to be common to both countries; China and Brazil make use of music to explain visuals where words are insufficient to represent the main popular feeling. Equally, sport passion unified many countries in the world and Brazilian’s hope is to experience in freedom the sport mega-event “which has everything to be the greatest edition of the Olympic Games in History”. “The history of sports in China is an important realm for looking at issues of tradition versus modernity, East versus West, Chinese versus foreign and so on as they have played out over the past century” (Brownell, 2008: 49).

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References Berry, Wallace (1987). Structural Functions in Music. New York: Dover. Boccia, Leonardo (2006). Choros da Humanidade – Música e Farsa Cultural. SalvadorBahia: Cian Gráfica e Editora. Boccia, Leonardo V. (2005). Key Measures. In Over the Waves music in-and broadcasting. International conference: Hamilton, Ontario Canada: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~admv/overthewaves/ Brownell, Susan (2008), Beijing Games - what the Olympics mean to China. Lanham: Rowman & Little Publishers, Inc. Carrol, Noël (1998) A Philosophy of Mass Art. New York: Oxford University Press. Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society (Vol. I). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Davies, John Booth (1978). The Psichology of Music. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Goldstein, Melvyn C. (1992). A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1992. http://www.pdfcoke.com/doc/2511931/Tibet-A-History-of-Modern-Tibet-Goldstein Govinda, Lama Anagarika (1975). Foundations of Tibetan mysticism. London: Rider. Guegold, William K. (1996). 100 Years of Olympic Music – Music and Musicians of the Modern Olympic Games 1896-1996. Mantua, OH: Golden Clef Publishing. Grau, Oliver; Keil Andreas (2005). Mediale Emotionen. Frankfurt am Main: Fisher Taschenbuch Verlag. Kellison, Cathrine (2006). Producing for TV and Video – A real-world approach. Burlington, MA: Elsevier. Ludes, P; Boccia, L.; Kühne, U.; Maguire, J. (2005). Visual Hegemonies – An Outline. Münster, Lit Verlag. Luhmann, Niklas (1996). Die Realität der Massenmedien. Opladen: Westdeutsche Verlag GmbH. Kynge, James (2006). China Shakes the World: A Titan's Rise and Troubled Future -- and the Challenge for America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Meyn, Hermann (1999). Massenmedien in Deutschland. Konstanz: UVK Medien. Pound, Dick (2004). Inside the Olympics, a behind-the-scenes look at the politics, the scandals, and the glory of the Games. John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd. Segenberg, Harro; Schätzlein, Frank (2005). Sound. Zur Technologie und Ästhetik des Akustischen in den Medien. Marburg: Schüren. Senn, Alfred E. (1999). Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Shepherd, John; Wicke, Peter (1997). Music and Cultural Theory. Malden: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Werner, Hans-Ulrich; Lankau Ralf (2007). Media Soundscapes II: Didaktik, Design, Dialog. Siegen: MUK 162/163. Wyatt, Hilary; Amyes, Tim (2005). Audio Post Production for Television and Film. Burlington, MA: Elsevier. Wrigth, David Curtis (2001). The History of China - The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations. Westport CT: Greenwood Press. Zuckerkandl, Victor (1956). Sound and Symbol. Music and the External World. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd.

More Brazilian Internet Resource: http://globoreporter.globo.com/Globoreporter/0,19125,TOK0-2706-3687-2-0,00.html http://www.jogosolimpicospequim.com/ 13

http://www.cob.org.br/site/memoria_olimpica/cultural.asp http://vejaonline.abril.com.br/notitia/servlet/newstorm.ns.presentation.NavigationServlet?p ublicationCode=1&pageCode=1270 http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/especial/2004/olimpiada/ http://www.historianet.com.br/conteudo/default.aspx?codigo=210 http://www.sitesnobrasil.com/directorio/o/olimpiadas.htm

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