Russian News Coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games: A Transmedia Analysis

The journalistic coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, involved various media platforms and the flow of information between mass media and social media. This phenomenon is not new; therefore, the research question that motivates this article is to what extent transmedia strategies were effectively applied to the Russian official news coverage of the Sochi Olympic Games. The theoretical framework focuses on transmedia journalism, and the method is based on the analytical model regarding transmedia news coverage of planned events developed by Gambarato and Tarcia. The research findings demonstrate that, although transmedial features are incorporated in the Russian coverage, there is modest content expansion and limited engagement with the audience.