U.K.: China and the Olympic Torch

An article in The Guardian today frames its coverage of the Olympics through the lens of controversy by focusing on the protests surrounding the journey of the Olympic torch, rather than the logistics of the journey itself. Eight of the sixteen paragraphs mention protests -- recent, having occurred in recent weeks, or anticipated in the future -- and the other eight provide broadly attributed comments from officials about the plans for the torch relay. The attributed information is fairly neutral, apart from one line that reads, "Organisers hope the route will highlight China's growing ambitions, economic development and openness to the outside world." However, the unattributed paragraphs have a somewhat more critical stance, predicting (on what basis is not stated) that the route will "be dogged by protests." It also notes that this particular route, proclaimed "ambitious" in the first paragraph, will have "a bigger eco-footprint" than past ones. This adds an interesting environmentalist frame; in the past, I can't imagine such observations would have been made if they were not attributed to some particular group's concern.