http:www.thecontentfactory.comabovethenoise

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• http//www.thecontentfactory.com/abovethenoise/

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Sport in SocietyIssues and Controversies

• Chapter 12
• Sports and the Media
• Could They SurviveWithout Each Other?

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The media provide

• Information
• Interpretation
• Entertainment
• Opportunities for interactivity

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Traditional distinctions are now blurred

• Print media words and images on paper
• Newspapers, magazines and fanzines, books,
  catalogs, event programs, and trading cards
• Electronic media words, commentary, and images
  transmitted by audio and/or video devices and
  technologies
• Radio, television, film, video games, the
  Internet, and online publications
• Note New media have blurred the distinctions
  between print and electronic media.

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Media content

• . . . is always edited and re-presented by
  those who control media organizations
• Editing decisions are based on one or more of
• these goals
• Making profits
• Influencing cultural values
• Providing a public service
• Enhancing personal status and reputation
• Expressing self in technical, artistic, or
  personal ways

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Media and power

• Media usually serve the interests of those
• with power and wealth in society.
• As corporate control of media has become more
• concentrated, media content highlights
• Consumerism
• Individualism
• Competition
• Class inequality
• as natural and necessary in society

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The Big Five

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vH9KpNcB_GCkfeature
  channel_page

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The X Games were created by ESPN. ESPN is owned
by ABC. ABC is owned by Disney. The people who
control the X Games dont promote a
noncompetitive, expressive culture in alternative
sportsits not in their interest.
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Characteristics of the new media

• Extend and radically change (potentially) our
  connections with the world
• Are not limited to sequential programming
• Enable each of us to be the editors of our own
  media experiences, if we wish
• Give us the potential to create our own sport
  realities and experiences as spectators and
  virtual athletes
• Young people now re-present their own sports in
  media forms.
• Fantasy leagues change media experiences related
  to sports.

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New media as contested terrain

• Social, economic, and political forces will shape
  the future of the new media
• Will the new media democratize social life or
  will they become tools of corporate interests
  used to expand corporate capital, increase
  consumption, and reproduce dominant ideologies?
• Should the new media be available to everyone,
  like public roads, or should they be tollways?

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Video games and virtual sports

• Research is needed to help answer questions such
  as
• What are the dynamics of playing video sport
  games and virtual sports, and how do they differ
  from other sport-related experiences?
• How are video sport game experiences linked with
  other sport experiences?
• What ideological themes are structured into the
  images and actions in video sport games?
• Will virtual sports complement or replace sports
  as we know them today?

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Its becoming more difficult to distinguish the
simulations and media representations of sports
today.
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Video games as simulated sports

• The graphics and images in video games now come
  close to matching images in televised sports.
• TV producers now use special filters to make the
  action in televised games look like video games.
• Some athletes use video sport games to train.
• Some children today are introduced to sports
  through video games.
• Being good at playing video sport games is a
  source of status among many young people.
• Playing sport video games provides regular social
  occasions for many people, especially young males.

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Virtual sportsdiscussion issues

• Will the grandchildren of todays college
  students go to virtual sport complexes instead of
  playing what we define as sports today?
• Virtual sports offer a range of experiences that
  current sports do not.
• Will communities use tax money to fund virtual
  sport complexes instead of parks?
• Is the Wii gaming console a small step in the
  direction of virtual sports, and are there other
  examples?

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Do sports depend on the media?

• No, not when they are organized by and for the
  players themselves
• Yes, when they are organized as forms of
  commercial entertainment
• Media coverage attracts attention to sports and
  provides news of results.
• Television coverage remains a key factor in the
  growth and expansion of commercial sports.

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Major commercial sports have experienced a
windfall of rights fees. How will they be
affected by recent economic crises?
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Do media depend on sports?

• Most media do not depend on sports.
• Daily newspapers depend on sports sections for
  circulation and ad revenues.
• Many television companies depend on sports to
  fill programming schedules and attract male
  viewers and the sponsors that want to reach them.
• Many sport events have media audiences with
  clearly identifiable demographics, which is of
  great value for sponsors (pro golf is an
  example).
• Media organizations dedicated to sports
  programming ARE dependent on sportssuch as ESPN.

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As people use electronic media to consume
professional sports, local newspapers focus more
on local school sports.
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Trends in televised sports

• Rights fees have skyrocketed since the 1960s.
• Sports programming has increased dramatically.
• As more events are covered, ratings for
  particular events have decreased.
• Audience fragmentation has occurred.
• Television companies use sports events to promote
  other programming.
• Television companies are parts of conglomerates
  that now own teams, sport events, and other
  businesses that benefit from sports coverage and
  its commercials.

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(No Transcript)
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The sports-media relationship

• . . . is very strong for commercial sports, but
  other sports are unrelated to the media apart
  from facilitating communication between
  participants
• . . . is generally business based, but it also
  exists for promoting lifestyles based on
  consumption and the ideologies that support such
  lifestyles

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Other aspects of the sports-media relationship
(I)

• Corporations selling alcohol, tobacco, and food
  with questionable health value use sports to
  promote products in connection with activities
  that people define as healthy.
• If these corporations cannot sponsor televised
  events, they put signage on people, equipment,
  and facilities that are viewed during television
  coverage.
• (continued)

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Other aspects of the sports-media relationship
(II)

• Decision-making power in large media corporations
  rests with many male executives who love sports.
• The values and experiences of men are deeply
  embedded in the cultures of these corporations.
• When sports emphasize competition, domination,
  and achievement, many male executives feel that
  these are crucial factors in their companies.
• Therefore, they are willing to use corporate
  money to sponsor sports.

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Images and narratives in media sports (I)

• Media coverage is constructed around specific
  themes and messages. For athletes with
  disabilities, the coverage usually fits in one of
  these categories
• Patronizing/curiosity/tragedy/inspiration/
• mystification/pity/surprise
• The irony As the athletes disrupt and challenge
  stereotypes about disabilities, the media
  coverage creates others, such as the heroic
  supercrip and the courageous victim.
• (continued)

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Images and narratives in media sports
Ideological themes (II)

• Media coverage is constructed around specific
  ideological themes and messages
• Success
• Emphasis on winners, losers, and final scores
• Emphasis on big plays, big hits, and sacrificing
  self for team success
• Consumption
• This game is brought to you by . . .
• This is the . . . half time report
• This is the . . . pre-game show
• (continued)

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Images and narratives in media sports
Ideological themes (III)

• Gender
• Masculinity rules in media sports Coverage
  privileges men over women by nearly 6 to 1.
• Heterosexuality is assumed homosexuality is
  erased and ignored.
• Coverage reproduces dominant ideas about manhood,
  but may challenge ideas about femininity.
• Media organizations are gendered theyre
  organized to be male-dominated, male-identified,
  and male-centered.
• (continued)

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Women Media - Sports

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vluadmO7Cugc

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Images and narratives in media sports
Ideological themes (IV)

• Race, ethnicity, and nationality
• Media images and narratives based on explicit
  racial ideology and stereotypes are rare today,
  although they were common through the 1980s.
• Coverage today pretends that race and ethnicity
  dont exist.
• This allows those (whites, usually) who are
  ignorant of ethnic perspectives and experiences
  to claim expertise in the absence of knowledge
  about what and who they cover.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vKpDf83l6z4c
• (continued)

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Images and narratives in media sports
Ideological themes (V)

• Race, ethnicity, and nationality (continued)
• Subtle stereotypes about nationality sometimes
  influence narratives in media coverage Germans
  may be described as organized, Chinese people as
  self-disciplined and secretive, Brazilians as
  flamboyant and passionate, Nigerians as
  undisciplined and unpredictable, etc.
• Media organizations have few directors, editors,
  assistant editors, reporters, camera people, etc.
  who represent ethnic backgrounds and experiences.

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Have commercial sports sold out to the media?

• Probably notfor two reasons
• The changes often thought to be a direct result
  of media would have occurred to boost live
  attendance, gate receipts, and venue revenues.
• General commercial interests exist without the
  media, although the media usually intensify them.
• Most changes associated with television coverage
  have been made willingly by sport organizations.
• Most (not all) athletes are willing to make
  trade-offs in exchange for the benefits of media
  coverage.

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Have media corrupted sports?

• Probably notfor two reasons
• Sports are not shaped primarily by media
• Sports are social constructions that emerge in
  connection with many social relationships.
• Media, including TV, do not operate in a
  political and economic vacuum.
• Media are regulated by government and market
  factors, which influence and set limits on media
  coverage and content.
• NOTE The relatively homogeneous collection of
  white men from post-industrial nations who
  control media coverage certainly influence
  sports, but do they corrupt them?

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The profession of sports journalism

• Sport journalists are not all the samesome focus
  on entertainment, some focus on information.
• The work of sports journalists does matter when
  it comes to cultural ideology and public
  consciousness.
• Tensions between players and sportswriters have
  intensified as differences in their salaries and
  backgrounds have become more pronounced.
• Ethical issues have become increasingly important
  in sports journalism because the stakes are so
  high for teams, athletes, coaches, owners, etc.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vMfTKA5l6fi0feature
  related

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Media differences in coverage of sports

• Newspaper/magazine coverage
• Emphasizes information and interpretation
  primarily
• Offers previews and summaries of events
• Provides written representation of events
• Success depends on credibility
• Highlights facts and dominant ideology
• May criticize sport personalities and
  organizations

• Radio/television coverage
• Emphasizes entertainment primarily
• Offers play-by-play images and narratives
• Provides real-time representations of events
• Success depends on hype and visual action
• Highlights heroic plays and dominant ideology
• Usually supports sport personalities and
  organizations