Football, football and more football? What French children read in the ‘youth’ press

Abstract

The written press for young people participates in the primary socialization - and therefore in the sports socialization - of its readers and can therefore open up the field of possibilities, arouse admiration or even “vocations”, as well as participate in a broader process of stigmatization/discrimination. Based on a plural empirical device, this article focuses on the sports contents broadcasted by what can be considered as an unavoidable journalistic reference in France: Le Petit Quotidien. It first shows that sport does not really constitute a “media pillar” of this magazine. It then reveals a differential treatment of physical, sports, artistic and traditional activities. Finally, it presents the different ways of presenting sports and football in the daily newspaper’s columns: a tendency to illustrate sports through images, while football is more developed through writing.