Power trip: sport and media

Abstract

This article is concerned with two subjects that have an important bearing on sport management and marketing – media power in sport and the power of the media in society. These themes are examined closely, because a failure to appreciate the role of the media in sport is both a professional failing and an abdication of social responsibility. While the media's impact on sport is undeniable and inevitable, this does not mean that their relationship is determined and immutable. Sport would be unrecognisable today without the media, but the consequences of permitting one major social institution to merge with – and perhaps colonise – another, need to be explored and analysed. This article sets out to perform this task through a critical analysis of broadcast sport and an empirical content analysis of the sport pages of Australian newspapers, as part of the largest international survey of the sports press yet conducted.