Sports Coverage Research Articles

Gender, the Press & History

The representation of gender in Australian sport media has come under increasing scrutiny during the last decade. This development has been due, in part, to the women's movement and the growth in feminist scholarship, as well as to policy initiatives aimed at improving the quality and quantity of female sports coverage. However, despite a range of social indicators which suggest that equal opportunity and the status for Australian women are improving, it is evident that both the media and sport have been slow to reflect prevailing social attitudes towards gender and its representation in the sports media. Using data from a longitudinal study of sports coverage in the Newcastle Herald, this paper examines the degree to which newspaper coverage of women in sport has changed in the last 100 years. Despite evidence of improvement, the findings support previous studies which suggest that women continue to be marginalised in the sporting press. These findings are discussed in the context of issues relating to the increasing commercialisation of sport and how it may lead to media practices which systematically exclude women from sports news.

Newspaper coverage of athletics as a function of gender

Several studies have suggested that the print media is biased toward male sports coverage at the expense of women's sport. British newspaper coverage of track and field athletics at two major events, the 1991 World Athletic Championships and the 1992 Summer Olympic Games, was examined. Quantitative analysis in terms of number of written lines, headlines, and photographs and photographic area supported the hypothesis that the British print media is biased. The explanations and ramifications of this prejudice are considered.

Clinical Practice of Sports Injury Prevention and Care

Ed P A F H Renstrom, Blackwell Scientific, £49.50, pp 727 ISBN 0-632-03785-7 When I was reading through this book four major sports events were taking place and were being broadcast on most television channels. Other standard sports coverage was also being shown. One thing is certain: the media are essential to sport in reawakening interest and attracting new participants. This means that people, like myself, who run general sports injury clinics are seeing a much greater variety of sports and their resultant injuries. So publication of …

GENDER BIAS AND THE 1992 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES: AN ANALYSIS OF TELEVISION COVERAGE

This study provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of NBC's coverage of sports that held competitions for both women and men during the 1992 Olympic Games. The study presents results of the broadcast time devoted to women's and men's basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming/diving, track and field, and other sports. The analysis examines qualitative differences in portrayals of female and male athletes. The analysis of each sport evaluated announcers' use of strength and weakness descriptors to characterize women and men athletes and the nature of the narratives used to describe women and men competitors. The study finds that although women were given greater coverage in individuals sports, that coverage was divided into shorter and more heavily edited segments. In addition, commentators relied on gender marking, biased and ambivalent reporting, and a focus on personalities as opposed to athletic abilities when covering women's sports.

Coverage of Women's Sports in Selected Newspapers

Sports sections from 3 newspapers with large, medium, and small circulations were analyzed for their coverage of women's sports. Contrary to Theberge and Cronk, extent of coverage was not related to newspapers' circulation.

Representation and the Gun that Points Bachwards

This essay looks beyond the focus on team names and mascots to the larger issues of naming and the use o f language in sports. It is argued that the language of sports backfires on women through "rigged discourse" that perpetuates a structural bias that naturalizes men as superior and women as deficient. This argument is supported by the relative paucity of coverage of women in sports and the reliance on visual stereotyping of women in sports coverage. Gendered and racial hierachies of naming in sports are highlighted as examples of the embedded biases of language that can be changed and affect existing power relations.

特集 最近のサウンド技術 番組制作 スポーツ中継

特集 最近のサウンド技術 番組制作 スポーツ中継

Differential Media Coverage of Men's and Women's Intercollegiate Basketball: Reflection of Gender Ideology

This study explores the extent to which mass media coverage of men's and women's sport reflect the broader gender ideology of society. Using television coverage of men's and women's intercollegiate basketball as our context and verbal commentary as our text, an attempt was made (1) to identify qualitative differences in the manner in which the men's and women's games were presented by the networks, and, if coverage differences did exist, (2) to identify ideological assumptions which may underlie such differences. Data were derived from a content analysis of 16 televised college basketball games from the 1988-90 seasons. Analyses led to the identification of the following general coverage differences: (a) the men's game and performances were used as a standard of comparison and understanding for the women's game and performances; (b) the women's game was qualified as "women's basketball"; (c) non-parallel and sexist language was used to depict female athletes and their performance; and (d) expectations relative to physicality and athleticism. These findings suggest that the ideology of sport as a male domain is reinforced through differential media coverage of and commentary on men's and women's college basketball.

Media coverage of sports and violent behavior: An elusive connection

The general relationship between the media and violence has proven to be exceptionally elusive in spite of decades of research. Furthermore, there have been no attempts to link media coverage of sports to the lifestyles of their audiences. Exposure to the media does not occur in a social, cultural or political vacuum, and the responses to such exposure, including coverage of sports violence, vary according to individual circumstances.

Medical Coverage of High School Football in New York State.

In brief: The principals of all New York secondary schools were surveyed regarding medical coverage of interscholastic sports. The overall response rate was 65.3%, which represents approximately 90% of schools having varsity football teams. Results showed that the team physicians for most of the high schools are family practice physicians. Medical coverage at football games is often not provided directly by a physician, especially at the junior varsity and freshman levels. In addition, many schools do not record injury data, and only about half require either parental liability waivers or health insurance. One fourth of the high schools have been involved in litigation related to sports injuries in the past five years. The authors suggest several ways to correct these problems, measures that could apply to other states as well.

Sport in the News

Recent concentration on the importance of television has resulted in a decline in considering newspaper coverage of sport. A focus on the news pages is of particular interest, for here the general image of a sport is more likely to be constructed than by reports in the sports pages, which serve the interest of the committed enthusiast. Sixteen national and local newspapers were studied for one year. The analysis moves from the provision of some basic information (that is, how much coverage do various sports receive in the news pages?) to a consideration of the use of log-linear modelling and correspondence analysis as more appropriate ways of presenting the data.

Sports and Politics: Los Angeles Times' Coverage of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games

The Los Angeles Times' award-winning Olympics supplement was studied with a special focus on political assertions injected into sports coverage of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Most stories contained no political assertions, but among those that did, most of the assertions dealt with U.S.-Soviet relations. Most of the assertions suggested the Soviet-led boycott was politically successful in discrediting the Games and individual American sporting event victories.

A Content Analysis of the Coverage of Physical Activity in Two Canadian Newspapers

This article examines the contents of Canadian print media coverage of recreational physical activity. An analysis of two newspapers, one each from English and French Canada, was conducted in order to identify themes and messages concerning physical activity. Results are analyzed in light of recommendations arising from the Canada Fitness Survey, a national study of patterns of physical activity and fitness levels. These recommendations emphasize the need to provide information about programs and facilities that are widely available and the need for outreach to groups with low rates of participation. Results of the analysis indicate that in contrast to the extensive coverage of elite sport in the North American media, there is limited coverage of recreational activity. Within this limited coverage, there is some attention given to providing information and instruction on physical activity. The newspapers provide very little information about physical activity among groups with low rates of participation. Finally, there are few differences between the English and French papers. The main exception is that the French paper provides more informational and instructional material.

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Newspaper Sports Sections

This study is a content analysis of sports news in three major newspapers, one in Iceland, England, and the United States. The cross-cultural comparisons focused on aspects of quantification in sport, coverage of female sports, amateur, semi-professional, and professional sports, and the problematic aspects of sports. The research shows differentiations in the structure of sport in Iceland when compared to England and the United States. The findings confirm the ideological and commercial interrelationship between sport and the media.

USA today's innovations and their impact on journalism ethics

This paper surveys some of the innovations introduced by USA Today during its first three and one‐half years of publication. It finds that USA Today's innovations in design, market research, and news have not been widely accepted because these approaches have raised significant ethical dilemmas to many journalists. Professional reservations about USA Today are discussed as well as some of the newspaper's advances in color reproduction, use of information graphics, promotion, and sports coverage.

The Chicago Tribune Sports Page, 1900 - 1975

A content analysis of The Chicago Tribune’s sports page from 1900 to 1975 provides an empirical base for assessing the changing nature of organized sport in American life. The findings show that there has been an expansion of the sports page relative to the rest of the newspaper; there has been remarkable stability in the coverage of the dominant sports of baseball and football; and there has been a progressive shift from amateur to professional, from local or regional events to national ones, and from individual to team sporting activity. This expanded role for sport is part of a more general trend to be expected in a leisure oriented society.

Much Ado about Nothing: The Television Broadcast Packaging of Team Sport Championship Games

Television is the most immediate and compelling medium for sports coverage. Consequently, the sports presentations that it delivers, particularly championship series, attract a vast and devoted audience. This study provided a detailed, descriptive content analysis of the television broadcast packaging of the 1982-83 championship games, both professional and university, of the four most popular North American team sports—baseball, football, hockey, and basketball. Videotape recordings of the entire broadcast packages centered upon these games were analyzed. The program content was divided into four specific and distinct components: advertisements, pre- and postgame programs, between-play time, and live-play time. The ensuing discussion addressed the basic structure of each broadcast package, the absolute and relative data for each of the four components of the various games and, finally, the intriguing relationship between the derived data (particularly the live-play time component) and concomitant levels of viewer ratings. Concluding comments reflected on the significance of the findings and also provided considerations for future research based upon materials presented within the study.

Sports Coverage in Daily Newspapers

Sports Coverage in Daily Newspapers

A Sociological Perspective of Sport.

1.Introduction to the Sociology of Sport. Some Brief Observations of the Social Significance of Sport. Sport as a Concept. Sport in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Sociological Theories of the Relationship Between Sport and Society. 2.A Brief History of American Sport. 1600 - 1700. 1700 - 1800. 1800 - 1850. 1850 - 1918. 1919 - Present. Characteristics of Modern Sport. How Sociological Theories Explain the Rise of Sport. Industrialization, Urbanization, and Mass Communication. A Brief Chronology of Sport Sociology. 3.Sport and Culture. Culture. Culture and Values. Values in American Society. Values in Sport. Cross Cultural Differences: Sport as a Mirror of Dominant Societal Values. Sport Heroes Reflect Dominant Cultural Values. Immortality via Sport. 4.Sport and Social Organization. Levels of Social Organization: Interpersonal, Group, and Societal. Sport Organizations as Associations. Sport as a Social Institution. Key Sociological Concepts for Understanding the Social Organization of Sport. The Professional Athlete. 5.Sport and Socialization. Socialization into Sport. Socialization via Sport. Organized Youth Sport Programs. 6.Sport and Social Deviance. Structural Sources of Sport Deviance. The Relativity of Social Deviance. Eufunctions and Dysfunction's of Sport Deviance. Theories of Social Deviance. A Sociological Theory of Social Deviance: Anomie Theory. Drugs in Sport. Crime and the Athlete. Domestic Violence Perpetuated by Athletes Violence in Sports. 7.Sport and Social Stratification. Characteristics of Social Stratification. Sport Stratification Is Social. Sport Stratification Is Ancient. Sport Stratification Is Ubiquitous. Social Stratification Is Diverse. Sport as a Social Mobility Mechanism. Disengagement from Sport. Social Stratification Has Sport Consequences. Favorite Sports by Social Class. Attendance at and Participation in Various Sporting Activities. The Fitness Revolution: Some Sociological Observations. Sportsfan Index. Life Chances. 8.Sport and Race/Ethnicity The Meaning of Race. A Brief History of African-Americans in Professional and Amateur Sport. Statistical Trends Documenting African-Americans' Involvement in Sport. Discrimination in Sport. Performance Differentials. Rewards and Authority Structures. 9.Sport and Gender. The Social Organization of Gender in Society. The Dynamic Relationship Between Sport and Gender. Current Issues and Trends. 10.Sport and Education. College Athletics. Some Academic Considerations. Organizational Deviance. Reforming the College System. Interscholastic Athletics. 11.Sport and Economics. Emergence of Corporate Sport. The Professional Sports Owner. The Size and Profitability of the Professional Sport Industry: Determinants and Mechanisms. The Financing of Sport Facilities. The Costs of Ownership. Sport as a Monopoly. 12.Sport and Politics. The Olympics as a Case Study in Power Politics. Politics at the State, National, and International Levels. 13.Sport and Religion. Defining Religion. Functions of Religion. Characteristics of Institutionalized Religion. Connections Between Religion and Sport. Sport as Civil Religion. Uses of Religious Practices in the World of Sport. 14.Sport and the Mass Media. Popular Culture and Sport. Functions of Media Sport and Theories of the Media's Influence. The Print Media. The Electronic Media: Broadcasting. The Electronic Media: Television. How Television Has Affected Sport. The Economic Impact of Television and Sports. Some Consequences of Television Sport Coverage. Recent Television Sport Coverage. Television Sportscasters and Sports Journalism. The Future of Television and Sports. 15.Sport, Collective Behavior, and Social Change. A Case Study of Collective Behavior in Sport. Theories of Crowd Behavior. Theories Explaining Sport Spectator Violence. A Theory of Collective Behavior. Social Movements in Sport. More Recent Social Movements in Sport.. 16.Epilogue. Social Change. Two Futuristic Sport Scenarios. Department of Sports? Author Index. Subject Index.

The role of the media in sport.

SummaryThe part played by radio and television coverage of sport in developing public appreciation of sports is covered, and consideration is given to the responsibilities involved in dealing with sports in which violence occurs. The duties of the television producer in relation to the players, the viewers and the sponsors of sport are discussed.