Media Influence On Sports

In sports there is huge gender inequality in the media with women athletes often only receiving attention for having good looks or the best body, rather than their athletic abilities. Men, however, don’t receive this attention and people only focus on their athletic prowess. This report will review and analyse two examples of how the media portrays different genders in accordance with the following question: “How does the media portray men and women in sport?

According to Knight and Giuliano’s 2001 article, gender equality has been and will remain a current topic of hot discussion in the media and its portrayal of athletes. Athletes have a unique ability to deliver their thoughts and information to the masses through the media outlets given to them in regard to their social status. Once the media has heard what the athletes have to say it can be at the media’s hand for interpretation. In this specific study 92 undergraduates were given a fake newspaper that covered an Olympian with the main focus being on attractiveness. The study covered male and female athletes in the newspaper article while focusing predominantly on attractiveness. Results show that the readers not only disliked the attraction focus, but also preferred the reading be more focused on the athleticism of the Olympians. The largest take away from the study is the media and its coverage or portrayal of athletes being geared towards athletic achievement over quality of appearance

This article’s purpose was to gain insight into the process of changing people’s views on female sports and athletes. It included an interview with ESPN and ESPNW jounralist, Kate Fagan, who expressed her opinion about the influence of sport media on social change in women’s sports.

Sport in Australia is routinely depicted as an activity in which all Australians participate, regardless of social class, gender, ethnicity or racial background (Amezdroz, 2010). According to Tricia Robertson, the president of The Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPHER) in 2000 stated, “The media has a major impact on consumers. It can create interest in a sport, increasing participants and spectators. The media use many strategies to encourage audience viewing, as do the sports themselves” (Robertson, 2003). I strongly agree with this statement as I believe that the media has an enormous effect on how popular a sport is and how many people participate.in regards to access in sport, it is the process by which

There has been an abundance literature on the subject of the representation of female athletes in the media, from television coverage and newspapers to magazines and websites. From ancient Greece where it was not allowed for women to partake in or even watch the Olympic Games and the power and independence of the Amazonian tribal warrior woman, to present day and the struggles with underrepresentation and misrepresentation of female athletes in sport media (George, Hartley, Paris, 2001; Creedon, 1994; Bernstein, 2002). The mass media is a sociocultural machine that churns out influential images and articles about (sporting) issues that reflect ideologies, values and beliefs that shape societies attitudes towards that issue, such as the

Sports were not given due consideration before. Magazines, articles, and radio were the main media that were utilized to show news with respect to sports. Nonetheless, TV brought another beam of trust in every one of those connected with donning exercises. With the progression of time, individuals got to be mindful of the simple and prudent route in which TV gave news and amusement to its viewers.

Social media allows for players to have a higher connection with their fans, allowing them to receive a real-life experience. Fans are passionate about their “favorite team”, social media allows them to express themselves in real time, which helps teams determine how to meet the wants and needs of their fans more effectively. Social media has impacted the sports industry drastically. So, the behavior of a team or an athlete on Social Media can directly influence a fan's perception of that team or athlete. Social Media is a powerful vehicle that drives sports talk today and the way fans interact with teams, players, personalities, and fellow fans (Dimoro,2015).

Females very rarely receive more coverage than males, despite their efforts and achievements being equivalent (Weter and Canni, 2013). This is evident in the sport sections of newspapers as well as other forms of mediated sport. Often only a minute portion, if any, of a newspaper page is utilised for the representation of female athletes. Media personnel attempt to permeate ideologies to wider society through the use of media texts, often legitimising the notion that sports are naturally an activity for males. This is achieved by displaying many images of physically powerful men (George et al, 2001: ) who depict the ideals and values of muscular Christianity. Boyle and Haynes, (2009:122), explain that due to biological differences between men and women that have been socially established, females are very rarely represented showing muscles and being physically powerful. George et al, (2001: ), explain that this organisation of society can be seen throughout history and has been prominent for many years. The Victorian legacy, as explained by Boyle and Haynes (2009:123), where by female physical ability, emotional state and limitations inflicted by society to participate in sport, can still be seen in modern society.

This source discusses how he influence of television sports media has an affect on young black viewers. The article seeks to prove how sports media builds a false idea in young black males minds of what careers are achievable for them and what are not. This source will be extremely helpful because it speaks specifically to how black males often see sports as one of the only realistic careers for them. This source can be directly related to Smash Williams because in “Friday Night Lights” Williams is banking on his athletic ability to get him and his family out of low income living.

“The media helps produce the sport as a spectacle, the athlete as a celebrity, and the fan as a consumer.” (Lecture 3/13)

Despite the prevalence of the gender binary in our everyday lives, it is reinforced even further by the sports media that acts as a strong social influence. Additionally, sports media depicts gender inequality by creating a discriminatory system that favors men’s sports and regards women’s sports as a “second rate investment.” Lack of funding and lack of coverage have seemingly created a self-fulfilling prophecy for the future of women’s sports. Quantitative evidence from research completed by the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles includes a six-week analysis where 264 minutes of sports coverage contained a mere 12 minutes worth of women’s sports coverage as opposed to the 244 minutes of men’s broadcast. Furthermore, the women’s sports coverage tended to be during the ending of the broadcast and female athletes received the lead coverage twice as opposed to the 40 times a male athlete was displayed. (Duncan, Messner, Williams, Jensen) This data, although surprising, is not shocking. The lack of exposure is a product of the relationship between viewer ratings and TV network investment. Men’s sports traditionally generate the majority of revenue and garner the higher ratings among sports media thus making it more likely for sponsors and investment into men’s sports coverage. The large impact of men’s sports is directly correlated with the higher production qualities and exorbitant media coverage. In addition, television networks will tend to cater towards men’s sports

As we live in an era where everyone seeks entertainment for their enjoyment, the social network and media has bloomed over the past decade. There are many different types of entertainments which people tune in for their enjoyment; however I will specifically discuss about sports. Many people in the world watch sports for fun, either with friends or alone, but what they do not think about is the importance of their perspective of the sport they are watching. To be precise, athletic sports and media have been intertwined together for several decades. Especially in the past decade or so, our view on a certain sport has been majorly decided on how the media portrays that sport to be. Such examples are that when a certain sport player was injured

Is media becoming the enemy? For the past decades media seems to be earning a bad reputation. Mass media, including T.V, and newspaper has poisoned the minds of people in society, who supports and partakes in athletic activity. It’s evident, that in today’s society, males are the dominant figure in sports. They receive a magnificent amount of media attention than female athletes. This situation not only started recently, but from a long time ago. Young boys have more heroic figures to look up to in action cartoons and heroic images on magazines. Females on the other hand, don’t do not much action figures or heroic images to look up too.

To understand the power of rumours in the media one only needs to look at the case of Mo Farah – the 2012 and Rio Olympic game’s gold medallist, track superstar and one of Britain’s greatest ever athlete. However, despite his great amount of success and the sense of pride he has given us, speculation around Farah started when his previous coaches were investigated for doping offences. The media then cleverly sussed out the truth of the situation and pointed towards Mo Farah – suggesting he was doping. Never once considering that he was innocent and won his medals fairly. A furious Farah was then forced into doing press conference after press conference to clean himself (and his reputation) from the media’s muck. In a heated interview with a

Art is portrayed and witnessed from the moment we wake up, to the moment we sleep. Most people define art as an expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a painting or sculpture. However, most argue that art isn 't just limited to a painting or sculpture, but can also be shown in sports. Not only are both artist and athletes, passionate about their work, but their work is similar also. Basketball is similar to jazz music through chemistry, Boxing and Calligraphy are similar through the form and techniques, Football and ballet dance relatez through techniques and style, while soccer and painting has a effect on the audience. Sports is an art because of the many similarities that they share.