Sports Media Essay

While 70% of the NFL players having African-American descent, there’s a difference between journalist and sports reporters, with 80% of the radio and TV broadcasters being White and 9% being Black. These articles, The Experience of Media and Race in the National Football League – An Existential Phenomenological Study (Fisher 2008), Depicting the Quarterback in Black and White: A Content Analysis of College and Professional Football Broadcast Commentary (Billings 2004), and Race and ethnicity in U.S. sports media (Davis & Harris 1998) examined the connections between Black NFL players and experienced media reporters. The data was recorded and studied, and main themes were acknowledged. The athletes report themes of: (1) the players’ view of how media coverage affects the NFL players, (2) the players’ perceptions of media personnel, and (3) the athletes’ perception of black quarterbacks. The study of the experienced media reporters’ meetings uncovers three major themes: (1) perceptions of how the media cover the NFL, (2) interrelationships with NFL players, and (3) playing quarterback in the NFL.

Sports in the media and popular culture effect how society and young adolescents view and value male and female athletes. Many young children begin to idolize professional athletes and how much money they make rather than focusing on the people who work “normal” jobs to make our lives better and safe, “… a person who saves lives, a person who protects and servers struggling families, and a person who shapes and molds young minds make a mere fraction of what sports stars make” ( Walker 344). This pushes the media and pop culture to persuade children to believe that professional athletes should be seen as more important than people like Teachers, Police Officers and Doctors who work to help us rather than just being here for our entertainment.

Sports are something that everyone in the world, regardless of age, sex, or nationality, can enjoy. Whether it's a child playing in his first t-ball game or a professional athlete swimming in the Olympics and everyone in between, sports can connect almost everyone. Fan support and overall devotion for athletic competition has raised professional athletes to superstars and national icons; Super Bowl Sunday is a national holiday to some, and sports are one of the largest moneymakers in the economy.

The topic of race in sport, particularly African Americans in sport, has long been a controversial yet, widely discussed matter. Human and social issues are never easy subjects to discuss or debate, and racial differences tend to provoke very strong reactions. To begin, we will explore those whom claim that black athletes excel in sports as a result of their biological make up. Of all players in the NBA, more than 75% of them are black; of all players in the WNBA, more than 70% of them are black; of all players in the NFL, more than 65% of them are black (Hoenig, 2014). Evidently, black athletes make up a vast majority of these sports in the United States. Athletes must be of elite caliber to have the ability to play at this level, so this

Sports are extremely popular around the world and only get more popular as time goes on. Sports is on television (TV), in the news, in the newspaper, and online. It only makes sense that this is the case. A sporting event is the ultimate drama. The variability of a game is what gets people so into it. Sports can tell a story, and teach great life lessons as well as inspire people. If sports are that important to the people around the world who watch it, just think about how important sports are to the ones who actually play it and coach it. It is their passion, their persona, their life. With the media’s harsh expectations of teams today, unless a team wins a championship, they are deemed unsuccessful. Since expectations are so high,

Alternatively a study was conducted to examine how black and white quarterbacks (QB’s) were described by a major sports publication prior the National Football League draft. During the course of a 10 year period 4,745 attributions used to describe white and black QB prospects exhibited data patterns that resulted in racial stereotypes. Black athletes were primarily described with words and phrases that highlighted physical gifts and a lack of mental ability. Conversely, white QB’S were described as less physically gifted, but more mentally prepared for the game and less likely to make decision making and mental errors (Mercurio 2010). Also a fixed survey was issued to 869 students regarding their beliefs of African American stereotypes and

Shaun Powell's book, “Souled Out? How Blacks Are Winning and Losing in Sports” scrutinizes the paradoxes of African-American success in sports. Perturbed predominantly with the erroneous perceived accomplishment of equality through sports across the world, Powell offers his work as a portrayal of the evolution of African-american athletes over time and compares past struggles with modern day issues. Powell discusses how African American’s are both winning and losing in sports, but ultimately emphasizes the negative aspects of the on-going crisis. Powell, a well-known journalist, reviews and discusses how education, professional activism, media, and community relate and affect African-Americans in sports, therefore persuasively conveying his argument.

The bad image of black athlete is one of the most important problems today. African American athletes are not that different from white athletes; however, media portrays a bad image of them for some unknown reasons. Our world is full of the great African-Americans who showed incredible results in professional sports. On one side, a lot of African-American athletes in the limelight right now come from nothing to somewhat. On the other side, there is a negative connotation that all African Americans have is sports because they are not educated, all they have is natural talent, and all they want is to make the money and not do anything to get there. Television today is often concentrated in stereotype – filled African Americans sitcoms, television news is often shown in negative or crime based stories about black athletes, music & music videos - profanity, misogyny, hard, thugged out. The image is terrible and the reason for that is that media in general just looks at the negative too much.

Our young black males gaze at their televisions with eye’s widened full of admiration and awe at the images of professional black athletes living the dream of prosperity and idolism. In surfing the web, pictures, along with interviews and commentaries can be seen and read by the most impressionable minds. With research, I intend to sift through various resources to uncover the effects of the Medias’ portrayal of professional black athletes on the minds of young black athletes. I intend to sift through information to find out if the marketing approach used by the media and sports to portray the success of black athletes hindered young black males from pursuing other facts of economic success.

Sports are one of America’s favorite pass times, but why do Americans watch or participate in the sports that they do? The sports Americans use for entertainment usually come from the sports that were put before them as kids or by peers. A large part of this seems to do with the race or the athlete or spectator. Race can affect the opportunities they have to participate or the perceived abilities of an athlete, and opportunities to be in positions of power. There are several prejudice on what sports one should play based on race.

It is no doubt that African-Americans make up a majority of the population when it comes to globally known sports such as basketball and football. We often ignore that there is still racism present in games, just because there are minorities within the atmosphere. Sports as mentioned by Harrison, “is upheld as a meritocratic social arena in which other disadvantages groups can excel.” However, I argue that other disadvantaged groups find it tough, sometimes impossible, to excel in individual sports when they are constantly looked down upon or not welcomed in a sport where there’s white domination.

Winning is the Only Thing: Sports in America Since 1945 by Randy Roberts and James S. Olson discusses the history of sports beginning with World War II, through the Cold War to present day. For the most part, this book discusses the effects that World War II had on the way sports were played and how the public viewed sports, however the underlying message was another. The book focuses on how people evolved with the changes that sports encountered. People’s perspectives changed from one of trying to make a living to trying to make the most money. As people changed sports changed, which in turn changed people again.

Sports as an industry is quickly evolving into a grand, formless entity with many avenues, opportunities for scholar-practitioners, and segments that have prolonged the business of sports like never before. But, not quite in the racial area of the sports world, whether it is in the media or through personal experiences, Racism has always been a part of history, but today, it seems as if theirs have been modestly an acceptance of racism. As the industry expands a growing blend between the worlds of sports and entertainment has also formed, linking the two together, and bringing entertainment to the forefront in sports in terms of sponsorships, marketing, athlete representation, team ownership and sports law have effected. Professional American athletes should be against prejudice and racism in sports because it created prejudice and unequal right for speech and protest while amplifying prejudice in professional sports leagues such as the NBA and NFL.

     For my career research paper I have chosen to delve into the world of the sportswriter, and take a closer look at what that occupation may hold for myself. I have chosen to research this form of journalism because I consider myself to be a sports fanatic, and would very much enjoy spending the rest of my working days writing about the conditions in the world of sports. During the last year or so I have taken a period of time everyday to relax and read over sports articles from baseball and football at some of my favorite websites, such as espn.com or nesn.com, or to sit down and watch Sports Center on ESPN. I also seem to have an ability to remember statistics and rosters of players and

In today’s society, it is nearly impossible to imagine our lives without the media. Television, radio, social media, and other types of media are a big influence on our lives and we all use them on a daily basis. They give us our news, provide us with entertainment, and we base a lot of our views and beliefs off of what we see and hear in the media. The media have plenty of positive aspects; however, with the major influence they have on individuals, the media can have many downsides. One of these downsides would be the media’s ability to create negative perceptions for the viewers. An example of this problem with the media is the coverage of men’s and women’s sports. Both professional and college