1. Sports and Media
Social Institutions

2. Sports
Sport – competitive games that are won or lost on the basis of physical skills and played according to specific rules Direct Competition – 2 individuals or teams engage each other physically Indirect Competition – participants take turns at the same skill Against a Standard – Individuals or teams may compete indirectly, but their performances are measured against a preset standard

3. Competition Direct: Track, Football Indirect: Bowling
Standard: Gymnastics, Field

4. Secularization
Rules for sport to be considered an institution: Roles Norms Values Distinguished from other institutions Removed from the realm of the sacred to that of the profane
Mayans played a ball game that was a life or death struggle in honor of the gods.
The Olympics were a religious festival honoring Zeus.

5. Equality: competition is open to everyone and same rules apply to all contestants Specialization: athletes are able to specialize within the sport (runners, catchers, jumpers, scorers, etc) Rationalization: the processes by which every feature o human behavior becomes subject to calculation, measurement, and control Bureaucratization: a formal organization is charged with developing and enforcing rules and settling disputes Quantification: a focus on specific achievement within the sport; setting records
Rationalization: sports are played according to established rules that are subject to periodic modification.

6. Functionalist Perspective
By providing a common interest, sport helps to unite members of the community. Sport reinforces important norms and values, such as hard work, competition, and patriotism. Sport offers a socially acceptable means of getting rid of tension and aggression.

7. Conflict perspective
Sport perpetuates the power structure by distracting people from working for social change. Sport tends to reinforce gender and racial inequality.
Sport can provide justification for the unequal distribution of wealth and power do to the focus on achievement through hard work.

8. Interactionist perspective
The symbols, norms, and values of sport influence everyday social behavior. Adopting athletes as role models and influence behavior.
People accept poor behavior from athletes because of their role in sport.

9. Issues in Sport
Stacking – the practice of assigning people to central or non- central athletic position on the basis of race or ethnicity. Title IX – Education Amendment Act of 1972, bars discrimination on the basis of gender in any program, including athletics, at any educational institution receiving federal funds
Michael chooses Stanley.

10. Media
Information Society – a community in which the exchange of information is the main social and economic activity

11. Functionalist Perspective
Mass media (books, video, television, internet, etc) support social stability by keeping track of what is happening in the world, interpreting information, transmitting cultural values, and providing entertainment

12. Conflict perspective
Mass media maintain present power structure and reinforce social inequalities by controlling the flow and interpretation of information. Knowledge-Gap Hypothesis – as new information enters society, wealthy and better-educated members acquire it at a faster rate than the poor or less educated. This gap develops even if access is equal. Digital Divide – the gap between those with access to new technologies and those without
Some suggest the “knowledge-gap” is an example of media keeping society unequal.

13. Interactionist perspective
Mass media have a major impact on social interaction. The mass media create social isolation No real interaction. Reliance on new forms of interaction. The echo chamber. Mass media helps to create new social networks Access to information we’d never have. Discovery of diverse views and people we’d never interact with otherwise.
Echo chamber: we tend to find people who are already like and think like us online and start to think that that’s how everyone is.

14. Issues in Media
Social capital – everything that make up a community. Civic, social, and religious organizations to which people belong to the friendship networks people develop through neighborhoods, schools, and sports teams. A disconnect with civic and social life.
Mass Media, especially TV, has lead to a decline in social capital. Americans spend as much as 50% of their time consuming mass media, usually in video form, at the expense of other social activites

15. Spiral of Silence – a belief that as more people accept common opinions that people who disagree are less likely to voice their views. Gatekeepers – media executive, editors, or reporters who can open or close the “gate” on a particular news story.
Different forms of news media tend to cover the same stories, often bombarding the public with the same opinions on these stories. This gives the media even more power to influence the way people think.

16. Opinion Leaders – respected individual in the community
Opinion Leaders – respected individual in the community. People who are trusted to inform members of the community who then pass it on to friends and acquaintances. Who can report the news?