1. Week 8: “Sport and the media”  Introduction  Key characteristics of the sport media  Power relations and the sport media  Sports media texts: images, narratives and the ‘construction of sports’  Sports media consumers: media effects  Sports media producers: media professionals  Conclusion

2. Introduction Media are important in influencing how we see the world: “the media don’t tell us what to think, but they greatly influence what we think about. The media provide information, interpretation and entertainment – entertainment goals are likely to have a higher priority than the others within commercial media  Media producers encode info and we interpret/decode it. They decide what camera shots they want us to see.

3. Key characteristics of the sport media Print media (old media form)– this includes newspapers, magazines and fanzines, books catalogues, event programs and trading cards: words and images printed on paper and available to many readers.

4. Key characteristics of the sport media Electronic media – this includes radio, TV, film, video games, the internet and online publications: words commentary and images we receive in audio and video forms The real world itself is influence by the artificial The collapse between artificial, superficial, and the real. (the matrix plays with this idea)

5. Power relations and the sport media What we get to see (or not) is influenced by a range of actors from producers, editors and program directors to sponsors, owners and government regulations. Coakley identifies 5 goals that such actors use in deciding how media products are made (p.404):

6. Power relations and the sport media 1.Making profits-will it sell? 2.Shaping values – is it moral 3.Providing a public service – is it for the common good? 4.Building their own reputations – how does this make us look? 5.Expressing themselves in technical, artistic or personal ways – is it good? These goals may sometimes be in conflict with each other Power begins to shape these processes. People usually emphasize images and messages consistent with the dominant ideologies in society as a whole. Thus the media serve the interests of those who have power and wealth in society

7. Sport and the Media: symbiotic relationships The dependency of sport on media When sports exist just for the participants there is little need for media When sports become commercial entertainment there is an increased need for media dissemination and therefore increased dependency on the media Sports require both coverage and news Sports “discourse” dominates sport compared to other cultural forms

8. Sport and the Media: symbiotic relationships The media provide huge resources for sports and enable them to reach worldwide audiences: 715.1 millino people watched the Italy vs. France men’s soccer world cup final in 06’  It was one of the most viewed events in tv history Television companies are thus willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to secure “exclusive” rights to sports events:  Fox paid 4.3 billion or 712.5 million a year until 2011 to get exclusive rights to cover NFL games

9. Sport and the Media: symbiotic relationships To accommodate the commercial interests of television sports have changed the way they are organized, packaged and presented: The schedules and starting times for many sport events have been altered to fit television’s programming needs  “Game times are subject to change throughout the season. Time changes are usually a result of rescheduling to accommodate TV schedules and for make-up games due to rain-outs.”

10. Sport and the Media: symbiotic relationships The dependency of the media on sport  Most forms of the media; - film, books, and the internet are not dependent on sport (these can survive without sports) But TV and Newspapers are: now newspapers devote 25% of their content to sport

11. Sport and the Media: symbiotic relationships Sports have also become a major part of the programming schedules for most television networks The high viewing figures can therefore translate into higher premiums on advertising space – a 30 second slot during the 2008 Superbowl cost $2.7 million Cable and satellite networks in particular have used sport to gain access to markets

12. Sports media texts: images, narratives and the “construction of sports” The media do not simply relay reality to us, unmediated as it happens – even though this is what is often claimed - but rather we are re-presented with an edited version of what has taken place which we, the audience, then attempt to “decode” This is what is referred to within media studies as the encoding/decoding model of how signs and media texts work Semiology is the process of reading these signals

13. Sports media texts: images, narratives and the “construction of sports” Signification refers to the way signs work within a given culture There are two orders of signification 1.Denotation: 2.Connotation:

14. Sports media texts: images, narratives and the “construction of sports” Myth Texts can be “open” or “closed” An open text requires a number of readings to be made simultaneously for its full “richness” to be appreciated A closed text has only one preferred meaning

15. Sports media texts: images, narratives and the “construction of sports” Three main types of decoding readings or texts. These correspond to the reader's response not to the structure of the text i) dominant-hegemonic ii) negotiated reading iii) oppositional reading

16. Sports media texts: images, narratives and the “construction of sports” Success themes US sports programming tends to emphasize hard work, domination, obedience to authority and the “big play” Competitive rivalries are played up and competitive success becomes the master narrative for coverage

17. Sports media texts: images, narratives and the “construction of sports” Gender and sexuality themes coverage of women sports is not a high priority, except for tennis, golf, and Olympics Coverage given tends to be on sports that reinforce traditional notions of femininity Men’s events remain unremarked by gender whereas women’s events are gendered – the soccer world cup vs. the womens world cup.

18. Sports media texts: images, narratives and the “construction of sports” Race and ethnicity themes The focus on a selected number of sports gives a distorted picture of black “domination” of sports While black athletes have a high profile on the field of play this is less so in the commentary boxes, sports newsrooms and media executive offices

19. Sports media consumers: media effects Audience research and fan behavior There is inconclusive evidence about the effects of watching sport and actual physical activity While coverage has increased since the 70’s, so has the rates of obesity and inactivity – this does not imply causation Similarly there is little evidence to suggest that coverage of sport on television affects spectator rates in any uniform way (there may be a short term increase in activity after major sporting events….tennis after Wimbledon)

20. Sports media producers: media professionals Tensions between journalists and athletes grounded in differences between background and salary Within the news media there are sometimes tensions between those looking for “exclusives” and those reporting the sports

21. Conclusion Sports and the media have a complex, symbiotic relationship This mutual dependency has grown over the past 50 years, especially as companies have sought to sponsor events and teams and advertise games Not all aspects of the media are equally dependent on sport and not all sports depend on the media Sports centrality to public discourse is linked to its central place within the mass media – disproportionate to the actual numbers who play sport

22. Conclusion Not all aspects of the media are equally dependent on sport and not all sports depend on the media Sports centrality to public discourse is linked to its central place within the mass media – disproportionate to the actual numbers who play sport. Sports are increasingly a central part of “celebrity culture”