School of Media and Strategic Communications

In 2007, John Amaechi became the first former National Basketball Association (NBA) player to publicly announce he was gay. Former NBA star Tim Hardaway made a series of homophobic remarks a week later. A textual analysis was used to analyze narratives on Amaechi's revelation and/or Hardaway's comments published in 50 international newspapers. Four dominant themes emerged from the data. While most of these themes supported narratives that gay males remain unwelcome in men's team sports, all were challenged consistently, thus, showing the fluidity of hegemonic masculinity and the increasing societal acceptance of gays and gay lifestyles. Moreover, print media writers exhibited little homophobia and frequently called for more acceptance of gays, particularly within sport.

This study examined print-media portrayals of women’s and men’s basketball teams, players, and coaches during the 2006 NCAA Division I tournaments. Drawing principally from Gramsci’s hegemony theory and Connell’s theory of gender power relations, we analyzed article narratives published over a 26-day period during spring 2006 in four major media outlets: newspapers, The New York Times and USA Today, and online sport publications, ESPN Internet and CBS SportsLine. A total of 508 articles were coded and analyzed for dominant themes. Six primary themes emerged from the data. Although the data revealed shifts in media representations of gender relations, overall these themes mostly supported Connell’s theory about the gender order.

Cette étude porte sur les médias écrits et leurs représentations des équipes féminines et masculines de ballon-panier, des joueurs et des entraîneurs pendant les tournois de la première division du NCAA en 2006. À partir de la théorie de l’hégémonie de Gramsci et de celle des relations de pouvoir liées au genre de Connell, nous analysons des récits publiés pendant 26 jours au printemps 2006 dans quatre médias majeurs : deux quotidiens (The New York Times et USA Today) et deux publications en ligne (ESPN Internet et CBS SportsLine). Au total, 508 articles ont été codés et analysés. Six thèmes principaux sont ressortis. Quoi que les données aient révélé des changements dans les représentations médiatiques des relations de genre, en général les thèmes ont surtout confirmé la théorie de Connell en ce qui a trait à la hiérarchie des genres.

The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to determine if gender-specific descriptors regularly found in television and newspaper sport coverage were present in two popular online sites from the emerging medium of Internet sport journalism. Descriptors given to players and coaches during the 2006 NCAA Division I women’s and men’s basketball tournaments by ESPN Internet and CBS SportsLine were examined. Results contradicted gender-specific descriptors found in previous studies on sport media coverage that scholars have argued help uphold hegemonic masculinity in sport.

The essence of global sports has been competition among nations at the international level. For football, arguably the world’s most popular sport, global rivalries are paramount, and every four years since 1930, it has been the World Cup that has provided this excitement. English newspaper narratives about the English men’s national football team competing in the 2006 World Cup were examined to gain insight into how English national identity was portrayed. Using a qualitative textual analysis methodology, this study drew on Anderson’s (1983) theory of the imagined community, Hobsbawm’s (1983) notion of invented traditions, and the Eliasian (1991) concept of habitus codes. Set against the contemporary trends of devolution, globalization, and a post-7/7 discourse the newspapers relied on a reductionist, essentialist construction to elicit an emotional connection with a homogenous form of English national identity. The narratives seemed designed to galvanize support for the English team through references to historic English military victories and speeches. These served to rekindle images of bygone, mythical, and imperialistic eras. The newspapers also reverted to an ‘us vs them’ invective in blaming Swedish manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson, for England’s failure to win the tournament with the ‘greatest generation’.

This study examined effects of the sex of sports writers on the framing of athletes in print-media coverage of intercollegiate men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The number of articles by female and male authors and the frames used were ana­lyzed. Descriptors of players, coaches, and both tournaments in articles from CBS SportsLine, ESPN Internet, The New York Times, and USA Today were coded with the authors’ names initially hidden. Results showed that female journalists were more apt to cover women’s basketball, and men predominantly wrote about men’s basketball. The sex of writers also influenced the ways female and male athletes were presented. Male writers were more likely to reinforce gender stereotypes by praising the athleti­cism of male athletes. In contrast, female writers more often framed female athletes for their athletic prowess. The results suggest that female sports writers can make some difference in framing, but institutional structures minimize their impact.

The purpose of this study was to determine any significant differences in how reporters for newspapers and online sites framed men's and women's tennis. Articles on the 2007 U.S. Open in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, and online sites produced by ESPN, Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated were examined. Results showed newspapers were more likely to minimize the athleticism of female athletes, thus strengthening hegemonic masculinity more than the newer medium of online journalism, which produced mixed results.

Although a homophobic and sexist archetype of heterosexual masculinity has been thought to permeate competitive teamsport, matters have been rapidly changing. This is evident in research on openly gay athletes, attitudes among heterosexual athletes, and recent studies on decreasing homophobia among sport media content. In this research, however, we examine how some men still adhere to a homophobic and sexist masculine deposition when discussing sport on the Internet. A textual analysis was used to analyze hegemonic masculinity from a popular American football message board. Although posts related to hegemonic masculinity did not permeate the data, we found that this traditional form of masculinity was upheld through misogyny, homophobia, and the objectification of women. Thus, whereas mainstream sport media is increasingly policed for homophobia and sexism, this research shows that the anonymity of the Internet permits hegemonic masculinity to flourish in specific locations, without contestation.

An Internet-based survey was posted on the Twitter feed of a retired female athlete to ascertain the demographics, uses, and gratifications of her feed’s followers. Analysis of the data revealed that followers were predominantly White, affluent, educated, and older than prior research into online audiences has shown. The perception of the athlete as being an expert at her sport was the most salient reason reported to follow the Twitter feed, followed by affinity for the athlete’s writing style. Analysis of variance uncovered 5 significant differences in item salience between male and female followers, with women more likely to use this Twitter feed because of affinity for the athlete and men more likely to use it because of perception of the athlete as physically attractive. Factor analysis uncovered 3 dimensions of gratification: an organic fandom factor, a functional fandom factor, and an interactivity factor.

Little is known of Internet sport bloggers, who increasingly are becoming important cogs in sport journalism. In this phenomenology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with highly prominent sport bloggers. All were recorded, transcribed, and coded. A total of five dominant themes emerged from the data that focused on the shared experiences and learned attitudes toward Internet sport journalism. Overall, these themes showed sport bloggers were highly educated and very happy with their jobs, had a wide array of past work experiences that often had little to no relation with blogging or sport journalism, consider their jobs too varied to fall under one title, primarily work from home, and rarely attend sporting events they write about.

This essay analyses selected English newspapers’ gendered narratives about the English soccer team’s star player, Wayne Rooney, and the captain, David Beckham. Narratives are compared with those devoted to Rooney’s fiancée, Coleen McLoughlin, and Beckham’s wife, Victoria, who with other players’ wives and girlfriends (WAGS) traveled to Germany to support England during the 2006 World Cup. It uses textual analysis to examine how the newspapers’ gendered narratives intersected with nationalistic discourses. Theoretical insight is drawn from Connell’s theory of gender power relations. Narratives about Rooney emphasize his northern working-class roots in the construction of his hegemonic hypermasculinity and role as a ‘patriot at play,’ while narratives about McLoughlin illustrate her subordinate role. More fluid and contradictory narratives are reserved for Beckham, who is known for his more androgynous image, and his wife Victoria, whose strong influence over ‘the skipper’ challenged the traditional gender order.

This study examined content differences in the framing of men’s and women’s tennis coverage based on the sex of sports writers. Articles on the 2007 U.S. Open in six popular Internet sites and newspapers were examined. Results showed both female and male writers wrote a higher percentage of articles exclusively on men’s tennis than on women’s tennis. Female journalists accounted for more overall newspapers articles than male reporters, whereas online articles were mostly writ¬ten by male authors. Framing results showed female journalists largely reinforced hegemonic masculinity through the use of sexist and stereotypical descriptors that de-valued the athleticism and accomplishment of female athletes. In contrast, male journalists were more likely to challenge the traditional gendering of sport media content by praising the athleticism of female athletes. The contrasts suggest the potential presence of subtle shifts in traditional, masculine framing of sports by male reporters, who dominate the ranks of sportswriters.

Research falling under the broad field of sport communication has become commonplace in academic scholarship over the past 30 years. Scholars in fields such as journalism, communication, communication studies, sport studies, sport management, and sport sociology, among others, have contributed to the burgeoning research in this relatively new genre. However, the majority of those studies focused on analyzing published content from a variety of mediums (e.g., Internet, print, television). Some of these scholars attempted to ascribe motives, attitudes, views, opinions, bias, etc. to the sport journalists and gatekeepers who produce and oversee sport media content. A more sensible approach, but one that has been far less utilized, would be to study the actual producers of such content, rather than just inferring motives based on published content.

Scholarship on sport media professionals is especially needed now due to the advent of the Internet as a dominant medium and the increased demand for convergent media skills (e.g., print reporting, shooting video, appearing on camera, production) in most current sport communication positions, regardless of the medium. Fortunately many scholars are now researching sport communication professionals throughout the world, evident by the interest in this special issue.

http://journals.humankinetics.com/ijsc-current-issue/ijsc-volume-6-issue-4-december/introduction-to-this-special-issue-of-ijsc-on-21st-century-sport-communication-professionals