SPORTS IN SOCIETY:
SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES AND
CONTROVERSIES
CHAPTER 12
SPORTS AND THE MEDIA:
Could They Survive Without Each Other?
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-1
Characteristics of the Media
• Print media: words and images on paper
– Newspapers, magazines and fanzines, books, catalogues,
event programs, trading cards
• Electronic media: words, commentary, and images
transmitted by audio and/or video devices and
technologies
– Radio, television, film, video games, the internet and
online publications
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-2
The Media Provide
• Information
• Interpretation
• Entertainment
• Opportunities for interactivity
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-3
Media Content
Media content is always edited and
‘re-presented’ by those who control media
organisations
Editing decisions are based on one or more of these
goals:
–
–
–
–
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making profits
shaping values
providing a public service
building artistic and technical reputations
expressing self.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-4
Media and Power
The media often serve the interests of those with
power and wealth in society
As corporate control of media has become more
concentrated, media content highlights:
• consumerism
• individualism
• competition
• class inequality
as natural and necessary in society.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-5
What If . . .
• All prime-time TV programs were sponsored by
environmental groups, Indigenous organisations,
labour organisations or women’s groups?
– Wouldn’t we ask questions about the content of those
programs, and ask why we see what we see and why we
hear what we hear?
• 99% of all sports programming in the media was
sponsored by capitalist corporations?
– Shouldn’t we ask questions about the content of that
programming, whose interests it serves, and why we see
and hear what we do?
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-6
New Media and Sports
The internet:
• extends and radically changes (potentially) our
connections with the world
• is not limited to sequential programming
• enables each of us to be the ‘editors’ of our own
media experiences, if we wish
• gives us the potential to create our own sports
realities and experiences as spectators and virtual
competitors.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-7
Video Games and Virtual Sports
Research is needed to help answer
questions such as:
• What are the dynamics of playing video sports
games and virtual sports, and how do they differ
from other sports-related experiences?
• How are video sports game experiences linked
with other sports experiences?
• What ideological themes are structured into the
images and actions in video sports games?
• Will virtual sports complement or replace sports
as we know them today?
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-8
Video Games as Simulated
Sports
 The graphics and images in video games now
come close to matching images in televised sports.
 TV producers now use special filters to make the
action in televised games look like video games.
 Some competitors use video sports games to train.
 Some children today are introduced to sports
through video games.
 Being good at playing video sports games is a
source of status among many young people.
 Playing sports video games provides regular social
occasions for many people, especially young
males.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-9
Do Sports Depend on the
Media?
• No, not when they are organised by and for the
players themselves.
• Yes, when they are organised as forms of
commercial entertainment.
– Media coverage attracts attention to sports and provides
news of results.
– Television coverage remains a key factor in the growth
and expansion of commercial sports.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-10
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-11
Have Commercial Sports Sold
Out to the Media?
Probably not – for two reasons:
• Sports are not shaped primarily by the media in
general or TV in particular.
– Sports are social constructions that emerge in connection
with many social relationships.
• The media, including TV, do not operate in a political
and economic vacuum.
– Media are regulated by government and market factors,
which influence and set limits on media coverage and
content.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-12
Do the Media Depend on
Sports?
• Most media do not depend on sports for content
or sales.
• Daily newspapers have depended on ‘sports
sections’ to increase circulation and advertising
revenues.
• Many television companies have depended on
sports to fill programming schedules, attract male
viewers and the sponsors that want to reach
them.
– Many sports events have media audiences with clearly
identifiable ‘demographics’.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-13
Trends in Televised Sports
• Rights fees have escalated rapidly since the 1960s.
• Sports programming has increased dramatically.
• As more events are covered, ratings for some
particular events have decreased.
– Audience fragmentation has occurred.
• Television companies use sports events to promote
other programming.
• Television companies are parts of conglomerates
that now own teams, sports events and other
businesses.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-14
Global Economic Factors in the
Sports-Media Relationship
Global economic factors have intensified the sportsmedia relationship because transnational
corporations need vehicles for developing:
• global name recognition
• global cultural legitimacy
• global product familiarity
• global ideological support for a way of life based
on consumption, competition, individual
achievement, and a focus on social status and
material possessions.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-15
Alcohol and Tobacco Sponsorships
• Corporations that sell alcohol and tobacco see
sports as key vehicles for promoting their products
in connection with activities that people define as
healthy.
• If these corporations cannot sponsor televised
events, they put signage on people, equipment and
facilities that are viewed during television
coverage.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-16
Corporate Sponsorships
and Gender Ideology
• Decision-making power in large media corporations
rests with many male executives who love sports.
• The values and experiences of men are deeply
embedded in the cultures of these corporations.
• When sports emphasise competition, domination
and achievement, many male executives feel that
these are crucial factors in their companies.
– This means they will pay large fees to hire coaches and
athletes as ‘motivational’ speakers in their companies.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-17
Images and Narratives
in Media Sports
Media coverage is constructed around specific
themes and narratives:
• Success themes
– Emphasis on winners, losers and final scores.
– Emphasis on big plays, big hits and sacrificing self for team
success.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-18
Images and Narratives
in Media Sports (cont.)
• Masculinity and femininity themes
– Coverage privileges men over women.
– Heterosexuality is assumed; homosexuality is erased and
ignored.
– Coverage reproduces dominant ideas about manhood,
but may challenge ideas about femininity.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-19
Images and Narratives
in Media Sports (cont.)
• Race and ethnicity themes
– Racial ideology has influenced coverage of black athletes,
especially males.
– Whiteness is erased in coverage; it is assumed as the
standard.
• Nationalism is emphasised
– ‘We’/‘They’ distinctions are common.
• Individualism is highlighted.
• Aggression is glorified; competitors are presented
as warriors.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-20
Media Impact on
Sports-Related Behaviours
• Active participation in sports
– Some negative, some positive effects
• Attendance at sports events
– Media generally increase attendance at elite events, but
may decrease attendance at local events
• Gambling on sports
– Media are indirectly linked to gambling
– Internet may change this to a direct link
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-21
Experiences and Consequences of
Consuming Media Sports
Research shows that:
• Watching television sports is not a major activity in
the lives of most adults.
• Football ‘widows’ and men who just sit in front of
the TV watching sports are not as common as
many people think.
– Men and women who live together often share the
experience of watching sports.
– Most partners in couples accommodate each other’s
viewing habits over time.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
12-22