When communication is spread between tens of millions of people it is known as mass media. Mass media has become fundamental to modern society. It has many different purposes, such as providing information, entertaining, and persuading and has had an extraordinary impact on professional sports worldwide. From commercials to sports commentating, mass media plays a substantial role in how audiences consume sports. The relationship between the media and professional sports organizations has been monetarily beneficial, but has subsequently had negative effects on the viewers. Often times certain demographics of athletes are promoted while others are criticized. Although economically successful, the media’s influence in sports has reinforced negative …show more content…
stereotypes, affected how athletes are paid, promoted individuals rather than teamwork, and affected how audiences learn about sports. Racial coding is an ever-present occurrence in sports commentating. Adjectives such as beast, or freak are used to describe black athletes. Latino athletes are described as fiery, spark plugs, or wild. Even white athletes are belittled with descriptions such as sneaky athletic or that he gets the most out of his abilities. These crutches and code words are common in the sports world, where a player's race all too often decides what kind of player he or she will be. For example Marshawn Lynch, the running back for the Seattle Seahawks, is often described as a thug, laughable, and too stupid to talk to the media. Lynch may be funny, but not for the reasons the media presents. He is an intelligent individual who displays candor, respect, and kindness. He is described as an exceptional teammate and gives back to the community often. A rookie teammate of Marshawn Lynch, Tyler Lockette, spoke highly of Lynch saying, "If you ask me, I think he’s a great guy. Even at practice, he’s helped us with the 401(k), talked to us about that. ...He’s helped us with a lot of stuff” (ESPN). Lynch’s charitable acts and portrayals from his teammates are ignored and negative connotations of Lynch are promoted. Race plays a role in how many athletes including Marshawn Lynch are perceived. Although white athletes may receive beneficial treatment from the media they are still subject to racial coding but in a different manner.
White athletes athleticism is often belittled or ignored. An example of this is seen in the commentating on Aaron Craft, a former Ohio State point guard. Craft is polarizing, only in the sense that he fulfills all the stereotypes that exist about white athletes. The hype around the perceived value of those stereotypes only increases the polarization. Nobody ever talks about Craft's natural talent or athletic ability. The belief is he only gets by on pure scrappiness and fundamentals. You’re never going to hear of a black athlete described with these code words and these words overlook the fact that Craft is purely a phenomenal athlete. The racial code words used to describe white athletes are not as harmful as the words used on black athletes, but still are sources of stereotypical thinking.
This narrow-minded commentating then imprints on athletes and fans on how the race of an athlete is the only thing to consider when evaluating them. Fans begin to use these words to describe athletes and develop biases. Young fans regurgitate these descriptions and see this as how they should play sports based on their respective race. Each athlete is an individual and should be portrayed as such. Using these racial codes is demeaning and lazy. The media must be aware of their effect on fans and be more progressive in their sports
coverage. Television networks and companies focus their advertisements on their target market, young adult white males. This market influences their decisions on who to select for marketing campaigns. The ‘ideal’ candidates are white athletes and in the case of the NFL, the largest sports organization in North America, these spokespersons are white quarterbacks. Athletes such as Peyton Manning or Eli Manning are chosen regardless of how personable or effective they may be as a spokesperson. Running backs, a position predominately held by black athletes, are hardly ever considered for major promotional campaigns. Black quarterbacks are also ignored when choosing a spokesperson. This selection of white athletes is to appeal to the marketer’s targeted audience. It is successful as young adult white males identify with athletes like Peyton Manning, but it ignores how effective black athletes can be in the same role. Most NFL fans would agree that an athlete like Russell Wilson is much more personable than the selections for the majority of marketing campaigns. According to a list prepared by the NFL Shop, Wilson’s jersey is among the top ten selling jerseys in the NFL (NFL Shop) and Wilson is among the ten most followed NFL players on Twitter (Fan Page List). It is evident that fans would appreciate seeing Wilson in more commercials. The NFL and companies that sponsor the NFL need to experiment with utilizing black athletes as spokespersons. This progressive decision can yield the NFL and their affiliated companies a greater profit on their campaigns and depict these athletes in a more positive and familiar light. The effect of stereotypes in sports is also evident in how athletes are paid. This is noticeable when looking at the salaries of players in the NFL. Best Tickets prepared a 2014 NFL player census and included in the report was that black players make up 68% of the players in the NFL compared to 27% of players being white (Best Tickets Blog). However, the average salary of a white player was 2.43 million compared to the average salary of a black player being 2.18 million (Best Tickets Blog). Some may argue that this is because the majority of an NFL team’s payroll goes to the quarterback and quarterbacks are typically white. This may be true and fair that quarterbacks are paid more given their substantial impact on games, but does not explain why white quarterbacks are paid considerably more than black quarterbacks regardless of their success. An example of this is seen when evaluating quarterbacks Matthew Stafford, Jay Cutler, Cam Newton, and Russell Wilson. Matthew Stafford and Jay Cutler are white quarterbacks and are collectively being paid $34,221,250 for the 2015 season (Spotrac). However, their combined career win percentage is 47% (Football Database). Cam Newton and Russell Wilson are two black quarterbacks being paid a combined $20,054,868 (Spotrac). Their collective career win percentage is 63% (Football Database). This implies there is more to NFL players’ salary than their performance. However, Newton and Wilson have been upstanding role models for the NFL on and off the field and nothing indicates they should be paid less. The discrimination of black athletes manifested by NFL executives is apparent in player’s salaries. It is not a fair pay scale and needs to be modified to more accurately compensate performance, regardless of race. Mass media concentrates its coverage on individual athletes rather than teams. Sports fans are never inundated with television coverage on the development of exceptional team play. We do not hear about an athlete with morals. Television coverage of the elements of great teams is almost non-existent. For example, the current Golden State Warriors have the potential of being a dynasty, but only their best player, Stephen Curry, receives praise. Members of the sports media no longer describe the benefits of upstanding individual athletes’ character on successful teams. According to a CBS Sports blog “Mass media’s coverage of professional sports no longer emphasizes how sports contribute to teamwork and character development” (CBS Sports). The focus of the media has switched to promoting individuals that are often spokespersons for companies. While this may benefit companies, professional sports organizations should make the progressive decision of finding a balance between profits and promoting honorable values. It is impossible to eliminate the effect of mass media on professional sports, but the media in cooperation with professional sports organizations and their affiliates must minimize their involvement in affecting outcomes and the fans’ perceptions. The media has an almost immediate monetary reward when it shapes how sports are played, but it would do well for the caretakers of sports to consciously and verbally shape that effect. Fans, athletes, teams, and sports themselves would greatly benefit if the media’s coverage of sports became impartial rather than monetarily driven.
To start off my interpretation analysis of the first two chapters in their book, I will begin by stating a classification I have personally received. In the beginning pages of chapter number one, the authors go on in explaining the misclassification of how the skin color, physical attributes, or origin of a person decide how good they are in physical activity; being Latino, most specifically coming from a Dominican background, people always assumed I was or had to be good in Baseball. This classification always bothered me; one, simply because I hate baseball, to me personally is one of the most boring sports in the planet, and second because my strong physical ability still to this point in life is running. Throughout my High School years, people always seemed shocked when they found out I belonged to the track team instead of the baseball team. There was one occasion, where someone said I was a disgrace to the Dominican Republic, simply because I was not good at striking a ball with a baseball bat. As I reflect on this idea and personal experience, I have found this to be one of the strongest points in chapter one of “Racial Domination, Racial Progress: The Sociology of Race in America”. This is due to in part, because perhaps I can relate to it personally, and because in the world of sports is one of the most frequent things commentators will rely on to explain a team’s or individual success. Apart from the point of sports and physical attributes, the authors also go on in elaborating how this belief of how a person looks, has resulted in dangerous practices in the medical field. This is particularly shocking to
Many Americans have seen or at least heard of the movie “Remember the Titans.” The classic film focuses on a school that is blending black and whites and taking on an African American head coach. The coach knows the importance of winning, but also knows the team must work together to get those wins and have respect for every single person in the locker room. Although coach Boone was still put in a tough situation with the school board and the community, he was able to lead his team, with the help of a white assistant coach, to an undefeated season. The team coming together is exactly what America does with sports. Most everybody can come together and enjoy sporting events. By saying “everybody”, that includes all races: white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and so on. Sports are America’s past, present, and
The issue of race in sport is somewhat baffling in that many people would rather not address at all even though sport has been intricately intertwined with racial issues throughout the Twentieth century. Those who would have us omit the topic altogether argue that analyses typically single out the black athlete, and then attempt to explain his/her inordinate success in ways different than we do with other groups. Critics contend that this is racist, since it perpetuates the idea that blacks are different, and often inferior. Edwards (1972) asserts that a typical theme resulting from such analysis is that blacks are physically superior, but intellectually inferior, to whites. Hoberman (1997) has further made the case that physical prowess, especially in such sports as basketball, has become a defining characteristic of the African-American community, and that beliefs about physical superiority are closely related to an anti-intellectualism that permeates black male culture. Essentially, Hoberman’s argument is that inordinate attention and idolization of prominent black athletes such as Michael Jordan has focused attention away from more realistic and important role models, and this, in turn has stunted intellectual, and social economic development in black communities.
In the meantime that Edwards and other researcher activists were composing in popular sources and freely debating issues related with race and sports, researchers in various disciplines started research that factually reported examples of racial isolation and separation in sports a...
Shropshire, Kenneth L. 1996. In black and white: race and sports in America. New York: New York University Press.
The assumption of black people being better than white people at sport genetically has fed up with the racism in the United States. Instead of admiring their hard work, they blame genetics for their success. In the past couple of years, that has changed. Nowadays African American athletes are the idols of many white and black individuals.
Huffman, S., Tuggle, C. & Rosengard, D.S. . How Does Campus Media Cover Sports? The Gender-Equity Issue, One Generation Later. Mass Communication & Society, 2004, 7(4), 47589. Min Soo, K. Steven, M. & Co. Acceptability and Ethics of Product Placement in Sport Video Games.
One theory on why blacks have become more athletic than whites is through evolution and selective breeding. Slave owners wanted the biggest and strongest slaves to work on plantations; therefore a strong black man was mated with a strong black woman. Africans were originally brought to America as a physical specimen. They were expected to work the fields day in and day out. In January of 1988 Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder, a commentator on CBS’s NFL show made a remark about black athletes that cost him his job. Snyder stated, "Think of what the African slaves were forced to endure in this country merely to survive. Black athletes are their descendants"(Entine 72). The comment quickly surfaced through the media and many people were outraged. Snyder was eventually fired from CBS. Although, according to some, his remarks weren’t far off what from what could be the truth. So why were people so furious by these remarks? Saying that blacks and whites are simply different seem to ignite thoughts of racism. People are terrified to comment on this topic because of the repercussions that may occur. But without research and scientific studies there seems to be no way to reach a conclusion to a very controversial, but evident topic, that blacks are better than whites at sports. Entine makes a very strong argument by stating "No other group of Americans in such large numbers has had to pass such rigorous tests of survival as has the Negro"(73). The history of African slaves and the physicality that was required of them only seems relevant to the evolution of the modern black athlete.
Sports have served as a platform on which the subject of race has been highlighted. Sports have unfailingly been considered the microcosm of society. This is because the playing fields have revealed the dominant culture’s attitudes and beliefs that people held about race relations throughout history in the United States. Many racial barriers were broken in the world of sports long before they were crossed in the realm of mainstream society as a whole. From Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball during the year of 1947 to Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists clad in black gloves during the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics, sports have started conversations about race in the United States that have undeniably changed the course of race relations in the United States.
“We are more visible, but not more valuable”. This famous quote was said by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most famous black basketball players, symbolized what many black athletes were pursuing when they first got into sports. In today’s world not only are black athletes a part of our sports venue, they are dominating the landscape of some sports such as the NBA which consists of a whopping 80% black athletes. Black athletes continue to revitalize sports in America as some athletes became the face of their sports such as Muhammad Ali in boxing, Jackie Robinson in baseball and Michael Jordan in basketball. Sports came as a form of entertainment for many Americans, but for black athletes it came as a pathway to express who they were and what they believed in. The more they became involved in sports, the more media they were able to attract which enabled them to talk about topics other than sports such as racism, their religions and equality through the civil rights movement. These views and statements made in their interviews and press conferences were the ones that became publicized and more popular amongst the typical white men in America and it played a huge role in changing the way blacks were viewed in American society.
Sport brings different people together and leads to racial diversification. Nevertheless, this article explains and analyses the situations where sport management has ignored the idea of racial diversity. The research revolves around men who are African American. These men have been contributing effectively to the financial stability of sport. However, they were under-represented though they were successful players. The study uses theories such as race relation theory. Arguments suggest for implementation of systematic processes over race-related practices. This hiring practice will adhere to the clear and concise individuals needed for the jobs throughout sport management. The research states that adaptation and dominant groups may still bring about different outcomes to the ethnicity involvement in sport management. This article focuses mainly on how racism in sports industry can be resolved. It describes some solutions, which includes policies and programs for sports organizations. These will help in promoting racial diversity in sport management. This research concluded with the notion of implicating such policies for minimizing racism in the management of sport
Media plays a large role in affecting peoples thinking, opinions, ideas, etc. In essence media can shape our thinking into negative views and perspectives that are typically not true. Sometimes the media plays as a puppet master to society. Specifically, the inequity of the gender roles within sports causes for a stir in commotion that calls for some attention. In doing so the inadequate misuse of media towards women in sports causes low exposure, amongst many other things. On the other hand their male counterparts are on the other end of the success spectrum. Because of this noticeable difference, it is vital that action is taken place to level out equality within sports. Due to the power of media, it is believed that a change in media coverage
When someone flips through the channels on a TV and they happen to pause on a sports game, they will most likely see a small number of white athletes. The next thing that they might see is a commercial trying to tell them that minorities in sports are being discriminated. This is not the case. There is no racial discrimination against minorities in sports. There is a much higher percentage of minorities than White-Americans in more than just one professional sport. There are also a number of high-ranking officials in sports that are minorities. Franchises pay money to the athletes that are most qualified to be put on the team; not to athletes that are not minority.
The scholars expounds that Black athletes were commodities on the playing field to help win games and bring in revenue to their respected schools. However, the schools were just as eager and willing to leave their Black players behind and dishonoring the player as a part of the team. Therefore, not compromising the team’s winning and bring in profits for the school. Sadly, Black athletes at predominately White institutions (PWIs) who believed that they were bettering the live of themselves and their families members by going to college and playing collegiate sports to increase their post secondary careers. However, these athletes were only “show ponies” for their schools. Unfortunately, Black athletes had allegiance to their school; however, the school turned their backs on the athletes to protect the profit and notoriety of the school and the programs. Money and respect from White fans and spectators were more important to the PWIs than standing up for the respect of their Black players. Racial bigotry in sports was rampant and it was only going to get worse.
Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports, athletic performance, exercise and physical activity. Some sports psychologists work with professional athletes and coaches to improve performance and increase motivation. Other professionals use exercise and sports to enhance people’s lives and well-being. While finding ways to help athletes is certainly an important part of sports psychology, the application of exercise and physical activity for improving the lives of non-athletes is also a major focus.