The Pros And Cons Of Sports Media

890 Words2 Pages

Sports of old were merely competitive activities rooted in heroism and romanticism. Sports activities today, however, have no such innocence or simplicity. Currently in America, the activities that make up our sports culture is not only the competitive events themselves but the processes and issues that underlie and surround them. Entwined in our sports culture is the giant business of mass broadcasting. Indeed, sports and the media go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly, like Mickey and Minnie, Darth Vader and Luke. They are intertwined and depend on each other to continue to grow. Sports media includes television, radio, magazines, newspapers, books, films, and, now, most importantly, social media devices provided by the Internet. Sports media has had it advantages and its disadvantages and its truths and falsehoods in the world of sports culture.
Sports and media have benefited each other in the marketplace. While these benefits have had many positive effects, there have also been some negative or distorted views. A negative connotation is felt when the media shapes its viewers’ perception of athletes by depicting them negatively or unappreciated based on race or gender stereotypes. This negativity can be seen when the media attempts to distort the truth or avoid complete coverage. The broadcasting industry has given a biased view of athletes based on their gender or their race. One such group that the media tends to misrepresent is female athletes. Women athletes tend to get less coverage in the media than men do. Many times a commentary given about women athletes is demeaning or has sexual overtures to it. Women athletes are given credit and are only considered noteworthy because of their attractiveness and not becaus...

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...are beginning to communicate directly with teams and individual players through the social media of Facebook and Twitter. Even Deadspin.com covers sports news like a tradition newspaper or magazine; however, it additionally provides the opportunity for fans to discuss the latest sports issue through their forum. Plus, they are many times the first media to break a story.
The mass media has at times given us a slanted representation of our heroic sports athletes. However, in our ever changing sports culture, we are shifting the fan connection through the use of technological innovations. As we continue to get more advanced, the closer we can get to true feelings of our role models. These feelings remind us that even though one may be a hero in our eyes, they are still just a simple human being like ourselves, who is capable of a simple mistake.

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