Friday, April 11, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
"Think Piece" on Jackie Robinson, Michael Sam, & Jason Collins (Essay #2)
Michelle Ocampo
Sport, Media, & Popular Culture
Professor Larson & Professor Snorgrass
“Think
Piece”
Over
the last century, sports have been a strong influence in terms of breaking
barriers for minorities. For example, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier
and gave many African American athletes the courage to pursue their dream of
playing professional sports. Fast forwarding to 2014, there is a new push to
break barriers; only this time color is not the issue.
Michael
Sam has been a team leader and had a large impact for the Missouri Tigers
football team during the 2013 college football season. He broke records and was voted defensive
player of the year for the Southeastern Conference, which was a huge feat for
his team, and his school. There is no doubt that Michael Sam will be drafted
and play in the National Football League. However, Sam recently made headlines
when he confessed that he is gay. (John Branch)
In
America, we are currently going through change in paradigm in terms of how sports
media views race, and sexual orientation. There is a large push in our society
to ensure that everybody has a fair chance to achieve greatness by debunking
stereotypes and promoting equality through representation of all minorities in
the media outlets. Rather it is sex,
sexual orientation or race it is important that all walks of life be
represented in the media to ensure everybody is depicted fairly to the rest of
society. In this paper I will explore the importance of representing all walks
of life and how it benefits the news sources and the impact Michael Sam will
have as he has the potential to be the first openly gay athlete in the National
Football League and provide courage to all other athletes who might be hiding
in fear of judgment. Josh Glicksman writes “ People like Michael Sam help to make the lives of
homosexual high school athletes much easier”. (Josh Glicksman)
In
chapter 7, Mark Douglas Lowes, discusses
sports news outlets and how they choose what to report to the public. Lowes
expands the discussion to explore the financial implications of having
reporters on the scene of major sports teams. As it goes, Lowes addresses the
demographic that the news outlet has to cater to in order to retain readers. He
finds that the readers are males, ages 18-45 with disposable income and a
strong appetite to know what is going on with their major sports team. He
explains the pressures to have up to date, quality information to please the
readers, and in today’s age, the readers are an accepting group. (Lowes 143-59)
Looking
at the advancement of social media and the public push to accept all walks of
life and the growing awareness of the discrimination going on in our world, it
is important for news outlets to represent all races, ethnicities and sexual
orientation to promote equality and expand the demographic they deliver the
news too. In 1927 the Federal Radio Commission was established to ensure that
radio stations reach out to the public interest. (Chandler 94-111) This act is
still relevant today as news outlets can utilize this act to ensure their
audience is happy. It is imperative that the news sources ensure they do
not offend any of their viewers by shining a negative, or homophobic light on
minorities; otherwise a slip of the tongue could prove costly. When Michael Sam
went public that he is gay, social media and news outlets blew up instantly.
Sam was on every headline on every sports outlet. It was very evident that news
outlets did not want to miss the opportunity to cover Sam. Yet it seemed that
they wanted to report his story not because he is going to be the first gay
football player in the NFL, but because they wanted to show that they support
gay rights, and are not a discriminatory organization as to retain their
readers.
Despite
breaking the barrier for gay athletes in the NFL, Sam is not the first openly
gay professional athlete. (Franz Lidz) About a year ago, Jason Collins of the
Washington Wizards went public that he was gay toward the end of the reason,
and then retired. Collins coming out appeared to be anticlimactic compared to
the media firestorm resulting from Michael Sam coming out. The lack of noise
about Collins compared to Sam leaves room for speculation. One could revert back to Lowes discussion
about how there is a demographic that must be marketed too, and what must be
done to reach a larger demographic. When Collins first came out, it was a big
deal, but the buzz quickly faded, as did Collins career when he went into
retirement.
The
NFL is known to be one of the toughest sports in the world. The men are manly men;
they’re macho and filled with testosterone. In years past a societal ignorance
would suggest that these macho men could never be gay, they’re too manly, too
tough, implying that gay man could never be tough. Media would have failed to
report a player coming out; talk shows would have grilled a player for coming
out. Beat writers would report a teams’ negative reaction to a player being gay
and the public would have accepted it. However, Sam chose a time when the court
of public opinion is tolerant and willing to accept and even support a player
who is openly gay. Many athletes have commented on Sams coming out, saying they
support him, and if he can play, he is welcome on their team. A shift in
paradigm has allowed Sam to open the door for other athletes who might be
hiding in fear of rejection by the league, their teammates, or the public. When
compared to Sam, Collins coming out had significantly less room for buzz possibly
because Collins was at the end of his career and Sam still has to earn his
career. Sam offers a feel good story for writers, he is something they can
follow and watch grow, which will allow the demographic get behind him. He is a
gold mine for journalistic success. Reporters who write positive articles on
Sam have the opportunity to gain a whole new demographic as they provide
articles regarding Sams standing on his probable NFL roster. It appears that
many understand what is happening here, how the paradigm is shifting toward a
world of acceptance and tolerance, and they want to be the ones to document it.
In Bread, Butter
and Gravy: An institutional approach to
televised sport production. The authors discuss how television operations
are institutionalized in some areas, and some areas they are not. For example,
during the Winter Olympic games, the Canadian Television network did not allow
their broadcasters to display autonomy when using their personal values while reporting
on the games. The authors also discuss how there is an industrial standard for
some broadcasters as if they are trusted to reflect the values of the
organization and it is known as “industrial wisdom.” This is important when
broadcasting on such a controversial issue. The broadcaster must focus on the
values of the organization while also being careful to not disappoint the court
of public opinion. This application of values will be important when Sam plays
in the NFL. The broadcasters will be forced to decide how they are going to
refer to him based on what their organization believes. For example, will they
say “Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL makes the tackle,” or
will he simply be “Michael Sam” with no reference to his groundbreaking
situation. (Silk, Slack , and Anis 1-21)
Despite the
financial and social importance of journalists and broadcasters accepting the
changing values and belief of acceptance by the public, there are still some
who disagree with openly gay players in the NFL. When Sam came out, one NFL
player was quoted saying “I think he would not be accepted as much as we think
he would be accepted.” (Mike Freeman). He elaborated to say that should Sam
look at him in the shower, he wouldn’t know how to respond. (Mike Freeman)
Sports play an
important role in our lives as Americans. For us sports are everything. In
cities with major sports teams, fans know no bounds when supporting their team,
and allows for a strong market for sports media outlets. Historically sports have
been ahead of the curve in terms breaking barriers, whether it be Jackie
Robinson, or Michael Sam. Sports writer Joe Posnanskie references Michael Sam as
a modern day Jackie Robinson and referenced him as a pioneer in his article Robinson, Sam blazing trails seven decades
apart. Sports gives people something to cheer for, and allows for the media
to gauge how society is feeling about a certain topic or controversial issue. As
barriers continue to be broken, whether it be sexual orientation, race, or
gender, sports will continue to be at the center of the discussion. As barriers
are broken, the demographic expands. As the demographic expands, the sport
expands. In the last 20 years or so, the NFL has gone from being a major sport,
to world-wide must see television. The advancement of social media and instant
replay alike has allowed the NFL to provide a drama filled 2 hours of
television for its viewers. As it continues to expand, viewers will continue to
watch players break barriers, and make history.
Bibliography
Chandler,
Joan. "The TV and sports industries ." University of Illinois
Press. 5. (1988): 94-111. Print.
Franz
Lidz, . N.p.. Web. 21 Feb 2014.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/
Lowes,
Mark. "Sports Page: A Case Study In the manufacture of sports news for the
daily press." Sociology of Sport Journal . 14.2 (1997): 143-59.
Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
Joe
Posnanskie, . N.p.. Web. 21 Feb 2014.
<http://www.nbcsports.com/joe-posnanski/robinson-sam-blazing-trails-seven-decades-apart>.
John
Branch, . N.p.. Web. 21 Feb 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/michael-sam-college-football-star-says-he-is-gay-ahead-of-nfl-draft.html?_r=0>.
josh
Glicksman, . N.p.. Web. 21 Feb 2014.
<http://www.ptmedia.net/1474/pt-focus/michael-sam-and-his-impact/>.
Mike
Freeman, . N.p.. Web. 21 Feb 2014.
<http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1954822-michael-sam-in-the-nfl-players-execs-agree-there-are-no-easy-answers>.
Silk,
Michael , Trevor Slack , and John Anis. "Bread, Butter and Gravy: an
institutional approach to televised sport production." Culture, Sport,
Society. 3.1 (2000): 1-21. Print.
Introduction to Sports Media & Pop Culture!!! (Reflection #1)
Reflection #1
This
weeks readings took me through a vast history of media and political dominance
on journalism. It is interesting how media used to operate before the invention
of social media and how important the newspaper was, and how slowly news used
to spread compared to how quickly it spreads today. In chapter two on page 41
and 42, the author discusses how the expansion of journalism gave rise to the
spectator sport and how the athletes would become friends with the reporters in
order to make a name for them selves in front of the fans. Originally the
journalists’ covers less exciting sports such as cricket and golf but
eventually began covering other sports such as football and baseball.
Contrasting today’s reporting, this was a time when journalism wasn’t supposed
to be entertaining, it was supposed to be news. However; the rise of the sports
journalist lead many to recognize sports journalism as entertainment.
As time went on newspapers gave way
to the radio. Like sports journalism in the newspaper, radio broadcasts began
to draw a significant amount of popularity. The reading goes on to discuss how
important it became for the radio broadcaster to be seated at a strategic
vantage point of the event in order to give an accurate report as well as cut
costs for the radio station, as they would not have to pay for special seating
at events.
As sports media continued to grow,
so did the competition for listeners and sponsors. As discussed in chapter 4,
the competition between athletes is very insignificant when compared to the
competition to get TV deals covering big events. Many companies offered
significant endorsement deals in order to host prime time events on their
station. As television stations completed the deals, in came the sponsors
willing to pay big bucks to advertise during sporting events on their channel.
Today we are long removed from these
times. Social media is a dominating force in promoting sporting events and
athletes across the world. There are many instances where an athlete makes a
simple statement and it goes viral and allows millions of people to make a
quick judgment on his character, and possibly ruin careers. Conversely, social
media has many positive attributes to sports.
In The United States soccer takes
the back seat to three possibly four major sports. Many people appear to
express little interest in soccer, and many times mock their players. However,
in Kansas City, Sporting KC has been the story of the year. It was a hot topic
among Kansas City sports fans. As the season went on for sporting, in came the
fans. The City jumped behind their team to offer support. When Sporting won the
championship social media blew up with pride for their hometown team and helped
them gain thousands of new fans. The game winning kick could be seen over and
over again on Facebook and Twitter alike.
The power of media, rather it’s
social, radio, newspaper, or television is real. Anything can become viral in a
matter of seconds. Kansas City has been fortunate to be on the positive end of
social media with Sporting’s championship run. When Sporting changed their name
from the Wizards and moved to Sporting Park from Arrowhead, many people didn’t
follow the team. However, the power of media, sponsorship, and social media has
allowed our city to embrace an unpopular sport in America.
Social media has never had a direct
influence on my athletic career in high school, however, sponsorship has. While
playing softball we were able to find business’ to sponsor our team as long as
we helped advertise their product. Our advertising is similar to how sponsors
are advertised by their media outlet.
It is clear that media has come a
long way in the last century, as mentioned in this weeks reading. There are
many different ways it can affect the culture around sports and the public
opinion on various topics, teams, or athletes. However, I think it has an
overall positive impact on all sports and helps unpopular sports have a chance
at the spotlight.
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