Brief #1: Television News (Domestic and Global)
How Sports News Influences Public Opinion
Sports are everywhere in media today. Stephen A. Smith gets almost as much airtime rambling and arguing about NBA highlights and hot takes as Fox News does airing stories on politics and real issues. The main selling points in sports news are the debates hosts like Stephen A create. These debates create and sway public opinion. They create heroes and villains in the sports world.
Sports news is pushed out to millions similarly to normal news stations. ESPN and CBS Sports are two of the main broadcasting companies that hold extreme amounts of power when it comes to public influence in the sports world. Blogs, podcasts, and websites have emerged as a new way to push narratives as well as twitter accounts. News and media outlets can be frustrating to athletes due to all the ways they can produce and leak information on what goes on. An example of a prominent journalist who uses his platform to share information on athletes is Evan Grant who reports out of DFW.
Sports media can not only influence public opinion on athletes themselves, but also on major societal events. Giving athletes a platform to speak out where they are constantly filmed and watched gives them an opportunity to influence the world that's watching them. A major example is Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem in 2016 during his time with the 49ers. Kaepernick kneeled hoping to shed light on police brutality and racial injustice, however, he caused and influenced ample amounts of public debates on whether he was truly shedding light on injustice or rather just disrespecting our country and the flag.
The stage and platform on which these athletes perform plays a major part in the amount of people they influence. Commentators commentating on major events can directly influence audience opinion. Studies done in 2018 and 2008 show that subjective opinions shared by commentators during an event directly influence the behaviors of the audience and influence whether the audience rejects or sympathizes with an athlete. (Impact of Sports Mass Media on the Behavior and Health of Society. A Systematic Review - PMC) Similar studies also showed that spectators were influenced to want to participate in physical activity more after being subjected to a sports event through media.
One of the most specific ways in which the media influenced society on a certain athlete comes from one of the most notorious athletes of all time. When Lebron James made his decision to leave Cleveland and join the Heat, the media painted Lebron as one of the biggest villains in sports. Members of the sports news world framed James as selfish and claimed he was abandoning his hometown team for personal glory and money. This framing of James' image took place throughout the 2010 NBA season and didn't begin to change until his Heat started to become one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
Comments
Post a Comment