Carlin Week 10

In this week's first reading, "Black Press Coverage of the East-West Classic," Brian Carroll writes that the press' partnership with the league made the East-West Classic possible.

Carroll says in the article that as the Negro Leagues bounced back, the prospect of integrating baseball became a prominent conversation that was furthered by the African-American media. The East-West Classic became a spectacle unlike anything else, except Joe Louis fights, in African-American sports. According to Carroll, the only way it was able to generate the fortune and accumulate the fame that it did, was through the marketing and coverage of the black press. Because black newspapers had a stake in the game, Carroll writes that objective reporting largely ended as they campaigned for the classic.

In the second reading, "The relationship of fantasy football participation with NFL television ratings," John Fortunato examines how fantasy football participation relates to the number of people watching NFL games on television.

Though research on the subject is still developing, Fortunato find that there is a statistically significant correlation in both ESPN and NBC games' ratings when the games featured players that started in 90 percent of the fantasy leagues that week.

Because of the evidence Fortunato presents, he urges the NFL to take fantasy implications and the popularity of players into consideration when creating the schedule before the beginning of the season in order to drive up television ratings. He also urges the NFL to not schedule potential conflicts in cities with baseball teams and says that broadcasters could cater to fantasy football participants by providing individual statistics throughout the games.

Fantasy Football and Black Baseball

             Two very diverse readings this week. In John Fortuato’s The Relationship of Fantasy Football Participation with NFL Television Ratings, we get a thoroughly numbers based study on a very modern subject, while in Brian Carrol’s A Perfect Baseball Day, we are treated to a passionate recounting of an older story. A study in contrasts for sure, and one that will certainly divide the stat people from the heart people, depending on which article you like better.

            In Fortunato’s article, he studies the ways in which fantasy football participation has expanded interest in the National Football League, specifically if it drives up television ratings. For his study, he looked at the ratings of every Sunday and Monday night football game. He then attempted to determine if higher percentages of fantasy starters in a matchup led to higher ratings. His somewhat confusing results determined that he did indeed find a correlation between fantasy players starting percentages in a matchup and the resultant TV ratings. However, that did not at all appear to be any kind of determining factor in the scheduling of games, as playoff implications are what drives a network to flex out a game late in the season- not potential fantasy owners.

            In the much more interesting Carrol article, he talks about the history of the East-West Classic. Originating in the same year as the MLB All-Star Game, the Classic was a cultural institution for the Black American community as it was a showcase of the very best colored players on the grand stage: in Major League ballparks. By 1933, the relationship between the Black Press and the Negro Leagues was beginning to deteriorate, but the Classic re-kindled the relationship with the Pittsburgh Courier and the Chicago Defender and they featured them coverage of it heavily. The Classic often outdrew big league ballgames held in the same day and city and, during World War II, outdrew the MLB All-Star Game. By the time the Negro Leagues had dwindled into the twilight in 1955, with MLB well on its way toward integration, the Classic was laid to rest. As Kansas City Call sports editor John Johnson put it “Negro baseball has served its purpose.”

Salciunas week 10

After reading both "A Perfect Baseball Day", and "The Relationship of Fantasy Football Participation With NFL Television Ratings", my eyes opened to things I love that I did not know about. I always knew of the Negro Leagues and the amount of people who participate in fantasy football (to an extant), but there were multiple areas that I did not know about these two topics.

What Brian Carroll points out to me in "A Perfect Baseball Day", is a story that seems to be often untold. As an avid baseball fan, I love hearing stories about the sport. Whether it be stories of former superstars, or just the ones my father told me about his games in the local men's leagues. Throughout high school, I learned much about how baseball originated including the Negro Leagues, and after the movie 42 was shown in theatres, my interest grew; however, it took until this recent article for me to learn how much of a role black newspapers took to help push for the Negro Leagues, as well as destroy them. The coverage was absolutely phenomenal. African American's all over the country were interested in the league. Not only because it was arguably more exciting than the MLB, but it was a source of pride. Their fellow African American's stood out in every community where the teams resided, and names were becoming well-known; mainly in large part thanks to the Pittsburgh Courier, an African American run newspaper. Now as much as these newspapers portrayed the stars as heroes, every good story has to come to an end. In the 1950s, following the breaking of the color barrier in the Major Leagues of Baseball, the Negro League's began losing coverage. It got to the point where Jackie Robinson was considered a traitor to his fellow black community. The Negro League's soon diminished once the coverage moved toward players like Robinson, Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, and Monte Irvin.

Now today, you could say that everybody in America, even if they do not participate, knows or has heard of fantasy football. John A. Fortunato sure knows how to grab the readers attention when throwing out a number like 30 million. I know fantasy football is a world wide game, but never would I think a number like that would be the amount of people who participate. However, that is not the point of my response. It is exactly what the title states. Until this article that since I began participating in fantasy football, never did I notice how much my attention toward football increased. When I was younger, I would normally watch the Eagles game, put on whatever game was on after it, stop paying attention, and walk away. Although they do need to do more research to see how much a difference it has made, he made a valiant point about how the NFL needs to begin considering which games fantasy football stars are competing in and if those ratings jump. If a poll were to be taken asking if people tune in to certain games because of the fantasy football players in play, I would have to agree that I do watch it mainly because of a certain player on the field, and not the fact that I just want to watch a game between the Denver Broncos and the Jacksonville Jaguars. No love for Jacksonville here, but much for my starting quarterback Peyton Manning.   

Week 10 Post

In john Fortunato’s “The relationship of fantasy football participation with NFL television rating,” seeks to examine motivational factors and the relationship between fantasy football and television ratings as suggested by the title. While it should be safe to assume that NFL teams with high winning percentages would equal players in a high percentage of fantasy leagues, in actuality there doesn’t seem to be enough of a statistical difference to prove that it is a dominate factor. There are a multitude of factors that contribute to the television ratings of sporting events, and since this is clearly a way of gaining ratings, revenue, to would be in the interest of networks to better promote both in order to continue economic growth for the league.

The second article by Brian Carroll, “A Perfect Baseball Day,” address many of the advantages previously discussed in class about the coverage of black sporting events and the black sports journalist that covered them. As exclaimed by Pittsburg Courier editor William G. Nunn, the events of the East-West Classic were “a success from every possible point.” 20,000 black fans accompanied by 5,000 white fans made this event not only the pride of African-American culture here, but also a place of interracial good will. Carroll’s article goes on to explain how the coverage of the East-West by black journalist helped it to grow culturally and economically in a way that was likely unforeseen in the 1940’s amidst segregation. However, its success in eventually pushing for the integration of baseball was the very things that lead to the downfall of this culture hotspot for the African-American community. By the 1950’s, the Negro league was all but as disappointment and nothing more than a side-note in the Defender as noted by Carroll.

Shawn Napier

Tansits Week 10

Two very diverse readings from this week tie into our recent discussions with diversity in reporting amongst black and white media. As we have discussed in class, throughout the early 20^th century, the black media served to cover and embellish only black sporting events while the white media covered only white players in white sports. But as we read in Brian Carroll’s A Perfect Baseball Day, changes were coming by the middle of the 1900s.

The East-West Classic began in 1933, and grew into a cultural institution for the black society. Chicago’s Comiskey Park was the site for thousands to turn out to see the Negro League’s finest players on black baseball’s largest stage. But Carroll’s piece doesn’t simply highlight the significance of the East-West game. Carroll explains that through this game both owners and black newspapers (specifically the Pittsburgh Courier) used the East-West game to grow baseball culturally and economically so that by the early 1940s, the game was out earning much of white professional baseball.  This East-West Classic brought African-Americans from all over the nation to Chicago, a central meeting place where it was a culmination of sport and culture. Thousands of black baseball fans matriculated to the city, planning their vacations around the event. This All-Star game essentially became the event to see in the early 1940s baseball community. But as greed began taking over owners, the press pushed on towards the importance of the East-West Classic and of integration in baseball. Carroll wrote that the game was more than about baseball it was the heart and soul of the black sporting community. And once integration did arrive, the press gradually moved further and further from covering the Negro Leagues and eventually even the East-West Classic, which was last played in 1954. It was a bittersweet ending, with integration on the rise but an end to one of the crown jewels of black culture.

The second reading for this week covers fantasy football and how it relates to television ratings and viewership. It seems simple enough to understand that the more fans involved in fantasy football, the more likely they are to watch more games to see their players on their teams. But the research done in John Fortunato’s paper doesn’t show a very strong relationship between the two. He writes that although there has been shown to be a statistically significant relationship between the two; it’s no where near being a dominant factor in networks deciding which games to play on prime time. Nonetheless his writing does indicate the there is a role that fantasy football plays in television viewership, enough so that networks should take a look at. 

Gender Inequality in Sports Reporting and Coverage

In this week’s article, "Gender in Sports Writing by the Print Media: An Exploratory Examination of Writers' Experiences and Attitudes," by Edward Kian, we study the nature of gender roles and influences in the world of sports and sports reporting. The main point that Kian attempts to convey is that women’s sports has a much lower level of regard than men’s and female sports reporters face a continuing uphill climb in their search for equality in the newsroom and elsewhere.

            Kian describes sports in our society as being a masculine hegemony. “In hegemonic masculine societies, masculinity is the standard from which everything else is measured, and masculine traits are the most desired and valued in society” (Connell, 1995). Kian states that numerous scholars contend that sports serves as a means of upholding this idealized, male dominated society by promoting certain physical aspects that traditionally have been the domain of the masculine.

            Sports reporting reflects this attitude, both in the representative numbers of male and female sports reporters- heavily in favor of the male, and in the sports that are covered by these reporters- also dominated by the males. In a study conducted of six sports reporters nationwide- varying heavily in experience, issues covered and of both genders, Kian reaches conclusions that help to uphold the gender-biased stereotypes that have long pervaded athletics and sports reporting: That society advocates for men to enter the realm of sports reporting, but not so for women; that women are treated as outsiders in the realm of sports reporting, even upon acceptance into the industry; and that, even upon entering the profession, female sports reporters attitude towards women’s sports seemed to reflect that of the overall society: they look upon it with indifference and disdain.

            Despite the advances in our society of gender equality (Title IX and other actions have made the USA one of the most progressive countries in terms of female athletic treatment), women’s sports seem to lag far behind men’s sports in terms of viewership, attendance and interest. This is reflected in coverage from the media as a whole, and it does not seem to matter whether men or women are doing the coverage. Until interest in women’s athletics is on equal terms with men’s, their coverage will continue to languish.

            What is less forgivable is the treatment that some female reporters have faced in the masculine hegemony. Many have reported being harassed, sexually or otherwise, by athletes, coaches and co-workers. Many have also reported a discernible and impenetrable “glass ceiling” above which a female sports reporter cannot advance. This is the 21^st century, and our society has (nominally) evolved past the superstitions and biases of the previous centuries. Unfortunately these biases still exist, and until they are truly eliminated, we as Americans are all the worse off for it. They are women. Hear them roar.

Salciunas week 7

While growing up through the later part of the 20^th century and now the 21^st, many issues facing diversity in the work field flew right over my head. In high school, I learned of feminist movements during the Civil Rights Era, and read success stories following the events that took place in the 1960s. What was never taught was the lack of female presence in upper class management and in other professions such as journalism. After reading Edward M. Kian’s Gender in Sports Writing, the numbers and opinions on women in sports journalism really jumped out at me.

The numbers regarding women in sports journalism alone are unbelievable. The lack of women in the field leave me scratching my head and feeling slightly disturbed. Entering this class, I never found it an issue. I saw women on ESPN all the time, and that was when I made the mistake of jumping to a conclusion. When reading the work provided by Edward M. Kian, one stat regarding the number of female sports journalists was eye popping. In the 1990s, out of 10,000 different professional print and broadcast sports journalism sections, only 3% of its members were women. Saying that this field is run by men seems to be the just statement and needs to be taken into consideration of change. Since then the numbers have changed but it is still way too low.

When looking at the mindset of not only women in the sports journalism field, but as well as the men, some opinions could be disturbing. We have heard of the instances when ESPN’s Tony Kornheisser showed disgust to his colleagues “open” outfit. Who is to say other men, maybe not in areas as prominent as ESPN, are not doing the same thing? There was one other stat that really jumped out at me in Kian’s Gender in Sports Writing when he took his poll on men’s feelings toward women in the office. 59% of the surveyed male sports editors felt obligated to hire female staff writers. That shows that these men know the numbers are low but still do not actually want to hire women, but they feel obligated to. Then you look at the other 41%. What are they thinking? Did they not feel obligated and they enjoyed hiring their female staff members? Or was it that they did not feel obligated and had no intentions of hiring female staff members? That is another study that needs to be done; but clearly as the numbers already show; it seems to have been the later of the two.

Until the end of this semester, I am sure diversity in the field of sports journalism will be a huge topic. Whether it is regarding women, or the lack of “color” in the newsroom, we will speak of it; and that needs to be done. The numbers do not lie, they are there to make a point, unfortunately, the point is slowly getting across. The numbers are raising for women in the field of sports journalism, but too slow for anyone’s liking.

Carlin Week 7

This week's reading, "Gender in Sports Writing by the Print Media: An Exploratory Examination of Writers' Experiences and Attitudes," by Edward Kian, explores the masculine nature of sports and the way that is portrayed through journalism. Kian says in his introduction that though there have been studies to show that female athletes and women's sports receive considerably less media attention than men's sports, his analyzes the attitudes of those doing the reporting and writing.

Kian writes that as a result of the lack of women in sports media, the masculine and hegemonic order that is so often portrayed in sports is able to be upheld. He also writes that one of the origins of this may be created in college. When female student journalists go to the college newspaper and find the sports section comprised almost completely comprised of males, they may look for another section to write for instead of that one, he writes. This could be one of the reasons why the pool of professional female sports journalists is so small.

He writes later in the article that studies have shown that female sports journalists may help uphold the masculine and hegemonic order in sports journalism because they more than likely do not seek out to cover women's sports or female athletes. This, he says, is because of a perceived lack of interest in the sports or athletes and the lack of career enhancement opportunities that could come from this. Female journalists also report being disrespected and pigeonholed into covering human-interest stories or women's sports.

From Kian's article, we find that the masculine and hegemonic order that is perceived in sports and sports media is started in college and carried into the workplace. Although there has been much progress in bringing more gender diversity into sports journalism, it still is an area where females find it difficult to gain respect and get a foot in the door.

Tansits Week 7 Post - Kian

As our weeks studying sports journalism and its transformation throughout the past century continue, it's obvious that one of the most pressing issues over the past 30 years has been that of diversity. Diversity in sports coverage, diversity in sports media content producers and diversity in the stories themselves. Along with racial diversity, gender diversity is a heavily scrutinized and studied area of sports newsroom production and content. In Kian’s Gender In Sports Writing By The Print Media: An Exploratory Examination Of Writers’ Experiences And Attitudes, the lack of diversity in sports media is discussed in terms of studies and what the results of the cited studies yielded.

In Kian’s writing, he refers to a homogeneous, masculine sports hegemony that has formed our culture and society for years. He refers to the term hegemony to describe that this masculine picture formed through sports has helped set the standard in Western society. Kian says that this hegemony is reinforced by mass media in three ways: 1. The media serves to perpetuate male-dominated sports hegemony by simply refusing to cover, or very minimally covering female athletes and women’s sports 2. Limited coverage of female athletes results in the general public underestimating the number of women in competitive athletics; sports media often covers sporting events that help reinforce stereotypical feminine images and portrayals of women athletes 3. When sports media do cover female sporting events, they often minimize or trivialize women’s athletic accomplishments through their use of language and commentary.

Furthermore Kian adds that the lack of women in newsrooms and especially in powerful seats in sports departments is something that isn’t new, and he attributes the lack of women covering women’s sports to their fears of not being able to move up because of their lack of popularity. Kian draws three primary conclusions from his study: 1. Both men and women had social and societal factors during their lives that made the foundation of their hegemonic masculine view of sports 2. Once in the sports media profession, men and women have generally different experiences and these experiences lead to different attitudes 3. Once they enter into the media profession, both men and women generally exhibit the same attitude towards men’s sports and women’s sports.

Overall this study shows that the problem of lack of coverage of women’s sports isn’t completely rooted in newsroom diversity, and that it’s more of a cultural problem as well. Additionally, the study displayed that there is definitely a problem with equality amongst women in sports departments, and it’s not something that is going away with time.

Napier, Week 7

“Gender in Sports Writing by the Print Media: An Exploratory Examination of Writers’ Experiences and Attitudes” written by Dr. Edward Kian of the University of Central Florida starts of the article by giving the reader a word coined by an Italian revolutionary that describes the dominance of one social class over another; this word is hegemony. Kian states that mass media is responsible for the dominate images within our society, and from a sports perspective those images are that of the masculinity and power inside of male sports. This masculine hegemony leaves characteristics of femininity and women’s sports on the preverbal sidelines. But what Kian question is what experiences and attitudes from both female and male writers have contributed in creating this hegemony.

First, it is important to understand that mass media has reinforced these differences in a number of ways. These include limiting or refusing to cover women’s sports, the general public begins to under-estimate those abilities of women in these sports as a result of a lack in coverage, female sports that do get covered only reinforce the stereotypical images of women athletes, and when achievements are covered they are often downplayed. The severe lack of women in power within the sports writing profession only helps to perpetuate the masculine hegemonic institution currently in place. An estimate from the Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) only 3 percent of the 10,000 print and broadcast journalist jobs in the United States in the 1990’s belonged to women.

Secondly, the attitude surrounding female sports journalism is poor to say the least. Those carrying a women’s sports beat drastically hindered the ability for advancement according to the article. With such a lack in career upward movement, the is no incentive for any individual to take on the task. While this is the attitude with covering women’s sports, female journalists expressed a high level of job satisfaction in a 2005 research study, but were reported as being frustrated by a lack of promotion opportunities. What becomes more unfortunate is that the women feel as though they don’t want to alter these norms since there seems to be a belief that being women is what helped them to get the job in the first place.

The final piece of this article address the question of what shapes the masculine hegemony in sports journalism. Men, from a younger age, were more likely to be socialized into the sports culture than their women counterparts even though both representing genders took an interest in sports from a young age. Upon entering the profession the differences became greater as women were placed into a binary view where the men were men had no such limitations, however it seems that a qualitative conclusion cannot be obtained from this study due to the fact that so few women sports journalists were interviewed.

It is clear from Kain’s article and the studies discussed that women are disadvantaged once entering the profession due to assumptions designated by the masculine hegemony. While there has only been minor improvements in the representation of women’s sports and minority athletes by their media counterparts, we still have a long way to go before there is an equal and fair representation and no one social group is put in second place.

-Shawn Napier