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

Carlin Week 5

This week's first reading, "The Whitening of Media and the Coloring of Black Athletes' Images," author Kevin Blackistone talks about how diversity has fallen out of the focus of newsrooms in the new millennium. Blackistone starts by talking about the role media played during the civil unrest of the mid-20th century. He writes that the media was largely blamed for not presenting a clear picture of what was happening in the country. Rather, a white media was presenting news for a white audience. Diversity improved throughout the latter part of the century, but tailed off in the last decade.

He argues that this has led to a different image of black athletes when compared to white ones. He used examples of players like Michael Vick and Tiger Woods who were vilified in the media for their actions, whereas players like Ben Roethlisberger were largely overlooked by the media for their misgivings.

The second reading largely talks about the sports department in a newspaper being known as a "toy department." The author writes that the sports department has gotten this title because its perceived unwillingness to serve the watchdog function of journalism.

The second reading also analyzed the role that new media has played in sports journalism. One case study the article used was the Manny Ramirez steroid story. Its findings indicate that almost half of the stories about the subject were used by new media. A large chunk of these were from ESPN.

My preliminary subject for my paper is to analyze how the local and national media covered the Michael Vick signing in Philadelphia and what, if any, guidelines editors used for how the reporters covered this story.

Berger Week 5

In this week’s readings we examine two different subjects facing the current sports journalism industry and culture. First we look at the effect that the new media has had on sports journalism’s reputation as a whole. And second at the declining rates of journalists of color in the sports world.

            In “The New Toy Department” by Erin Whiteside, Nan Yu and Marie Hardin, a study was conducted examining the differences in coverage of a single event - the 2009 announcement of Manny Ramirez’ 50-game suspension for use of a banned substance – by various sports media outlets, including traditional media (newspapers, TV and magazines) and new media (websites and blogs). The study compared the two avenues of media and attempted to contrast their sources, analyses and biases. The study found various results, but the main finding was this: traditional media did a better job of including historical context and speculating on consequences in their coverage. New media tended to have a narrower focus: just the facts, no context and little analysis into the scope of what the suspension meant in the larger context of baseball history.

            One interesting tidbit from “The New Toy Department” was the issue of bias against Latino ballplayers- because Ramirez is a Latino, reporters tended to mention other Latino players who also faced suspicion (if they mentioned anything else at all) despite the fact that Latinos only made up abput 30% of the league at the time. This may have had to do with association with Ramirez. It may also have been a result of the high profile of some of the Latino players named (including Alex Rodriguez).

            In Kevin Blackistone’s “The Whitening of Sports Media and the Coloring of Black Athletes’ Images,” we also get a view of bias in the world of sports journalism. Blackistone discusses the drop in the number of colored sports journalists in recent years, specifically black journalists. This in spite of the continued predominance of colored athletes in the three largest professional sports leagues in the United States- the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball- as well as the growth of the colored audience for these sports and the shrinking of the white audience. Blackistone cites stereotyping of black athletes as being physically gifted while white athletes as being mentally gifted as a construction of the white dominated media. He also saw a disturbing trend in portrayals of black athletes as more infantile than their white counterparts. He cited differences in reactions to Ben Roethlisberger’s alleged sexual misconduct compared to Michael Vick’s and Tiger Woods’ transgressions as a key example.

            Racial bias and inequality has long been a part of our society and the world we live in. Sports journalism is no different and it suffers from many of the same injustices. As aspiring young journalists, it is our job to combat this inequality in whatever way we can. Be cognizant of what you say and write. Be fair. Be colorblind, don’t be so shallow.

Salciunas Week 5 Post 4

When it comes to diversity in not only sports journalism but journalism as a whole, there is a lack of it. People feel like they can go ahead and say, “Turn on the T.V. Look at all the African American anchors and reporters.” These same people say the same thing about women; but that is not the main focus of writers such as Kevin Blackistone. It is not all about television, journalism originated on paper, and that is where you see the lack of diversity. Facts are facts, and Blackistone backs up the majority of his statements with physical evidence throughout The Whitening of Sports Media and the Coloring of Black Athletes’’ Images”. Then again, I must repeat what I just said; he backs up the majority of his statements with physical evidence.

To this day, racism and segregation is overlooked. Information regarding “Sundown Towns” is not provided to children in schools, and grudges continue to be held. It is not all about White Americans vs. African Americans, but all ethnicities can be seen as “other” people. The statistics Kevin Blackistone provides regarding the lack of diversity in sports journalism is eye popping. From 2008 to 2010, the percentage of women or people of color who had roles as sport editors declined from 11.7 percent to 9.42 percent. In contrast, sports editors who were white males increased by three percentage points (Blackistone 215). Even if there was not such a decline, 11.7 percent is still unbelievably low. As much as the ASNE (American Society of News Editors) push for a more diverse profession, all efforts seem to fail as numbers continuously go in the opposite direction.

Throughout my time watching Kevin Blackistone reporting on ESPN and participating on ESPN’s “Around the Horn”, I began respecting him as a journalist. I read his columns and enjoy what he has to say; however the second part to his title (The Coloring of Black Athletes’ Images”) should not have been in this publication. Kevin Blackistone did not back up his statements made regarding the portrayal of black athletes as “self-centered, arrogant, and mercenary” (Blackistone 217). To this day I do believe African Americans are more centered in the spotlight when it comes to wrong doing and it is disheartening especially in this day and age; but what Blackistone stated was unethical. None of this should be seen as white vs. black. I witnessed the incident when former Oregon Ducks running back LeGarrette Blount punched Boise State’s Byron Houl. Both actions were unnecessary; unfortunately we do not know what Houl said, however we saw Blount punch him in the jaw. Blount’s suspension may have been over the top, and Houl may have been left off the hook too easily, but the punch should be seen as more serious.

Although Blount was “branded a thug” (Blackistone 221) and Houl the victim, in my eyes Houl still seems like the jackass at the playground. Houl was childish, but Blount took the action that caught more attention. You can look at it either way you want. Who was the real victim in the incident? Just this past month, Philadelphia Eagles’ wide out Rhiley Cooper was caught on a camera phone saying a racial term against African Americans. This was not placed under the radar and was reported on all over the country. You could ask “why was Cooper not suspended by the league?” Well, that was not a league issue but more of an issue regarding the Eagles’ organization. As Blackistone states, Blount is “continuously referred to in the media by the punch he threw in college” (Blackistone 222). Blount unfortunately will never lose that title, but Cooper will forever be mentioned as a racist white male all over the National Football League no matter what channel his games are broadcasted. These actions can and will forever be debated as the treatment of white journalists toward black athletes, but in regards to the reporting of Kevin Blackistone, this was unethical.

As I read The News “Toy Department”?, it is funny to see how editors portray sports journalists. Maybe they are just jealous? I for sure do not know. Now they do make interesting points regarding writers being too biased. How writers will not tell the real story but talk up how great the organization they cover is. In some cases I can agree, but sometimes it just isn’t that easy. To get their stories out they need their sources, and they need to keep these sources happy. If a reporter is to say the team they cover is awful, they owner of that team or the head coach may not be so easy when it comes to answering their questions. I am not saying this is right, if a story needs to be put out, if it is the story of the year, get that story out. I do agree with the editors who state some reporters talk up their home team. In the end, I wish there was a reporter who would just go off on how bad their team stinks; but that just will not happen.

In regards to The News “Toy Department”?, I did like the information found on the Manny Ramirez steroid case. It is true, they emphasized more the fact that he was an icon, constantly bringing attention, most of which was not good. He was and still is an iconic member of Major League Baseball. Although they did not bring up the overall facts on drug use in baseball, it still was not the main story. Manny was the story due to his popularity; it was all about his suspension and what was next. If someone of lesser popularity was caught, maybe the story changes.

In regards to my paper topic, I am going to focus on Michael Vick’s return to the National Football League after spending time in jail due to the dog fights he held at his home. Many different reactions were shown, many of which were hard to overcome.  

Napier Week 5

“The Whitening of Sports Media and the Coloring of Black Athletes’ Images” by Kevin B. Blackistone starts by giving quantitative data dealing with a consecutive drop over the years in regards to the percentage of journalists of color in the newsroom, websites, and producers of written media. This study by The American Society of News Editors noted that these numbers continue to drop while the percentage of sport editors who were white increased. The “backdrop” for all of this, as stated by Blackistone, is decades of a lens constructed by white journalists to serve a white audience.

                The article goes farther in discussing the discrimination faced by black athletes as well. Black athletes typically being represented as self-centered and ignorant, while their white counterparts where noted as being diligent and intelligent. It seems that Blackistone is trying to show that correlation between these two images is responsible for the lack of African American men being represented less in the sports media world.

                “The New Toy Department” written by Erin Whitside, Nan Yu, and Marie Hardin discusses the lack of journalistic integrity within sports journalism possibly as a conflict of interests between sports journalists and the organizations they cover as the authors suggest. An example of this conflict of interest being a sports journalist writing a positive piece for the home team as opposed to writing the a story that may damage their reputation.

                Another problem faced in this article is the public’s constant need for news. In the age of the Internet, blogs and online media sources, especially those dealing in sports, tend to put a rush on the story. This leads to inaccuracies that traditional media outlets don’t have much trouble with in comparison. It is the integrity of reporting that is in question; for sports journalism, or any journalism for that matter, to be taken seriously, it needs to come back to the basics.

For my research assignment, I would like to report on Jesse Owens running for the United States in track and field at 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. During this time, Adolf Hitler was trying to show off his "superior" Aryan race; in response, Owens won four gold medals for the USA. He created history by striking against a racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic Germany while representing a country that saw him as less than an equal. This act alone speaks to every one of the functions/principles of journalism. 

-Shawn Napier

Tansits Week 5 Post

This week’s readings highlight two very serious subjects that encompass not only sports journalism, but journalism as a whole. The first, titled The New “Toy Department”?, speaks to the fact that sports journalists aren’t referring to the journalistic standards that other people in journalism abide by. The second, The Whitening of Sports Media and The Coloring of Black Athletes’ Images, speaks very strongly towards race in sports journalism and the picture that white journalists make of black athletes.

Beginning with the first reading by Whitehead, a key part to the point of the reading is that traditional media needs to continue to hold its journalistic integrity in the face of new media. As blogs and new media form everyday in the age of the Internet, they produce content that further advances the notion of sports journalism departments being “toy departments”. And this study shows that in the case of new media, it tends to be true. The study showed that in the case of Manny Ramirez, more than half of the coverage was by new media but the traditional media outlets in fact did a better job to cover the entire story about the impact of the event on baseball and its larger context. Whitehead finishes the reading by asserting that the traditional media should adhere to “traditional journalistic procedures” in the future, because if the traditional media continues to lose it’s integrity through writing neutral or non-problem oriented pieces, they will be following along the new media path. And according to this study, that path leads to being called the “toy department”.

Kevin Blackistone’s piece gets far more serious and adds much more spice into the debate about race in sports journalism and it’s role in professional sports. After citing data and numbers about the deficiencies of diversity in newsrooms early on in his writing, Blackistone heads directly towards speaking towards discrimination. Blackistone argues there is a massive problem forming because people of color aren’t in sports departments, and that there is a scope forming that puts black athletes in bad light and white athletes in better light. Blackistone uses several examples to explain this including LeGerratte Blount, Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger. Additionally, Blackistone adds that black athletes are further disrespected by people referring to their first names such as Kemba or Cam, and goes on to compare Michael Vick’s scandal with Roethlisberger’s.

            Overall, Blackistone’s piece comes off very strongly that to this day people of color are still being wronged in the realm of sports. Both writers though speak to concerns that are rapidly approaching on the horizon of the future of sports journalism.
           For my research paper assignment, I was planning on talking about the Red Sox game after the Boston Bombings and David Ortiz’s speech. The event brought sports fans together and well as provided an uplift from the tragedy. Additionally, it helps provide a history of the event with the speech being a memorable part of a sad time in the city of Boston.

Week 4 Carlin

This week's first reading, "The Sports Beat--A Digital Reporting Mix With Exhaustion Built In," by Dave Kindred, discusses the evolving world that a sports beat writer lives in. Kindred mainly talks about how technology has changed the dynamic of the sports beat for reporters and how beat writers are in a constant state of motion. The advent of the social media aspect of reporting has made sports writers into writing machines, Kindred says.

His example of baseball writers hurrying to put the lineup on Twitter can easily be translated into any sport, whether it be the inactives in football or the pregame injury report in hockey. From my perspective as someone who normally writes hard news stories, the pressure is the same when it comes to large events. Whether it be a press conference with the mayor or a shooting in North Philadelphia, the reporter who Tweets it first is normally the one who is going to be read.

In the second reading, Malcom Moran also writes about the effects of technology on reporters, but focuses more on two problems that it poses for writers: a lack of discernment and reluctance to engage. He questions how the editing process has been impacted and how the time between receiving and disseminating information has shrunk. We see this every time the trade deadline comes around when a majority of the stories are either wrong or flat-out speculation. We also see this with hard news stories like the Boston Marathon Bombing or earlier in the week with the massacre in Washington. Reporters in these situations just throw information they hear to the reader, rather than information they know is fact.