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Authors:Andrew C. Billings, Marie Hardin Pages: 591 - 593 Abstract: Communication & Sport, Volume 10, Issue 4, Page 591-593, August 2022.
Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-07-12T02:00:55Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221111691 Issue No:Vol. 10, No. 4 (2022)
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Authors:Shannon Scovel, Monica Nelson, Holly Thorpe Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. In this paper, we draw upon Hallin’s typology of journalistic writing to examine the role of the media in framing transgender participation in sport as a ‘legitimate controversy’, and thus up for public debate. Focusing on the media coverage before, during and after New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard’s debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, we reveal three key strategies used by journalists to frame the topic in polarizing terms: i) sourcing practices, ii) use of science, and iii) questioning of policy. Findings show that Hubbard’s voice and personal experiences were often left out of stories, replaced instead by the ‘authoritative’ voices of scientists and others (i.e., politicians, athletes, anti-trans groups) questioning her Olympic qualification and the International Olympic Committee policy for transgender athletes. Such framings prompt readers to ‘take a side’ in a polarizing debate, rather than encouraging more nuanced, ethical and empathetic responses to a complex issue. This study ultimately highlights the critical role that journalists play in controlling, shaping and/or shifting public opinion regarding the future of sport as an exclusionary or truly inclusive space. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-08-03T08:02:46Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221116884
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Authors:Qingru Xu, Sitong Guo, Eunhui Kim Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. The purpose of this study is to explore Chinese and U.S. athlete self-presentation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. By examining 1200 photographs posted by Olympians on social media, this study finds that (a) male athletes feature themselves in more revealing clothes than female athletes, (b) Chinese athletes actively show more nationalistic notions compared to their U.S. counterparts, and (c) U.S. female athletes are involved in more subordinating behaviors than Chinese female athletes. This study underlines how the intersection of gender, nationalism, and culture influences athlete social media self-presentation in the global pandemic context. Possible explanations and implications are discussed. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-07-14T01:27:50Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221113307
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Authors:Daniel Burdsey, Enrico Michelini, Sine Agergaard Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. Following the global “refugee crisis” of 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) established the Refugee Olympic Team (ROT), providing opportunities for refugee athletes to compete at the 2016 and 2020 (2021) Summer Olympics. To examine the changing intertwinements between wider social dynamics and mediated constructions of refugees, this article considers the IOC’s representation of the ROT around the 2020 Games. With this aim, a catalogue of articles published on the IOC’s website was examined through critical discourse analysis. Four discursive themes emerged: 1. The saving, healing and transformative power of Western sporting capital and the Olympic Games; 2. The ROT as epitome of the Global North’s inclusivity and benevolence; 3. Refugee athletes as offering hope and inspiration to other refugees; and 4. The neoliberal ideal that “hard work pays off” and “you can overcome everything” in and through sport. More broadly, current changes in the societal reception of refugees were evident in the IOC’s communication, which appeared to assume that we have moved beyond the “refugee crisis”. The IOC disseminates an “official” discourse, which elides the challenging structural conditions that refugees face after their arrival in receiving contexts, and obscures current political reluctance towards finding more long-term solutions for refugees. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-07-01T01:48:48Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221110232
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Authors:Christiana Schallhorn, Daniel Nölleke, Philip Sinner, Christof Seeger, Jörg-Uwe Nieland, Thomas Horky, Katja Mehler Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on all societal domains, including sports. Social distancing measures and the closure of sports facilities posed especially severe challenges for grassroots sports clubs, which thrive on joint activities and member social contact. Drawing on mediatization theory, the study examines the communication challenges faced by grassroots sports clubs and the perceived potential of digital media to overcome these obstacles during and beyond the pandemic. Based on in-depth interviews with 32 club officials of German grassroots sports clubs, the study identified ongoing uncertainty about COVID-19 regulations, preserving members’ sense of belonging during social distancing, and involving everyone in formal processes as the major communication challenges. While most of the interviewees valued the potential of digital media to address these challenges, they acknowledged that the benefits of digital media for individual members would depend on their skill, motivation, and concerns, as well as on the availability of digital infrastructure. For that reason, digital media were not considered a substitute for face-to-face social contact or sporting activity but were seen to extend opportunities for communication and training. More generally, these findings raise new questions about the relationship between mediatization and social cohesion. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-06-25T03:14:37Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221109759
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Authors:Virginia S. Harrison, Brandon Boatwright, Joseph Bober Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. During the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty starred in political election-related memes as Philadelphia voters became central to the election outcome. With Gritty’s ability to transcend sport as a symbol of the political left during the election, our study was framed with theoretical discussions of mascot anthropomorphism and the concept of “home” in sport fandom. Using systematic discourse analysis, this paper analyzes purposefully selected Gritty memes to understand the interplay of sport mascots, meme co-creation, and the meaning of home in online spaces. Memes were evaluated for form and function. Evidence was found for meme intertextuality and polyvocality as well as four personas of Gritty (Aggressor, Humorist, Leftist, and Hometown Hero) that propelled the mascot to becoming a historic symbol of Philadelphia’s role in determining the election outcome. Contributions of the study include expanding the concept of home to include instances of fan co-creation and online spaces and further understanding mascot anthropomorphism in a unique socio-political context. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-06-18T03:20:40Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221106115
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Authors:Lena Küpper, Greta Kossing, Thomas Birkner Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. Although the intertwining of sports and media, especially in soccer and from an organization-centered perspective, has been highlighted in communication research, little attention has been paid to the perception and evaluation of the mediatization of professional tennis. The aim of this study was to close this research gap by presenting the athletes’ perspective. Based on the autobiographies of four top international athletes, we systematized their perceptions of the media before the rise of social media, using a qualitative content analysis. We demonstrate a significant influence of the media system and the perceived media logic: Tennis is closely intertwined with the media, and mediatization processes have strong effects on the players, both positive and negative. Players are aware of the importance of public attention for tennis and actively adapt to the perceived media logic. On the other hand, they often feel inhibited by the press and reject adaptations to media affordances. Our study demonstrates once again the research potential of mediatization as a beneficial concept in studies on sports communication, stresses the need to focus also on the dysfunctional influences of media and mediatization, and opens the path for further research on social media influences. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-06-08T03:56:03Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221105480
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Authors:Mike Milford Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. In 2021, the twelve largest soccer clubs in the world created a new league that promised high-level competition between the sports’ elites. Three days later, the Euro Super League was no more. Much of the credit for its demise is attributable to the various groups who spoke out strongly against the organization. The collective rhetoric took on the qualities of kategoria, a speech of accusation that proceeds apologia. While there is a wealth of research on apologia, there is little on kategoria as a discrete rhetorical act. Kategoria sits at the intersection of community and morality. Rhetors position themselves above the accused and utilize the community’s collective identity to streamline the complexities of contemporary sports into simpler moral issues. In the case of the Super League, an analysis of the six English Premier League clubs and their supporters clubs shows this principle at work. The supporters secured a place of moral authority and charged the owners with ethical failure. They asserted that the owners were out of touch with the spirit of English soccer due to their single-minded greed. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-06-07T04:57:36Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221103412
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Authors:Talston Scott, Sydney V. M. Smith, Francine E. Darroch, Audrey R. Giles Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. Recently, motherhood and pregnancy in elite sport have received increased attention in sport media. Through a comprehensive news media search across Factiva as well as a gray literature search using Google search engine, we analyzed 115 articles using feminist framing analysis. We developed two primary frames: 1) empowerment versus exploitation, and 2) proactivity versus reactivity. Our results show that many pregnant and parenting athletes frame their respective sponsors as exploitative for recognizing and capitalizing upon their unique marketing value, while these same corporate sponsors frame themselves as industry leaders who empower pregnant and parenting athletes. These two frames show that pregnant/parenting elite athletes commonly face discriminatory policies and practices and that there is often a lack of congruence between marketing and actual corporate practices and policies. These findings arguably reflect larger societal issues related to gender equity and highlight the importance of action over rhetoric to ensure motherhood is supported—rather than marketed—for elite athletes. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-06-06T02:20:41Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221103415
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Authors:Lin Shi, Liwen Zhang Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. In the post-COVID-19 era, the mediatization of sports mega-events is timely and notable. This study focuses on the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing and investigates how mediated processes influenced the Olympics. The data were gathered in two ways: we examined 783 WeChat posts from three salient Chinese media institutions, namely, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organising Committee (BOCOG), China Central Television (CCTV), and Beijing Television (BTV), as well as conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with BOCOG staff and members of the general public. We discovered that the Games were narrated around two major themes—the development of technology and “going green”—both of which were heavily influenced by the country’s national agenda. As a result, the Chinese public was thoroughly immersed in the tech-savvy Olympics scenario, and the Green Olympics concept was widely shared in their daily practices. This study adds to the literature by incorporating communicative figuration as an analytical framework to improve the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of media saturation theory. Additionally, this research sheds light on the study of sports mediatization in China in the context of a pandemic. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-06-06T02:06:46Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221106937
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Authors:Qingru Xu Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. This study examines the Twitter network discussing the inclusion of Laurel Hubbard, the first out trans woman Olympian, during the 2020 Tokyo Games. By analyzing the Twitter reactions, top opinion leaders, and the modularity of the network, this study uncovers that (a) the majority of the top 10 most-liked tweets and the top influential social actors hold a negative attitude toward Laurel Hubbard’s participation in the women’s category; (b) compared to traditional news agencies, social media influencers and newly launched digital media agencies play a more important role in facilitating the flow of information in this network; and (c) the observed Twitter network is highly clustered, indicating that individuals tend to interact with people more frequently within their segregated subgroup, whereas information diffusion across clusters is more restricted. This research contributes to the understanding of how Twitter users perceive the inclusion of trans athletes at international sporting events by empirically exploring the Twitter network of Laurel Hubbard, the first out trans female athlete in Olympic history. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-06-04T05:59:06Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221090422
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Authors:Xavier Ginesta, Nahuel I. Faedo Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. The objective of this article is to analyze the changes in the management model of RCD Mallorca, a LaLiga football club, with the arrival of a new, North American majority shareholder (ACQ Legacy Partners LLC) in 2016. It also analyzes journalists’ perception of the new ownership. Our method is a case study design, using qualitative methodological triangulation: a focus group discussion with non-sports executives of the entity, non-participant observation, in-depth interviews with the CEO of RCD Mallorca and its Director of Communication, as well as semi-structured interviews with journalists that regularly cover the club’s information. The results show how the club has developed its management model from one focused on the short-term to a rational and analytical one that incorporates long-term planning. Meanwhile, journalists criticize that they are experiencing a process of disintermediation, since the club ends up competing with them in content creation thanks to the potential of the new digital environment. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-06-03T11:23:44Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221106118
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Authors:Kelsey Slater, Lauren M. Burch, Matthew H. Zimmerman Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. The inaugural season of the National Basketball Association–supported Basketball Africa League (BAL) featured 12 teams from the African continent, competing in a Champions League-style competition. This brand-new professional endeavor featured player rosters mandated to feature a certain number of players from each of the countries in which the individual teams were based, with rosters also including a small number of foreign players. Proceeding from a Framing Theory paradigm, two coders examined the broadcasts of the BAL competition, analyzing for descriptors including physicality, intelligence, nationality, and experience. Most descriptors pertained to athlete success or failure, with significant findings for most descriptors between nationalities. Ideas for future research are also discussed. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-06-03T06:58:17Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221103408
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Authors:Erin Pearson, Laura Misener Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. Media coverage of the Paralympic Games can affect how athletes with impairment and disability sport are perceived by the public. Researchers investigating media representations of disability sport have focused on how Paralympic athletes and disability sport are represented by the media. Limited research, however, has examined how Paralympic athletes perceive these representations of themselves and the meanings they attribute to such representations. The purpose of this study was to examine how Paralympic athletes make meaning of discourses of disability within Paralympic coverage. This involved semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews with eight Canadian Paralympic athletes. A reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) was used to analyze the data utilizing Foucault’s notions of discourse, power, and technologies of the self. The findings demonstrate that Paralympic athletes made meaning of the discourses of disability within Paralympic media coverage by drawing on their lived and media experiences. Athletes with more media experience articulated problematizations of dominant discourses of disability in Paralympic media coverage and engagement in technologies of the self. Knowledge generated from this study offers media personnel an informed understanding of how Paralympic athletes understand representations of disability and disability sport. This knowledge may offer insight and inform future media approaches of disability sport and the Paralympic Games. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-05-30T01:23:59Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221103410
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Authors:Andrew Dix Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the personal fouls that were called against a historically black college and university (HBCU) that athletically participates in a conference which is comprised of predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The study introduction provided an overview of Tennessee State University (TSU) as it relates to their involvement in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The cultural approach to organizations served as the communication-centric theoretical frame while the previous literature on referee bias was reviewed. The criterion of personal fouls per game (PFPG) was examined. Z-score analyses revealed that referees called more PFPG against the HBCU of TSU in men’s college basketball relative to the number of PFPG that were called against the PWI conference teams in the OVC. A similar effect was observed in women’s college basketball. Theoretical implications for the cultural approach to organizations were noted in the study discussion as were practical implications for TSU and other HBCUs. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-05-24T11:10:28Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221103407
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Authors:Veera Ehrlén Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. Participation in leisure sports is undergoing a transformation that is guided by societal and cultural changes as well as recent developments in, and the use of, digital sports media and technologies. This paper discusses how changes in leisure sports participation can be understood using mediatization as a theoretical framework. This theoretically informed analysis of change is contextualized within Finnish climbing and trail running subcultures. The paper proposes that mediatization contributes to the diversification of the sporting landscape, enables fluidity in sports communities, and strengthens commercialization of leisure sports. Additionally, the paper outlines how the dynamics of de- and reinstitutionalization of leisure sports are connected to the rise of digital media and communication. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-05-07T12:10:53Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221095042
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Authors:Kirsten Frandsen, Kirstine Landgrebe Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. Using the Danish Superliga as a case, this article explores how football’s implementation of a video assistant referee (VAR) instigates complex processes of change which imply not only a further decrease in football’s institutional autonomy, but also intensifies inequality. It is argued that the implementation has to be seen from the perspective of professional football’s historical relationship with broadcast television; however, implementation of VAR represents a qualitative shift in the digital age, in which football’s dependence on media reaches a new functional level. André Jansson’s critical conceptualization of mediatization as transactional, ritual, and functional dependence is used as a framework for exploring how values, roles, and practices are under transformation among players, coach/managers, and referees. The analysis illustrates how the small-nation context, existing national and international hegemonic structures, and inequalities in combination with media logic and economics play a significant role and influence ongoing renegotiations of values and practices among these key actors. It also shows how refereeing is becoming much more complex with VAR, moving the pressure to the new role as video assistant referee, creating dilemmas in the team of referees and changing the authority of the referee from an individual into a more collective matter. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-05-07T03:51:07Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221090425
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Authors:Simon Ličen, Dunja Antunovic, Sunčica Bartoluci Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. The Olympic Games are the largest mediated sporting mega-event, and broadcasters are instrumental in ensuring their exposure and financial viability. In the digital era, the Olympics navigate technological and societal changes that contest the values of sport, carry political and economic implications, and shape the relationship between the organizers and nation states. These interdependencies vary by global regions. This study examines the mediatization of sport as manifested in digital Olympic content published on Facebook during the Tokyo Olympics by public service media (PSM) in Croatia and Slovenia—two countries inconsistently assigned to either Central and Eastern Europe or Southeast Europe. These PSM face a host of challenges, including rising media rights costs, digitalization, and political interference, while continuing to broadcast the Olympics. On their Facebook pages, contest-related updates were the primary type of content, general news and especially human interest content was rare, critical posts were virtually non-existent, and “home” athletes were politicized conspicuously. Mediatization in this region seems delayed, facilitates event-focused and decontextualized sport content, and appears central in promoting patriotic narratives. On social media, broadcasters perpetuate problematic practices characteristic of sport media and only partially fulfill the roles traditionally ascribed to PSM. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-05-06T02:11:30Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221090423
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Authors:Chris W. Henderson, Thomas P. Oates Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. Liverpool’s elite soccer clubs are at once carefully managed global brands and local institutions infused with community values. As billion-dollar companies, Liverpool FC and Everton FC deploy a tactic we call “branded solidarity”: leveraging the historical enactment of leftist politics in the city to appeal to a broader, global audience through value-laden marketing campaigns that frame the clubs as authentic representations of working-class solidarity. By reducing local traditions to marketable symbols of community, the clubs encounter resistance from fans, who periodically place limits on the capitalist endeavors of the clubs. In this paper, we offer a conjunctural analysis that focuses on the tensions and contradictions of branded solidarity through a close reading of each club’s marketing campaigns and discusses how these tensions played a role in the demise of the short-lived European Super League. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-05-04T06:40:02Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221092034
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Authors:Joseph J. Yoo, Bumgi Min, YoungHwan Koh Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. This study presents a comparison of themes found in the U.S. and South Korean news coverage of the Paralympics. It is commonplace to associate rugged individualism with the former country and collectivism with the latter, and we assumed that these national traits would be apparent in the news coverage of the Paralympic Games in the two countries. Using the keyword “Paralympics,” we searched two decades of newspaper coverage and performed latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling on the articles that the search produced. The results of the modeling confirmed that the reporting in each country reflected its national characteristics, with the U.S. coverage reinforcing ableism and the South Korean coverage focusing on the government’s efforts to promote large-scale sporting events. The news stories in both countries were alike, though, in treating disabled athletes and traditional athletes differently. Part of the contribution of this research to the academic study of disabled athletes is the use of computational textual analysis to address these issues. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-05-03T06:47:25Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221090420
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Authors:Jessica Noske-Turner, Emma Pullen, Mufunanji Magalasi, Damian Haslett, Jo Tacchi Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. The purpose of this commentary is to discuss how Paralympic coverage in sub-Saharan Africa can be effectively mobilised to stimulate discursive and structural change around disability. Paralympic coverage has demonstrated its pedagogical power to engage public(s) and challenge stigma toward disability. Yet, the Global picture of Paralympic broadcasting is deeply uneven, with audiences in parts of the Global South afforded limited opportunities to watch the Games. Considering this, the International Paralympic Committee has begun to broadcast Paralympic coverage across sub-Saharan Africa with an explicit aim to challenge stigma toward disability. In this article, we draw on examples from research to argue that ideas from the field of Communication for Social Change (CfSC) can add value towards this aim. We begin by providing a brief overview of CfSC before critically examining one of the field’s key concepts – Communicative (E)ecologies. Following this, we critically reflect on the potential of Paralympic broadcasting as a vehicle for social change and disability rights agendas in sub-Saharan Africa. We argue that thinking with CfSC concepts show the importance of a ‘decentred’ media approach that engages with disability community advocacy groups, localised communication activities and practices, and culturally specific disability narratives. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-04-30T07:19:59Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221093722
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Authors:Olan Scott, Bo (Norman) Li Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. This study explored how nationalism unfolded within the Australian broadcast of the 2018 Commonwealth Games that were held on the Gold Coast, Australia. Applying social-categorization theory, over 31 hours of the total coverage was content analyzed for name mentions, description of success or failure, and personality and physicality of the athletes. Results of this study underscore large differences in the amount of commentary that was provided to Australians and non-Australians during the broadcasts, with Australians being mentioned more than non-Australian athletes. As Australia performed well at the Commonwealth Games, Australians featured highly on both the top most-mentioned athletes list and the overall percentage of name mentions also favored Australians. The Seven Network emphasized Australian athletes to its viewers, as Australian viewers would share many of the group characteristics with athletes who were featured on television. This study contributes to the literature by uncovering how in-group members were portrayed in the Australian sports context while also providing insight into how consumers’ media consumption could potentially affect how the network broadcasts the Commonwealth Games from a nationally partisan perspective. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-04-29T09:47:40Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221090416
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Authors:Natalie Bunch, Beth A. Cianfrone Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. There is a rise in athletes and sports organizations utilizing social media activism to discuss social injustices. Social media staff are tasked with communicating such messages, often with little insight into how it impacts their athletes. Empirical research is necessary to understand the perspectives of athletes to inform best practices for the staff. The purpose of this study was to assess college student-athletes’ perceptions of their athletic departments’ involvement in promoting racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement on social media. We surveyed 273 student-athletes from 40 universities for their perspectives. Quantitatively, we explored four factors: affective responses to the posts, perceived conflict, the role of the athletic department in using social media to discuss the topic, and the perceived qualifications of the athletic department to post about the topic. MANOVA revealed Black student-athletes were significantly more likely to believe that it was the athletic department’s role to address racial justice than their non-Black counterparts, with no significant differences in the other three factors. Qualitatively, student-athletes’ reactions were classified into three themes: social activism communication strategy, strategies to develop race conscious culture, and challenges to social media activism. Athletic department staff can utilize the findings to implement a strategy. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-04-29T05:14:18Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221091814
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Authors:Carlos d’Andréa, Markus Stauff Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. This article presents the implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) as an example of the increasingly layered mediatization of sports. We argue that, while integrated into the established broadcasting protocols, VAR becomes an object of explicit reflection and popular debate—and increasingly so, when football and its TV coverage are discussed on “technologies of engagement” like Twitter. Combining the concept of mediatization with insights from Science and Technology Studies, this article discusses how and why sports systematically contribute to what we call “mediatized engagements with technologies.” The combination of football’s “media manifold” comprising epistemic technologies, television, and social media with its knowledgeable and emotionally invested audience inevitably limits the “black-boxing” of a refereeing technology. Our case study analyses how fans, journalists, and others evaluate VAR in action on Twitter during the men’s 2018 FIFA World Cup. Based on a multilingual dataset, we show, among other examples, how the media event displays the technology as a historical innovation and analyze why even the allegedly “clear and obvious” cases of its application create controversies. In conclusion, the article discusses how the layered mediatization of sports, its partisanship, and ambivalent relationship with technologies stimulate engagement far beyond the fair refereeing issue. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-04-26T03:36:18Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795221076882
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Authors:Steven Latino, Audrey R. Giles, Steven Rynne, Lyndsay Hayhurst Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. The extractives industry (mining, quarrying, oil, and gas) engages in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to reinforce its organizational legitimacy and enhance its public image. One such approach to CSR that is popular in the industry is through funding sport initiatives aimed at improving the lives of Indigenous peoples, known as sport for development (SFD). Through the adoption of a settler colonial studies lens, and using netnographic methods and discourse analysis, we examined how three extractives companies portray their funding of SFD in Indigenous communities in Canada and Australia on social media, and the ways in which it contributes to settler colonialism. We determined that there are two main discourses that extractive companies use: i) Extractives companies “help” and “partner” with Indigenous communities to enable Indigenous youth’s access to the transformative power of sport; ii) longevity is strategically associated with such “help” and “partnership.” The production of these discourses enables extractives companies to downplay their contributions to settler colonialism through land denigration and colonial authority. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-03-09T11:09:21Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795211069578
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Authors:Josh Compton, Jordan L. Compton Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. In May 2021, the Toronto Maple Leafs National Hockey League team lost a seventh and final playoff game—again. The day after their loss, Toronto Mayor John Tory took the unusual step of penning an open letter to Maple Leaf fans in response. His two-page letter was a unique mix of communication genres, including sport communication, political communication, and, with multiple references to COVID-19, health communication. It was also, as we argue here, a unique example of image repair rhetoric in general and sport image repair rhetoric in particular. In this rhetorical analysis, we build on a growing body of sport image repair in the form of open letters, revealing how the interaction of these contexts with Tory’s main focus on the team reveals how his open letter is at a crossroads of intersecting image repair efforts in politic, health, and sport. We draw three primary findings from our analysis, including the possibility that Tory’s letter functioned as an inoculation message, preparing fans to resist discouragement and a dampening of support. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-03-08T11:06:05Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795211067471
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Authors:Tang Tang, Roger Cooper Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. This research empirically tested the Dynamic Model of Exposure by examining users’ multiplatform exposure during the Tokyo Olympic Games. Findings supported the model, suggesting that Olympics viewing was a dynamic process involving individual preferences and structures. Various preferences and structures combined to explain 37.7% of the variance in viewing the Olympics on television and 48.7% of Olympics viewing via digital streaming. Overall, endogenous preferences provided the largest predictive value, suggesting that pre-Olympic media routines had the most powerful influence on viewing this mega-event on both television and via digital streaming. Variables related to the COVID-19 pandemic showed no significant impact on those who watched the Tokyo Games. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-03-07T11:20:27Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795211073811
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Authors:Anna Posbergh, David L. Andrews, Samuel M. Clevenger Abstract: Communication & Sport, Ahead of Print. Nike, a US-headquartered transnational corporation lauded for its putatively empowering women-centered advertisements, frequently releases nationally/regionally focused advertisements depicting women determinedly engaging in physical activity and, in doing so, overcoming gendered barriers and stigmas. Indeed, the global ubiquity of the empowered (Nike-clad) woman illustrates Nike’s role in advancing women’s empowerment, both in the US and globally. Universalizing “just do it” beyond geographical borders, Nike’s form of transnational feminism centers on a carefully manufactured, Western-centered image of empowered female athleticism. However, this notably contradicts transnational feminist efforts to reject the universalization of Western-centered representations of women. Using a critical cultural studies approach in concert with a transnational feminist framework, we analyze six recent Nike advertisements (the United States, Mexico, the Middle East, Turkey, India, and Russia) and critique the corporation’s universalization of neoliberal postfeminist messaging within its global marketing strategies. We find that Nike utilizes three thematics to extend their caricature of the (Nike-powered) female athlete beyond the spatial and symbolic borders of the US market: responsibilitization, competitive individualism, and empowerment. We conclude that Nike normalizes a white, Western-centered neoliberal postfeminism, undermining the structural and sporting realities of the non-white/non-Western women their promotional campaigning seeks to embolden. Citation: Communication & Sport PubDate: 2022-01-15T03:42:18Z DOI: 10.1177/21674795211063537
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