How does sports media affect society

How Does Sports Media Effect Society? Outline Introduction: The introduction contains a thesis ment which assumes that the sports media’s excessive attention to sports have contributed to realization that sports have usurped the role of religion in society. In other words, the sports media have turned sports into what Marx though religion was for society in 19th century: an “ opiate of the masses” (Wenner 1989, p. 70).
A. The Media’s portrayal of Sports: This part of the paper will analyze the treatment of sports by the media and how this corresponds with what the media is trying to achieve. For instance Woods (2007) maintains that sports is main source of revenue for the media and as such they use techniques to generate public interests and this often translated into unhealthy emotional attachment to specific sports and athletes (p. 72).
B. Codes of Conduct: This section focuses on the irresponsible way that the sports press prioritizes and changes the entertainment value of sports. For example Shhultz (2005) reports that the sports media focuses far too much attention on controversy because it generates public interest (p. 27). Rather than focusing on the competitive nature of sports in a healthy way the sports media is becoming increasingly fixated on issues such as athlete’s who have ongoing morality issues such as the Tiger Woods sex scandal.
C. Perceptions and Stereotyping in the Sports Media: This part of the paper looks at issues of standards and analyses how the media contributes to society’s penchant for cultural stereotyping. For instance the portray of female cheerleaders as sex symbols, or Latin athletes as entirely hot-tempered. (Pedersen, Miloch and Laucella 2007, p. 322).
D. How Sports should be Treated by the Media: This section looks at the negative effects that sports media has on society by reference to the previous sections. This section will then go into analyzing how sports media can portray sports so as to have a more positive impact on society. For instance sports is a manifestation of a rules-based culture. It also promotes healthy eating and healthy lifestyles (Leclerc 2010, p. 164).
E. Conclusion: The author’s concluding remarks will include a summary of the effects that the sports media has on society and how this can be changed for the better.
Works Cited
Leclerc, A. An American Philosophy: A Way of Living, Author House, 2010.
Pedersen, P.; Miloch, K. and Laucella, P. Strategic Sport Communication. Human Kinetics, 2007.
Schultz, B. Sports Media: Planning, Production and Reporting. Elsevier 2005.
Wenner, L. Media, Sports and Society. SAGE, 1989.
Woods, R. Social Issues in Sport. Human Kinetics, 2007.