Blog Post #4

“The New ‘Toy Department’?”

In this case study, the authors first review and discuss previous coverage of sports by journalists and traditional media outlets. Steve Wilstein, a writer who challenged the idea of baseball as “America’s pastime” by exposing a player’s use of performance enhancing drugs, is referenced in the article as his actions provide reasons to why the sports department is often referred to as the “toy department.” Sports journalists’ often avoid topics such as that in Wilstein’s article, “for fear of alienating sources and the teams they cover.” Rather these journalists seek to maintain their relationships by protecting their sources and avoiding negative stories. Wilstein suggested that sports journalists were giving major league baseball a “free pass.” With the introduction of new media, such as blogs, “survey research suggests bloggers see themselves as filling a void left by traditional sports journalists in the form of commentary and analysis.” Although sports journalism has emerged popularly in new media outlets, the case study looked to assess whether the coverage of sports media differs when presented online. To properly analyze the coverage, the case of Manny Ramirez’s suspension from major league baseball was used.  After using five-research method questions, the results presented the idea that “stories still trended toward a more ‘neutral’ approach,” further perpetuating the “toy department” reference. The authors also discussed that although journalists had the opportunity to assess the problem of drug use in baseball, most did not. Overall, traditional media was found to have better accomplished the goal of a problem-oriented approach. Coverage from traditional and more mainstream outlets “engaged controversial-yet-critical issues” compared to the new media outlets that were mostly “neutral.” Finally the authors state, “Traditional media outlets should continue focusing on providing sports news that adheres to the ‘importance of traditional journalistic procedures’” and avoid neutral coverage.

“The Whitening of Sports Media and The Coloring of Black Athletes’ Images”

Blackistone’s article directly discusses the contrast between the lack of color in sports journalism and the abundance of colored professional athletes. According to studies in 2009, 67 percent of players in the NFL were black, 77 percent in the NBA were black, and 40 percent in the MLB were of color. The article expresses that media over the decades showed that mostly white journalists were serving white audiences and therefor creating a “lens.” Serving these audiences perpetuated the idea of stereotypes in the media about racial superiority. Black athletes were often associated with their “natural” athletic ability compared to white athletes that represented “diligence, and most importantly, intelligence.” Although ASNE looked to increase the racial diversity in newsrooms, they moved their goal to 2025 including a “mission statement that called on newspapers to ‘reflect the racial diversity of American society by 2025 or sooner’.” However, since 2001, black journalists have declined more than 30 percent. In 2008, according to research, 78 percent of the staff at Associated Press Sports Editors newspapers and websites was white men and 88 percent of columnists were white men. Many other media outlets were found to have significantly less journalists of color compared to white journalists. The article refers to this problem as “whitening of sports media,” while it is “coloring the image of black athletes and athletes of color.” These two issues further perpetuate the stereotypes of black athletes while victimizing them. Blackistone discusses that “while the improprieties of black athletes draws lots of coverage, scandals involving white counterparts seems to get swept under the rug.” Examples include Michael Vick and Tiger Woods compared to Ben Roethlisberger. Finally, concerns continue to be raised as sports media outlets increasingly have less diversity among writers while continuously stereotyping and singling out colored athletes.

Research Paper:

With prior interest as well as reading Blackistone’s article, I am interested in revolving my research around the coverage related to the signing of Michael Vick to the Eagles and his first game with the team after his jail time.