Week 5 Articles

The Babe Ruth Times

"Heroes are not born but made." Because of the huge growth in newspapers and especially sports journalism, Babe Ruth became a legend or hero in the press. It was quickly established that sports couldn't do without journalism and vice versa. Babe knew this so he always made himself available for the journalists. In return, during the Golden Age of sports, journalists turned players into heroes, especially Babe. Journalists would only write of their greatness towards the game and leave their character out because it was considered, "dangerous ground." Because of this many things that Babe did which wouldn't seem heroic were left unmentioned in the press. The metaphor-style of journalism started in the 1920's and what is did precisely was turn athletes into legends or heroes. The athletes status was built by the journalists so those that would read about them would see the illusion of a hero and assume that everything they did was greatness. When people would finally question the athletes they would just respond "It's in the paper isn't it?"

"The Whitening of Sports Media and The Coloring of Black Athletes' Images"
By: Kevin B. Blackistone

April 2001, the number of black journalists declined for the third straight year and is led almost exclusively by white men. from 2008-2010 the percentage went for 11.7 down to 9.42. During this time white male journalists increased by three percent. More importantly, the census found that racial minorities made up almost 85% of the U.S. population growth over the last decade. 
These studies supported stereotypes in beliefs of racial superiority rather than challenging them. Black athletes were credited with success due to their natural athletic ability, while the success of white athletes was tied to diligence and intelligence. Black athletes are portrayed in the media as more deviant and in a "pejorative manner," in comparison to white athletes.
President Lyndon Johnson set out to find out the root cause of the civil disorder and what was found was that the media is to blame. They reported their view on the issues in a way that didn't reveal the truth. The commission gave recommendations to this misrepresentation including "News organizations must employ enough Negroes in positions of significant responsibility" and "The news media must publish newspapers 
and produce programs that recognize the existence and activities of the Negro, both as a Negro and as 
part of the community." As a result, ten years later a plan was created to diversify the newsroom but it admitted that it failed. (2000) ASNE pushed their goal back to 2025 and said that in order for reporters to fully cover a community they must reflect the racial diversity in the newsroom as the American society.
According to this article, we haven't even started to progress to that goal and some five percent of sports reporters are black. (2005) 
Evidence shows that because the industry is mainly white men, black athletes continue to be victimized by stereotypes developed over the years. Black athletes are also more often victims of being referred to by their first names which reduces their maturity. It shows a lack of respect towards blacks compared to what is said about white athletes.
Arguments or excuses for the lack of diversity range from budget cuts, to online media not having any stated goals like newspapers have to make diversity a part of their game plan. This continues to decline in diversity and the consequences have been proven through research that black athletes are portrayed negatively and stereo-typically  They are concerns that will continue to heighten anxieties of these athletes in society.

"The New Toy Department?"

According to Wilstein, journalists who avoid negative topics such as the performance-enhancing drug scandal with Mark McGuire contribute to the labeling of the sports department the "New Toy Department."
The review before the study suggests that sports journalists fail to offer critical perspectives toward athletes and their organizations. It also suggests that they don't meet standards set by their colleagues. This leads to the bad name given of the toy department because of the lack of professional standards and inability to serve as the watchdog function. A conflict reporters face is that of boosterism, which is the practice of writing positive stories for an organization and they don't want to ruin the reputation of that organization. There are also accounts of journalists completely avoiding important social issues when given the opportunity. Because sports stories often do not reflect problem-oriented stories and remain "neutral" according to Rowe, when addressing bigger social implications, they are viewed as a toy department.
According to Lowe, sports reporters are under great pressure since their stories are still highly sought after even with the decline in newspapers. They understand the importance of having really great sources and keeping those sources and if they were to produce a negative story they might lost that great source for all of their content. They could lose their jobs for such a story.
Rise in New Media
The internet has become the new marketplace of idea's. This opens up the opportunity for almost anyone to release information but according to research many bloggers compared to print media use far less sources and present a more one-sided perspective.
Online Sports Communication
Sports journalists see blogging as a waste and that it takes away from journalism where bloggers see that they are doing the job of the journalists. According to Ji and Sheehy, these perceptions have a bigger implication, "blogging becomes more identified with journalism, the long-standing importance of traditional journalistic procedures and standards may begin to weaken."
There is a battle between bloggers and journalists. On one hand bloggers challenge news corporations who control content and expose more touchy issues than sports journalists might. But on the other bloggers fuel a problematic atmosphere by posting stories not based on fact. In a comparison study, research showed that sports journalists were more likely than bloggers to engage the story on issues of racism and included historical context. They were also more likely to speculate on socio-cultural implications. This disagrees with Hartman's study. 
This Research and Background
This content has not been studied extensively and basically needs to be. The story of Manny Ramirez' fifty game suspension due to PED's. Five questions were asked about traditional and new media coverage and how they dealt with this story. They found that out of ninety-four articles, transcripts and web posts that were coded, 45% of the stories came from new media outlets. This was much more than the articles from any print publication.
Discussion and Conclusion
The results found that reporters still trended toward a "neutral" approach, which again leads to the idea of sports journalism being a "toy department." The newspeg allowed for reporters to assess a systemic issue of drug use in baseball but they did not go that route. Nor did they cover any analysis of a steroid problem in baseball. Traditional journalists better accomplished the problem-oriented approach as they were more likely to 1) connect the Ramirez story to other players — suggesting that the failed drug test is not an isolated 
incident; 2) address the league’s substance abuse policy and; 3) provide information about why an elite athlete might use HCG. New media outlets were more neutral, suggesting that the new toy department may be in the online environment. The most interesting finding was that traditional media linked this story with other players connected with steroids even with the threat of losing credible sources. This may suggest a step in the right direction for traditional media.

Mark Valeriano
Topic: Either Cinderella Man or Ali's battle with the Government