Carroll & Fortunato

“’A Perfect Baseball Day’: Black Press Coverage of the East-West Classic”

            Although first being seen as a “perfect baseball day,” the East-West Classic, played within the Negro League, was abandoned as the black press began to focus on the heroes playing the major league, including Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, and Monte Irvin. The black press had originally been the main source to producing an intense amount of content regarding the Negro League. Writers and editors such as Wendell Smith played a significant role in displaying the talent of African American athletes in baseball. Their efforts were not just an attempt to give these black athletes a chance to gain a position in the Major League but present the idea of integration in all aspects of society as well as the equality among all individuals. Business and economic support of black baseball become a major factor in society, as black businessmen encouraged each other to come together and support the league. After the collapse and reconstructing of the Negro National League, “the business-based rationale for integrating professional baseball became more prominent in black press coverage.” While major league baseball was facing increasingly lower attendance rates and profit, major black sporting events were gaining more success. According to the authors this “provided concrete evidence that integration was in everyone’s best business interests,” especially the East-West Classic. It quickly became the biggest sporting event within black America, aside from Joe Louis’ fights. Black newspapers began to include ballots for fans to cut out and send it with their vote for players, which became a big deal for the black community who never had this type of voting opportunity. According to the authors, the East-West Classic “owed its existence to the black press,” who helped to stage the event. Apart from sending press releases to many black weeklies and white dailies, the black press also promoted the event constantly, while also gaining advertisements for the event in some papers. The success of the game over the years along with the black press encouraged integration. White mainstream media increasingly became a little bit more interested in this event, and in 1936 the organizing committee for the Classic hired a white man to promote the event to the public. Through the assimilation of black players such as Robinson and Campanella to the major league teams, interest and attendance to the East-West Classic as well as Negro League games.

“The relationship of fantasy football participation with NFL television ratings”

            In John Fortunato’s article, he focuses on the fantasy football and the effect it has on NFL game viewing. He states in the introduction at the purpose of the study was to “examine whether fantasy football participation can serve as an additional motivating factor for fans to watch National Football League games on television.” After conducting the study and examining different variables and factors, Fortunato found that fantasy football played a significant role in the NFL game viewing. The data implied that there was a relationship between the two—fantasy football and NFL game viewership. Fortuanto advises that with these findings, the “NFL should use the attraction of fantasy football and the appeal of certain players as another variable in putting together its television programming schedule of games.” This in return would allow ratings and viewership to continue to increase. Although it is hard to determine what games would get the best TV ratings according to their past season’s records, Fortunato suggests that the high percentage of fantasy football teams might be. The main idea that fans are more inclined to watch a game if their own players on their fantasy football teams are playing as well as if their opponents of their teams are playing.

Week 10: Carroll and Fortunato

As part of a continuation of last week’s readings, Brian Carroll’s article discusses the black press during the Negro League era. Rather than focusing on stories such as Jackie Robinson and all of Negro League baseball, Carroll narrows his focus to one specific topic within the Negro Leagues: the East-West Classic.

The East-West Classic was essentially the Negro League’s version of the MLB All-Star Game. It featured the Negro League’s biggest stars facing off against each other in Chicago, as Chicago was one of the focal points of black baseball and also allowed for fans from all over the country to attend the game. The game was heavily-attended – as Carroll points out – and was the highlight of Negro League baseball. The game, in many ways, was actually much more successful than the MLB All-Star game for many years.

Throughout his discussion about the East-West Classic, Carroll attributes much of its success – and failures – to the black press of the time. Much like last week’s readings, we see how large of a role the black press played in the success of the Negro Leagues and the East-West Classic was no exception. Carroll explains how dependent the game was on the black press. Papers such as the Pittsburgh Courier and the Chicago Defender were responsible for the advertising and organization of the game, even down to the detail of counting the ballots for who would play in the game.

However, as Carroll points out, the success of the East-West Classic was not able to be sustained. The East-West Classic, which at one point was one of the top African-American social events in the country, began failing for a variety of reasons. After the desegregation of baseball, the Negro Leagues did not get nearly the same amount of coverage and support from the black press. This – along with several other reasons – would contribute to the Negro League’s ultimate demise, including the demise of the East-West Classic.

On a completely different note, John Fortunato’s article focuses on the topic of fantasy sports and how fantasy sports might affect viewership of a game. He looks specifically at fantasy football, which is the most popular fantasy sport to date. While Fortunato acknowledges that there has been studies on fantasy sports in the past (economic impacts, for example), he notes that there has been nothing about how fantasy sports might influence the amount of viewers for a game.

With this topic, Fortunato asks the question whether fantasy sports is a variable in the number of viewers. He examines a number of variables: fantasy football players starting in fantasy leagues, the teams’ past success, the two teams’ current winning percentage, and the score of the game. Using these variables, Fortunato examines just how strong the influence of fantasy football is on the NFL.

After examining the relationships, Fortunato was able to determine that fantasy football is indeed a variable in viewership. All of the data – number of players starting and TV ratings – supported a relationship between fantasy football and football TV ratings. There were some relationships – prior winning percentage, for example – that was not necessarily an indicator of TV ratings.

This goes to show just how strong of an influence fantasy sports (specifically fantasy football) is to their respective sports. Fortunato concludes that fans – even the most casual – are more inclined to watch a game if their (or their opponent’s) players are involved in a game. Thus, it is implied that not only is there a huge economic impact of fantasy sports, but these fantasy sports games and sites also provide a boost in popularity for each respective sport.

Week 10 Readings

"A Perfect Baseball Day"
By: Brian Carroll

In the 1930's the joined owners in building up the sport. In the 1940's owners became very greedy and sportswriters distances themselves from ownership and focused on the games along with integration. In the 1950's integration moved into the major leagues, fans became stewards of the game and the papers joined the fans in covering the players breaking into the major leagues. This left little coverage for the Negro Leagues and its yearly celebration of the East vs. West game. Again, the sportswriters left their focus of Negro leagues and shifted it onto the black stars that came from those leagues.
The primary evidence supporting integration's potential economic benefits was the East-West Classic. It was the biggest sporting event in Black America next to Joe Louis' fights. Although newspapers wouldn't reproduce the partnership with the Negro National League they did come together to make the Classic possible.
The Negro League allowed their fans to choose the heroes and allowed them to vote for their favorite and best, unlike the Major Leagues. It was originally about racial pride and it owed its existence to the black press. The black press was relentless in its promotion all over the country.
"East-West All-Star game accomplished what the colored World Series could not."
It attracted positive attention from mainstream society, including white media and MLB leadership. It was also very successful in a business aspect and for positive press by white mainstream media.
Again in 1936 the Classic attracted roughly 30,000 fans and remained a huge financial success. !937 another huge success, attracting nearly 60,000 fans. This was significantly more than the MLB could do, further pushing the idea of integration of blacks into the major leagues. The Classic continued to grow, in 1941 the fans that attended reached 50,000 and brought in over 49,000 in gate receipts alone.
Even with the war in the 1940's, causing major concern for both black and white leagues, the Classic proved otherwise. 1943, 51,723 came to Comiskey Park for the celebration.
When there was word of blacks in the major leagues the Classic lost fans and the attention shifted towards the integration. Black baseball began to lose at the gates because its fans had heroes on major league teams.
Black league coverage began to become a mere footnote. In 1949 the Courier did not even cover the Negro League's annual conference. Black team owners went into debt with more and more black ball players joining the major leagues.
1953 only 10,000 fans attended the East-West Classic.
1954 The Classic's last year because of declining coverage and fans and overall money and revenue.
"All that remained for black baseball was barnstorming and clown acts."
1955 there was no Classic. John Johnson declared, "Negro baseball has served its purpose." "A relic of a Jim crow period."

"The Relationship of Fantasy Football Participation with NFL Television Ratings"
By: John A. Fortunato

In 2009 an estimated thirty million people participated in fantasy football. There has been little research conducted on this growing phenomenon. The purpose of the study is to find out if fantasy football participants are motivated to watch the NFL on television more.
Rubin identified two media-use orientations towards a medium that are based on audience motives, attitudes and behaviors: (1) Ritualized media use, and (2) Instrumental media use. The ritualized orientation focuses on how people use leisure time and the instrumental orientation focuses on purposive exposure to specific content and is more intentional and selective.
Sport audience has been described as very loyal and watching sports has been proven to satisfy emotional needs. Participation in fantasy sports is motivated by internal psychological variables and external psychological variables. Internal are the ability to exert control as owner of a team, the desire to escape reality and the feeling of achievement obtained by being successful. The external are being a part of a community and the opportunity to socialize with family, friends and colleagues.
Research question: Does having more players start in a fantasy league cause an increase in the televisions rating for that game? Four more questions are asked along with this most important one.
Two versions of fantasy player measures were used for the analysis: (1) the number of NFL players starting in greater than fifty percent of fantasy leagues and (2) the number of NFL players starting in greater than ninety percent of fantasy leagues. A third measure was used and it was the teams winning percentage at game time. And a final measure was the margin of victory.
Correlations- For question one, there was a significant correlation between ratings and players starting in greater than ninety percent of leagues for both NBC and ESPN. No so much for players starting in greater than fifty percent of leagues.
Discussion- Purpose of the study was to see if participating in fantasy football can be a motivating factor in watching NFL games on T.V. more often and if it can help the NFL schedule games better. The evidence provided does show that it can. Not entirely but it does help the ratings extremely when there are high numbers of players starting against each other. But there are several factors behind the ratings of each game so this study does not prove that fantasy football is the sole motivator. No matter what the NFL has outstanding ratings but evidence shows that they can have greater ratings during these instances of fantasy football players being played.
Implications- The NFL should use the attraction of fantasy football as another variable in scheduling games. The broadcasters of the NFL could also cater their telecasts more to the fantasy football audience, (which they have, 2013).

Mark Valeriano

Week 10

Being dedicated to sports has kept the overall passion for sports alive.  Whether gaining allegiance through the Negro League and the black journalists or watching more NFL due to your love for Fantasy, everyone must work together to benefit each other.

Fantasy Football has been consuming lives since 1962 when the Oakland Prognoginators emerged.  Since then people have been gushing over winning and running their own league to the point where losing has begun a “Losers Tattoo League.”  It’s an obsession that drives sports’ fans alike to the addiction to the television on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and sometimes even Saturday nights. 

Fortunado plays with this concept about whether Fantasy Football has any effect on the ratings of the NFL.  In order to figure this out, there had to be a study done showing if there was a relationship.  First he had to see if fantasy influenced two important concepts in media: 1) ritualized media use 2) instrumental media use.  It was discovered that we found Fantasy to be instrumental because it was on a set schedule manipulated by the NFL and it was for pleasure.

            After it was established of the importance Fantasy plays in a person’s life, we looked at the personal toll.  Baerg asked us to get more in depth with Fantasy.  Basically, he analyzed the theories as to why we long to stay addicted to forms of communications for Sunday all day: 1)To control a team 2)To escape reality 3)To brag about our success.  It’s obvious about our obsession with Fantasy; we love football.

            Fortunado took our love and put it to the test by comparing ratings to teams that had the most desired Fantasy teams.  The Giants and Cowboys both were 1-0 going into week two and playing Sunday Night Football.  Both teams had many desired players and proved to be the highest rated night of football.  There were many other instances proving why teams with fewer players showed weaker weeks and vice versa.  The study seemed pretty conclusive except that there were outlying factors such as other sporting events on television.

While the overall study stated there was some influence on the NFL by Fantasy Football, the study was not conducted long enough to show solid support.  Only following statistics for one season limits the relationship accuracy.  Although we are unsure how much effect is played into the relationship, this still proves the importance of teamwork.

Going off the teamwork concept, Carroll shares the story of the Negro League and the black journalists.  After Smith and the Pittsburg Courier had successfully gotten Robinson into professional baseball, there was still a doubt of sharing awareness and the wonder of what was to come of the Negro Leagues.  It was this all-star game that was aiding this new found integration.

Smith and many other journalists began working together to gain popularity.  They were taking ballots and trying to put effort to change the image of the various leagues.  The East West Classic brought a huge fanbase, but as it grew in success, the Negro League struggled.  It could be blamed that the drive of integration in the journalism field, killed the acceptance of the Negro League.

After the West and East All Star game’s successes, it seemed that the National Negro League was beginning to dwindle.  It became a joke to people and was even adding more females for desperate attention.  It slowly did as America was finally accepting this integration.  As one journalist remarked, it was the end of the Jim Crow era.

Basic lesson for this week’s blogs:  teamwork is necessary for success.

Overall life lesson: Payton Manning is ALWAYS worth watching.  Fantasy and alliance to team cannot change that.

Week 9 Post

“Democracy on the Field – The Black Press Takes on White Baseball”

            In this article, authors, Chris Lamb and Glen Bleske, discuss how the press treated the first integration within baseball. Known as one of the “first institutions in American society to become desegregated” and “most widely commented on episode in American race relations of its time,” baseball brought about the discussion and push toward a more equal society. Specifically within this article, Lamb and Bleske discuss the two perspectives of the press’ treatment of this integration—“the advocacy role of the black press and the status quo role of the white mainstream press.” The authors highlight player Jackie Robinson and his try-out for the Montreal Royals in 1946 to be a critical moment within the beginning of integration within baseball and sports, in general. At this point in time, black sportswriters used this event to spread the idea of integration within society and reported on it far more than the white press. White sportswriters reported little about the event. The authors point out that the white sportswriters were “unsure and afraid of how their readers would react to the story.” With the mainstream press consisting mostly of white writers, the story about Robinson gave little “social or cultural context”, which according to the authors, it deserved. The black press presented coverage on the Robinson story that expressed the signing of a black player on the team to be historically significant. It was obvious that the event meant more to the black press, as they were known as the “fighting press.” According to the authors, the “black press made no attempt to be objective in its reporting.” These black journalists helped to make the progress of civil rights possible. Opposite of the black press, white mainstream press provided little content to its readers of the significance and importance of this historic event. The authors explain that most white sportswriters “either criticized integration, ignored the issue completely or said that no good would come from raising the race issue.” The story appeared on the front page of black newspapers including the emotional and historical context of Robinson’s signing compared to the white newspapers that reported the story as if it were just another sports story, giving it little significance.

“Wendell Smith, the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal and the Campaign to Include Blacks in Organized Baseball, 1933-1945”

            In this article, author David Wiggins discusses the significant role that sports editor Wendell Smith and the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal had in lifting the racial barrier within American baseball. This ability to break down the racial barrier was due to the newspaper having the largest circulation out of all Black newspapers in the country. Along with the large circulation and readership, which increased almost by 100,000 more when Robinson was signed, the paper was “effective because it refused to relent in its call for complete equality in baseball.” According to Wiggins, the newspaper “continued to remonstrate against discrimination in the game despite the efforts of friend and foe alike to restrain its protests.” Finally, Wendell Smith made the papers initiatives effective through his dedication to the equality within baseball and the paper. Although Smith and the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal were both essential in the push toward desegregation in baseball, Smith began his advocacy for this type of equality long before the signing of Jackie Robinson. Smith as well as other journalists would attempt to discuss and bring out the idea of desegregation within their writing, trying to convince readers, society, and important figures to promote this idea as well. Smith also played a major role in the signing of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers; when approached by Branch Rickey, Smith gave him Robinson’s name. This led to the turning point within baseball and segregation. Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers, leaving Smith to be known as the person helped to make desegregation possible within American baseball. 

Week 9, Desegregation of Baseball: Lamb and Wiggins

In this week’s set of reading, we see the struggle of the black athlete and black journalism in the mid-20^th century. The two readings pay particular attention to the Negro Leagues, Jackie Robinson, and an influential black journalist by the name of Wendell Smith, who almost single-handedly changed the face of Major League Baseball and professional sports in America.

The reading by Chris Lamb, “Democracy on the Field,” discussed the different roles black sportswriters and white sportswriters played during the desegregation of baseball. The article focused particularly on Jackie Robinson’s first Spring Training with the minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946. Using this event as an example, the article focused on the roles that black sportswriters and white sportswriters played in covering the event, as well as the differences in coverage between the two.

Lamb first begins by stating a major difference between black journalists and white journalists as a whole. Lamb identifies black press as a “fighting press,” or a press that constantly challenged societal norms of segregation, even if it largely went unnoticed by the majority of white society. Black journalists were incredible advocates for desegregation, both in sports and in society. They were not only critical against segregation, but also helped to establish a sense of unity within the African-American community in America.

With this established, Lamb went on to describe the different roles that black journalists and white journalists played in the desegregation of baseball, focusing on Robinson’s first Spring Training with the Montreal Royals in 1946. Throughout his article, Lamb described how black journalists – especially Wendell Smith – advocated on behalf of Robinson and Johnny Wright, another black teammate of Robinson. They put the stories of Robinson and Wright into a much larger context, explaining the importance of the beginning of desegregation in baseball and society. Along with this, Lamb describes how black journalists displayed a tendency to downplay any struggles faced by Robinson and Wright, instead choosing to highlight their ability to overcome adversity and essentially act as the face of desegregation.

However, as Lamb described, not the stance taken by most white journalists. Most white sports journalists, including the famed sports writers of the time, did not approach the desegregation of baseball with the same importance that black sports journalists did. They did not contextualize the importance of what was really happening in baseball, if they chose to even acknowledge it at all. In most cases, white journalist and the white press barely covered the event, writing a few short paragraphs about their first game or sending quick information over the news wire. The desegregation of baseball, despite its obvious importance, was an afterthought in white press.

This trend would continue in the other reading for the week written by David Wiggins. Wiggins focused on a black journalist by the name of Wendell Smith, who was a sports editor for the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal, one of the largest black newspapers in America during its time. Wiggins focused on Smith and his influence on the eventual desegregation, but unlike Lamb, Wiggins’s story begins well before Jackie Robinson.

Wiggins describes the long journey of Wendell Smith and how he was an advocate for desegregation in baseball well before Jackie Robinson ever signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In fact, Wiggins described Smith as advocating for desegregation in the 1930s, when Smith compared the struggle of black athletes and the black community to what Hitler was doing in Europe during this same time. Wiggins described how Smith and other black journalists advocated on behalf of black athletes and the black community to everyone in a position of power: Major League Baseball commissioners, baseball owners, players, managers, and even the President of the United States. Despite many failed attempts at convincing these figures to desegregate baseball, Wiggins continually described how Smith and other black journalists of the time continued to fight for the desegregation of baseball.

It was not until much later in the article that Wiggins would touch upon Smith’s direct influence in getting Jackie Robinson signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. After years of advocating and speaking with owners in order to even get black athletes a tryout with a team, Smith was finally approached by Branch Rickey. Wiggins described how Rickey used the thin veil of a United Baseball League in an attempt to scout players and because of Smith’s advocacy over the years and knowledge of the Negro Leagues in America, Rickey asked Smith directly who might be a candidate to try out for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Smith, of course, gave Rickey the name Jackie Robinson and the rest is history.

However, as both readings pointed out, it took years and decades of black journalists advocating on behalf of black athletes and convincing white owners, players, managers, and league officials to even consider the desegregation of baseball. Without the role of these black journalists, it is entirely possible that the desegregation of baseball would have been severely delayed.

Week 9 Readings Chris Lamb, David Wiggins

"Democracy on the Field"
By: Chris Lamb and Glen Bleske

The black press takes on white baseball.
Baseball was one of the first institutions in American society to become desegregated. Many whites feared the integration. Laws stating people would be killed and or "left dead."
The article is about press treatment of baseball's first integrated spring training from two perspectives-the advocacy role of black press versus the status-quo role of the white mainstream press.
Studies showed that black sportswriters were more active in covering the story than white reporters. Black reporters were instrumental in spreading the integration issue into mainstream media.
The coverage of the Robinson story became a metaphor for equality on civil rights. This integration of Robinson was used to push further into society. Black sportswriters reported this story with emotion, emphasizing its historical significance, while the white reporters generally viewed it as a curiosity or a publicity stunt. White reporters remained relatively silent because of fear and uncertainty. Mainstream press didn't five this story the social or cultural context it deserved.
The integration of baseball meant more to black sportswriters in personal, societal and journalistic terms than it did to white sportswriters. This was obvious throughout the article.
Wendell Smith the "Crusader for integration" was known as the writer who most fought for the inclusion of blacks in organized baseball. Black journalists were more aware of progress in civil rights and helped make progress possible. By the spring of 1946 newspapers recorded their highest readership. The white mainstream press was limited in content and context on the story of Robinson during the spring training. Most white sportswriters either criticized integration, ignored the issue completely or said that no good would come from raising the race issue.
Robinson signing barely made white newspapers or columns and was given little importance with little historical context, again. One paper said, "If he were white and six years younger, he might be good enough for Brooklyn's AA team." I thought that was very interesting. For black newspapers it hit like a "bombshell" and got page one status. And of course it was written with tons of emotion and historical context and significance. Major stories during that spring were suppressed. The fact that Robinson was signed was even suppressed for months before it was released.
Black sportswriters thought white sportswriters didn't care or wanted Robinson to fail. They kept the story close where white reporters kept it "at arms length" gathering information from Rickey or other team officials. When Robinson made his way to Florida for the spring he was met with much discrimination and had multiple problems with flying and other transportation because he was black. White newspapers tried to cover this up while black journalists revealed the true story.
It was interesting that both black and white newspapers reported that Robinson was integrating with white players well during training but that wasn't really true. He barely made contact with any players besides the pitcher that was brought in with him, who was also black.
Many games were cancelled by southern cities because of the two blacks on Montreal's team. Rickey stood up for Robinson and Wright by not compromising. But for mainstream press these cancellations barely made the paper where blacks reported on this profusely and challenged officials who cancelled the games. They wouldn't let up.
Overall, it was clearly a different story for black sportswriters than it was for white sportswriters. The objective, establishment press focused on hard news values; a history making game and a game cancelled. To black reporters and their readers the story symbolized the hopes and dreams of integration, not just on the field but in society.

"Blacks in Organized Baseball"
By: David K. Wiggins

Jackie Robinson makes it clear in his book that he is indebted to Wendell Smith for telling Rickey about him and really pushing for the integration of blacks in America's pastime.
The Courier-Journal proved most effective in seeing that the game's racial barrier was finally lifted. It had the largest circulation of any black newspaper in the country. It was also most effective because of the "tireless efforts" of Wendell Smith.
It was only after the stand taken by Broun and Powers at the baseball writer's dinner that the Courier-Journal began to fight for the integration of blacks in baseball. It began with conducting the "Big League Symposium" which was set up to solicit the opinions of leading baseball men concerning the sports exclusionary policies. Of course at first the respondents said there was no exclusion happening and even dared to say there was no race-line. When the Big League Symposium ended, although it was somewhat instructive, the Courier-Journal was faced with the problem of what it should do next to ensure that blacks would finally be allowed in organized baseball. So they would compare black athletes to those in the Major Leagues and send telegrams to the owners stating how they would benefit skill wise and financially.
There was an East-West Classic that showcased the best black athletes and gathered more than 20,000 fans each year. This "Classic" served the Courier-Journals crusade very well, along with the games that black club's would play against major leaguers and win.
Wendell Smith, in 1938 shifted the CJ's tactics to advocate more radical procedures for ending discrimination in the National game. Smith would lash out at the national game for its racial policies. Smith did not only call for the color line to be dropped in baseball but also for self-improvement, racial pride and group unity among black Americans.
"Smith believed that black Americans had to identify positively with their own race before it would be possible for them to stage any effective campaign effort."
It is clear that Smith made a huge impact. He encouraged the CJ to stand strong in its efforts to promote integration and an end to discrimination. All while trying to change a community of people to be more proud and to stick up for themselves and to encourage self-help and organization. He believed they could conquer this goal as a group proposing this idea to the NAACP. He compared this exclusion to the practice of Nazi Germany. He said if we are shouting for freedom in other countries why not in our own. Smith's first interview with the leagues owner Ford Frick found some answers. Frick said that it accepts black athlete's but players could not because they weren't educated enough and said major league baseball was like the newspaper in that it could not make changes without public opinion's readiness.
Smith conducted more interviews and found that only one owner would not use or like black athletes in their club. The CJ kept fighting and the war crisis added more reason and opportunity to protest against discrimination. The war provided a unique opportunity to expose the gap between America's creed and its practice.
With the CJ gaining momentum, other sources and sportswriters joined the fight against race discrimination in baseball, but Smith continued to set the tone. Smith was trying to get the President to make an address but got no response. So he went after Griffith who was very outspoken about not letting blacks join even though he would hire non-American citizens. Black ball club owners didnt' even support Smith's campaign because they thought it would put an end to the black league.
Smith finally got to meet with Landis the commissioner and they spoke openly about their campaign. But even after the great points made by multiple important people Landis did nothing in his power to integrate black ball players. So Smith continued to attack Landis and the issue.
A year later blacks were finally trying out for national league ball clubs. Smith was asked to bring in the best three black players to Boston for the tryout ad they performed "magnificently." None of the five were signed and since Roosevelt died the day after, the tryouts got little to no press which fueled Smith's anger.
Rickey set up a new league which was skeptical but he really wanted to scout black athletes for his own club. And after being questioned and somewhat attacked by the CJ he asked Smith about potential black athletes to tryout for his team. Smith responded with Jackie Robinson. This led to his signing and Smith soon had a change of heart towards Rickey, mentioning his open-mindedness in the CJ. Finally, after twelve years of campaigning Robinson was signed.

Mark Valeriano

Wiggins and Lamb

Many people have no idea of the impact they displayed during their time in sports.  In 1946, the number 42 was just a jersey to the sports world.  Today, it is remembered as one of the significant first steps in the attitude of acceptance in America.

                According to Wiggins, Jackie Robinson was just a man who wanted to play the game of baseball.  Wendall Smith was just a man who wanted to write about sports.  Branch Rickey was just a man who wanted to win baseball games.  Together Robinson and Smith began changing society’s views all because of their talents protruding through their skin color.  Rickey was just a man who gave both of them the opportunity.

                Smith was a sports editor who was trying so desperately to integrate the meaning of sports.  He knew blacks could do it, but society just was not ready.  Besides the newly reluctant acceptance of the blacks in a white man’s game, the blacks were feeling different pressures of their own race.  Blacks were worried their league would be shut down now that some blacks could move to the professional league.  They wanted to preserve their league which did end up dying out eventually.  Smith even tried to get the leaders to comment on their feelings, but they stayed silent until the end.  It seemed like they definitely were not into the change especially since they knew only a few stars would get the opportunity to play if the black league died out.

While there still were cynical attitudes toward blacks, there also was much more positive reaction to black players.  Right as it seemed that change was upon us, the attitudes changed when a black player was refused a promise to play in the league.  This created a sever tension between races and it made them want to segregate more.  Harlem riots were increasingly worse and even though it seems sports (both professional and journalism) had a fighting chance, the atmosphere Smith was left in was fatal.  He wanted so badly to change the game as a stepping stone of changing the world.

Finally when Branch felt the need to show black exposure, he called upon Smith for the changes to be made.  Smith recommended Robinson and then 42 went down in history.  People can say the main concern with journalists is their professional and maybe they are right because had Smith not broken his professional barrier, the integration would have been much later.

         In Wiggins, we saw the struggle, but in Lamb, we finally saw the overall success.  With the integration of baseball, it seemed as if black writers would finally receive more recognition and job offers.  It did change because of Robinson.  When he was first covered, there were 28 news outlets that picked up the story.  The main man on the scene was Smith.  He was trying to rebuild the black pride and let the community to be known, but it was starting to seem like blacks wanted the pride within their races.  Just like in Wiggins, Smith was pressing for this better future and he was the leader of change.  This article followed the harsh criticizes Robinson received by white writers.  The story was completely differently received by who was writing.  Black writers were supportive and positive; white writers were negative and unsupported.  While civil rights were important, it seemed the writing was questionable due to the underlying context.

      Both articles talked about the important role integration played; however, they showed two different sides.

Week 6: Females in Sports Journalism, Hardin & Shain

Prior to diving into the topic of women in sports journalism, it is clear as an outside observer and consumer of sports that it is a male-dominated field. Major sports coverage – with the only possible exception being women’s college basketball – covers male athletes with the coverage and reporting done by male reporters, broadcasters, and writers. As any sports reader or viewer might be able to tell you, this is very evident; however, Marie Hardin and Stacie Shain decide to tackle the topic of females in sports journalism head on.

In the reading, Hardin and Shain discuss the lack of women in sports journalism. To begin, they pull out the hard facts. There are very little women in sports journalism; in fact, only 13 percent of employees in sports departments are women (Hardin &Shain, 2005). This number is then contrasted by the percentage of women in journalism overall (38 percent), showing the large disparity between the women in journalism and the number of women in sports journalism.

In order to better understand these numbers, the reading then moves on to describe some of the why. During these discussions, Hardin and Shain come up with a few possible reasons: sexual harassment in the workplace, lack of career advancement opportunities, overall discrimination toward women in the sports department, etc. Hardin and Shain then decide to expand on some of these factors in the form of an open-ended survey of a number of women in sports journalism. Included in the questions are: how they characterize their career choice, how they characterize their job satisfaction, and how they characterize the factors that impact tenure/promotion and how they see a possible resolution of the factors (Hardin & Shain, 2005).

Within their responses, these women in sports journalism demonstrated just some of the issues facing women in sports journalism today. Although women do the job for the same reasons as men – presumably for the love of sports and journalism – they are sometimes looked down upon for their career choice. Along with this, the lack of women in sports journalism leads to a weak support system for other women attempting to enter the field. Additionally, women acknowledged their negative treatment in the field, being discriminated against by sources and even readers. Despite the negative treatment, they still felt positively about their career choice. Lastly, women also acknowledged the lack of women in higher positions in sports journalism. Because of several factors – caring for families, sports departments “meeting their quotas” for women in the newsroom, etc. – women are not given the same opportunity to advance in their careers.

In all, this article pointed out a lot of difficult factors women must face in the field of sports journalism. However, they are not limited to these factors solely when they enter the field. They face these factors even before entering sports journalism, as many women struggle to find a spot in the “boy’s club” of sports journalism. As Hardin and Shain point out, sports journalism needs to address not only how women are treated once they enter the field of sports journalism, but the lack of women in the newsroom must be improved upon.

Hardin-October10

           It's pretty difficult being a woman in a man's world. What could be harder? Being a woman vying for a sport's career in a man's field.

           Many of the articles we have touched upon this semester have observed the lack of women in the sport's field, but none have gone as in depth as Marie Hardin. Hardin is a woman fighting for her spot in a man's career.

            With all minor concerns as to why females cannot handle the job set aside, one enormous problem halts career paths almost instantly: women cannot be taken seriously. They cannot. It is a sad fault that women cannot control, but women will always be put at a different standard. Hardin's reasoning for this? Women are often sexualized. Hardin stated there have been reports where females felt sexually harassed and have seen sexual behavior acted in front of them. While many women find this difficult to work with, one woman polled stated it made her more dedicated to the job by trying to overcome it.

             They constantly face discrimination in the workplace and have noticed few women who work along side of them. With women not being taken seriously or in danger of not being respected, employers would find it limiting to hire them. It was also admitted in a poll that some places felt obligated to hire women as a sign of being fair. But, it will never be fair because women will never be on the same level of respect and desire in the sports world.

               It is not that females cannot do just as good as job as males; simply, males just represent the crowd so well. Most of the sports enjoyed by fans are male dominated sports and really only males have participated in them. While Hardin does not touch on this, I have always found it more difficult to understand the ability of mostly male only sports (like football) because I have never spent time playing that game.                Experience is necessary and without it, the job becomes that much more difficult.

                Experience was important, but to the women that were polled, remembering the passion for sports became the key in becoming successful. There was one woman who really would like to start a family, but knew she could not for fear of losing her sport's position. Men do not need to take off for pregancy or childcare. Finding a sitter is usually not a problem for the husbands because they figured the wife can take care of them. Women are forced to take on the “second shift” (aka taking care of the house after a woman has spent all day at work). Women feel pressured to stay away from the family and relationship lifestyle in trouble of losing their power in a male's career. Being a minority in this career, women may not be able to come back to their job if they decide to take a break. This domestic concerns are much more pressing on females since they do the majority of the second shift.

               Besides the crude behavior, lack of seriousness, and the drive for family, women still face one last barrier. “Glass ceilings” have been setting apart males and females for decades in the workplace. In their minds, they will never be able to reach the standards of males. Women have to accept that although sport's news may not be ready for the changes that come ahead, women must not let these barriers in their minds. Women are being held back; however, they can only hold themselves back by believing all of these concerns. It is never going to be easy, but as one woman said it, “You do love it.”

Week 7 Hardin + Shain and Kian

"Female Sports Journalists: Are We There Yet? 'No'"
By: Marie Hardin and Stacie Shain

Thirty years after Title IX some thirteen percent of employees are women, a 2001 study showed. And more recently there are only eleven percent of women employed in the sports department; with some having no women at all! There has been increasing numbers according to ASNE but the average length for a woman is only ten years with none reaching management levels/ranks. In most cases women aren't hired because they are different and don't "fit" the role for numerous reasons, according to Joanne Gerstner.
Literature Review
Women face discrimination and harassment and deal with it not only in the locker rooms but also in the workplace. One survey also stated that salary inequality and lack of promotion were big problems for women. They aren't as respected as men and a survey revealed that seventy-two percent of women indicated that they considered leaving their job. "Although it has been desegregated, it has not been integrated." Women are still viewed at outsiders. Work-family balance persists as a gender defined dividing line, not just male dominated work places. The duties of women in a familial role are much higher than a males and it puts women in a double-bind that they are caught in. Women argue that these are barriers to career growth.
Research Questions
Women journalists were gathered for focus groups to answer three very important research questions. The findings were that there are a range of experiences in newsrooms. Answers to question one found that women found their career choice to be gratifying and rewarding. Also found it to be important, fun and a rush. They felt like they needed to spread the word more because it is so rewarding and exciting. Answers to question two found a distinction between career satisfaction and job satisfaction. They did not transfer the barriers of discrimination and harassment to overall satisfaction with sports journalism as a career. Lack of respect for females among male colleagues and readers, "I hate the job, but I love what I do." Question three answers found that the discrimination that limited their promotions was most frustrating. "We got our zebra in the zoo, and that's good enough." There is a constant pressure to prove themselves. Demands on time and strain on family were the primary reasons women cited for leaving the industry. Women bear more of a caregiver responsibility than men. Powerful women on top don't have families. For the most part the participants saw the work-family challenges they faced  were their individual responsibility to resolve. Not having a work daycare came up a lot, along with other employees not being flexible in assigning hours and responsibilities towards women, especially when they have children.
Discussions and Conclusions
Harassment and discrimination are very prevalent but not main reasons for leaving their job. No promotion or lack of the ability to move up is worth giving up a social life. There is still need for integration for women to be successful and well respected.

"Gender in Sports Writing"
By: Edward M. Kian
Mass media has the potential to shape, change and re-enforce values and attitudes. Studies have shown that we favor male sports over women's and more importantly that the coverage of sports has created a masculine hegemonic order in society. The masculinity is favored over femininity so an in-depth interview was conducted to view and understand the attitudes toward gender.
Female Representation
Like the last article of this week, there is a huge lack of women in the sport media profession, with even fewer in positions of power. A study showed, however, that top ten newspapers had more women employees and the more circulation of a paper the higher percentage of women they had. The number and percentage has gone up but the women working hold jobs lesser than that of men for example, support staff and clerks.
Attitudes and Experiences
Cramer found that women do not want to report on female sports because there is little room for advancement and because of the perceived lack of interest in women's sports. Another study showed that women expressed high job satisfaction but are frustrated with opportunities of advancement because it seems and is nearly impossible. An interesting find was that fifty-nine percent of surveyed sport editors felt the need to have female representation on their staff. That's a huge amount of editors who feel the opposite, which to me is very surprising, especially if you relate it to the study that found that top ten papers had more women workers.
This articles study included six reporters, three males and three females, and questioned them about gender-related experiences and attitudinal differences in regards to women's sports.
Three major themes came up that reinforced the idea that sports writers grow up in a masculine hegemonic world and that it holds true after entry into the profession.
The first theme was that society is structured so that males get into sports writing. All six interviewees grew up sports fans of male sports over women's, and there was a general perception that attitudes favoring men's sports are ingrained into the culture. The men dreamed and were encouraged to become sports journalists at young ages while the women did not and said it was an accident that it even happened.
The second theme, generalized, was that after entering the profession men are treated as the "standard" in sports writing and women are considered "the other." The underlying themes that supported this are first, males believe women receive preferential hiring because of their sex. Women reporters perceive that they are treated well by coworkers if they act like one of the guys. Management assigns different types of assignments to women based on psychological stereotypes. Women are treated worse by their sources. Overall, all the men believe that women are at a disadvantage in the profession. The article goes on to show contradicting stories where women got the job because of their sex and on how they were treated because of being a woman. There was no clear finding that related to one argument over another. It goes on to talk about how women are treated in locker rooms and how readers or listeners react to women voices in surprise. Nothing too crazy especially compares to twenty or thirty years ago when women had to fight just to get into the locker room, although there is still discrimination against women today. Getting right to the point about this second theme was captured in this quote, "It’s just that the hypothetical fan is a male, the hypothetical athlete is a male, and because of that I think the hypothetical sportswriter is a male." The third theme suggests that once they enter the media profession, , female and male sportswriters generally exhibit and convey similar overall attitudes toward women’s and men’s sports. There is an overall negative attitude towards women's sports throughout most newspaper sports departments. There is also a huge perception that readers and viewers want to see mostly male sports coverage. And mainly, since the newspaper sport journalism is a competitive industry, newspapers need to capture as many readers and viewers as possible so they will put out what sells, which is mainly male sports coverage. They cannot afford to lose the money that they are already losing anyway. And lastly, men and women don't want to cover women's sports because there is so little room for advancement when you cover this topic. "Finally, all the writers interviewed except for Cox said that covering mainly women’s sports would significantly diminish or at least hinder a writer’s chance of advancing their career."
This is an interesting quote from the third theme section, “You really –
especially at my paper – have to struggle to get women’s sports covered in the paper,” she
said. “At the beginning, you really push for it. But at this point, I don’t even push for it
anymore.”
But overall I thought this article was a huge waste! What is six people going to tell us about this topic. There were no conclusions to be made and more importantly I felt like there was no reason for this interview. All the things mentioned have already been found, why not try and find ways to make a change instead of dwelling on what everyone knows is already happening. Very boring read to be honest.

Mark Valeriano

Blog #5

“Female Sports Journalists: Are We There Yet? ‘No’”

            In the beginning of Hardin and Shain’s article, they discuss that the idea that “a woman writing about sports is unnatural” is still common in today’s society among many people. This idea was emphasized in a 2001 survey that found that women employees only made up 13 percent of the sports department. A later survey and study found that that it had dropped to 11 percent. A 1995 survey found that women in the sports departments reported discrimination and being “invisible” at the workplace, although also reporting job satisfaction. Further, the article discusses various surveys that revealed specific information about women journalists in the sports department. Some believed that the only way to advance their careers was to move to another organization. The sports-related workplace has been observed to be the “hostile to women who are viewed as outsiders.” The article states that the entire newsroom is considered to be male-dominated due to mostly men holding the majority of authority jobs. The culture has also been discussed to be characterized as male as they seem “aggressive/defense.” A large part of these male-dominated workplaces revealed that they didn’t feel the need to have female representation within the workplace. The study within this article looked to find what women sports journalists felt impacted their job satisfaction and continuing their careers. The study also was seeking to understand what women believed could be done to combat certain problems. Almost all of the women respondents felt that their careers choice was gratifying and rewarding. They were positive about the career choice and looked to encourage other women to make the same career choice in the future. There was a clear difference between the idea of career and job satisfaction. These women respondents workplace or job site as a “source of discrimination and potential harassment.” Women received harassment from male colleagues, athletes, and fans. One woman responded, “I hate the job, but I love what I do.” Lastly, women found the “systematic discrimination” as a “source of frustration” and a barrier to promotions. Demands on time and strain on family responsibilities was the major problem that women sports journalists were concerned about. The “lack of flexible schedules and amenities such as onsite childcare made it difficult for them to sustain their careers and their family responsibilities.” Some of the women proposed ideas on how to solve this problem including “family-friendly initiatives that the newsrooms could take.” Although this article presents problems within the newsroom and sports departments regarding female employees, the authors state that little change has been made to discard these problems. Women still continue to face barriers and the “glass ceiling.”