Inspired by feminist post-structural thinking and with a discourse analytic approach, this study’s main theme is gendered identity, disability and sport. It consists of four separate, but interrelated, empirical studies and focuses on two research questions. Firstly, how do female and male wheelchair racers construct and perform their identities? Secondly, how are female and male wheelchair racers represented in Swedish sports media? To answer the research questions, semi-structured interviews with wheelchair racers, and a critical analysis of sports media texts from the Paralympics in Sydney, 2000 have been conducted. In this dissertation the composition of unwritten regulations produced by the media texts, that shaped the practice of wheelchair athletes was conceptualized as the discourse of able-ism. Findings indicate that the sports media texts constructed the subject of ‘disabled sportsman/sportswoman’, which indirectly reproduced the conception of a copy and not an original. The exclusion was, however, concealed and neutralized through the regulation and differentiation that the discourse of able-ism legitimated. Although sports media still seems to reinforce negative stereotypes of disabled athletes, the wheelchair racers themselves are challenging the gender, sport and disability discourses and establishing new ways of being physically powerful and excellent in and outside the sports arena. In fact, when the athletes got the opportunity to make their voices heard in media, they re-dressed the twisted picture of wheelchair racing as passive rehabilitation training into elite sport. Consequently, it seems that wheelchair racing and its high status in disability sports empowers both male and female racers which increases their possibility to be represented as ‘real’ sportsmen and sportwomen. Finally, although, the athletes have shown that wheelchair racing has a given place in modern sport, ‘being able’ as an athlete and being a gendered individual are still strongly connected to the appearance and performance of the un-impaired body.

This report is an analysis from a gender perspective of more than three hundred minutes in sports broadcasting on SVT and TV4. The study explains how air time is divided between male and female athletes as well as which sports, male or female, get the most air time. The sports are also categorized according to attitudes about the sports being masculine, feminine or neutral. In this way the study also shows the categories of sports that are given the most airtime. Our view before the study was that from a media perspective, the Swedish sports world was very male dominated. The results show that male athletes get more exposure than female athletes on both channels, this despite the fact that the membership of the Swedish sports clubs is fairly evenly divided between men and women.

Submitted by Edileide Reis (leyde-landy@hotmail.com) on 2013-05-06T14:33:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Micheli Venturini.pdf: 833063 bytes, checksum: effa75407225aa81763c14a3657ee35e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora Lopes(silopes@ufba.br) on 2013-05-17T15:45:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Micheli Venturini.pdf: 833063 bytes, checksum: effa75407225aa81763c14a3657ee35e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-17T15:45:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Micheli Venturini.pdf: 833063 bytes, checksum: effa75407225aa81763c14a3657ee35e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Essa pesquisa trata de tendências para a mídia esportiva a partir da implantação da TV digital no Brasil, bem como para os processos educacionais informais que ocorrem no bojo dessas relações. Para tanto, coloco-me diante de duas questões orientadoras: quais são as tendências para a mídia esportiva brasileira quando se consideram os desafios da TV digital? Que possibilidades de educação informal se abrem na mídia esportiva com a digitalização do sinal? Os pressupostos teóricos da pesquisa apoiaram-se em 4 grandes dimensões: a comunicação como um processo dialógico onde símbolos, códigos, denotação e conotação aceleram e multiplicam as formas de se relacionar, onde assumo os estudos culturais como a possibilidade para a contemporaneidade; a mídia, especificamente, a esportiva, como uma instituição formadora de opinião e mercadorização de cultura; a TV digital como um processo relevante para a conquista de uma educação emancipadora mas que teve em seu processo de implantação, um jogo de interesses políticos e econômicos que comprometeram as conquistas sociais; e por fim, o conceito de análise do discurso, como um procedimento de análise de dados que permite capturar o não-dito e as formulações discursivas que ocorrem no bojo da publicidade. A partir daí, foram realizadas entrevistas com representantes das diversas instâncias que compuseram o cenário da mídia esportiva e da TV digital (emissoras, universidades e engenheiros), além de selecionar o pronunciamento do Presidente da República na ocasião do lançamento da nova TV e os decretos que legalizaram esse processo para que essas vozes participassem do constructo teórico. Por fim, foram analisados os discursos de duas campanhas publicitárias: a que divulgou a TV digital e outra que divulgava os jogos Pan Americanos de 2007. Concluí que as tendências que estão postas para a mídia esportiva brasileira são de disputas pelo poder representado pelo domínio de símbolos e imagens, já que esse é o melhor que a TV brasileira pode oferecer, expropriando o homem da sua condição de produção de conhecimento em troca do seu potencial de consumo. / Salvador

This study sought to examine how the prototypical male athletic form and the prototypical female athletic form are discursively constructed when a sports magazine has full control of what material to produce and publish. What makes up the ‘athletic form’ involves all the various traits and characteristics that are attached to the notion of what it means to be an athlete and what it means to have an athletic figure. The theoretical foundation was built on theories about gender in the media with a strong focus on objectification and (hyper)sexualisation, and previous research on gender in sports reporting has shown evidence of a strong gender bias where women athletes are both objectified and sexualised while women’s sports in general is portrayed as significantly less interesting and valuable compared to men’s sports. In order to study the discursive construction of the athletic form, the material – the 2017 edition of ESPN Magazine’s The Body Issue – was analysed through the method of Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis. While there were several features and traits that were universal to both genders, such as toughness and strength, there were also differences of significant importance. There was a distinct clash between the notion of being athletic and being feminine as athleticism was not deemed a feminine trait, and efforts were even made to show how the women athletes are still “normal women” despite being athletes. Plus, a male athlete’s body was depicted as being purely about function with its appearance not a matter of concern. A female athlete’s body, on the other hand, was likewise about function but large emphasis was also focused on the notion of attractiveness and beauty, and that women athletes are not only tough and strong but also beautiful. Overall, the construction of the female athletic form contained a sexual aura that was forever present.

Sports presents one of the most popular forms of entertainment in society, and sports media continues to expand its billion-dollar influence through new television deal and broadcasting rights. But with a population of journalists who are overwhelmingly white, straight, and male, sports media is promoting the hegemony of said image by reproducing stereotypes in its broadcasts to audiences around the country. Mainstream media regurgitates these stereotypes in their coverage of minority athlete by portraying black players as unintelligent or “thug”-ish, women as “butch”, and gay athletes as effeminate. These representations allow for the perpetuation of the white, heterosexual male narrative throughout society while sidelining those who do not fit the description. But just as sports media is growing in popularity, so too is the athlete activist. Starting in 2013, today’s athletic superstars are now using their exalted platforms to address societal issues and speak on behalf of marginalized groups that are often ignored or misrepresented by traditional media narratives. The efforts of Colin Kaepernick, Billie Jean King, and Jason Collins in fighting against the system and these stereotypes will reveal how certain athletes are represented in the media and their unique position of changing the discussion and inspiring others to challenge societal norms. The growing popularity of social media and its use as a tool for social activism will also be examined, particularly as it has revolutionized the culture of athlete activism.

This qualitative study aims to analyze the lived reality of women working in sports media today. Through systematic analysis of 12 in-depth interviews, the findings of this study suggest that the adoption of technological advancements in news media and all associated outlets have created a leveling effect for women due to the demand for highly skilled individuals who can handle the digital demand of modern news production. This study suggests that longtime gender disparities in sports media are experiencing a bit of a reprieve due to the massive digital audience and the need for professionals who can deliver information quickly and efficiently and with accuracy. However, the persistent symbolic annihilation of women as well as hegemonic hiring practices that emphasize aesthetic appeal have created a difficult path for women to move off the sidelines and into roles with more creative and analytical breadth, even with a rapidly increasing demand for jobs in the media industry.

The thesis aims to provide a theoretical description of sports media interpreting, as well as an overview of sports interpreting in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part of the thesis summarises the current state of research, covering the general topics of media interpreting and professional and non-professional interpreting. The empirical part consists of interviews with interpreters and commentators interpreting sports programs and other events. The interviews focus on several features: the interpreting modalities used; the situations and speeches interpreted; the interpreters' experience and preparation, and other aspects of sports interpreting - namely translation strategies and the differences between interpreting provided by professional interpreters and sports commentators.

The aim of this investigation was to study what adjectives the media uses when describing female and male football players and sportswomen and sportsmen. The objective was to see if the adjectives described men and women differently and whether the adjectives reinforced gender stereotypes. To see the frequency an adjective had an online corpus was used and the analysis was based on Fairclough´s model of critical discourse analysis. The results showed that many adjectives were used for both genders. However, adjectives regarding appearance only showed in the results for women. In conclusion, the men and women were described in similar ways, however, as the women were also described by their beauty indicates that the media reinforces the gender stereotypes in certain ways.

With the emergence of new media platforms one wonders about the impact new media is having on sports fans’ media consumption patterns. Are traditional media platforms still having the same impact on the sports fan relationship, or has there been a shift across to new platforms? Looking through the lens of the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) framework, we analyse the impact of team identification and sports fans’ media consumption patterns.Trying to gain an understanding across various sports and to reach as many fans as possible, the snowballing technique was deployed. Using quantitative data allowed us to establish emerging patterns through categorical data. This study used cross-sectional data, which allowed us to take a snapshot in time of what the current trend in fans’ sports media consumption was. 235 sports fans media consumption patterns were analysed using the PCM staging algorithm and a sports media consumption instrument.The results throughout this study reflect that new media is having an impact on team identity and sports fan media consumption. The findings suggests that fans that display higher levels of team identification on the PCM framework, i.e. attachment and allegiance to teams, are more likely to engage regularly on social media, especially Twitter. As such, marketers, sports teams and associations need to look at how they engage with social media broadly and Twitter in particular. Various constructs impact sports fans’ media consumption patterns and, as such, marketers, sports teams and organisations need to ensure that they maintain relevance with their targeted demographic to ensure the continued engagement with sports fans. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This thesis aims to present how the daily Sport, the web iSport, the sports section of MF Dnes and the website sport.idnes.cz reported on the coronavirus crisis in connection with the Fortuna League. To achieve the objectives of the thesis, quantitative content analysis is used. Three time periods are examined in the thesis, with each period chosen to cover an important period in the events related to the coronavirus crisis and the Fortuna League. The research part of the thesis analyses the articles published in each period, as well as examining mentions of clubs and the use of narratives. The results are compared both between periods and between media. The thesis also presents the Fortuna League as a competition, individual clubs and their history. At the same time, the thesis chronologically characterizes the key events of the coronavirus crisis in the Czech Republic. It also briefly presents recent research findings on sports journalism during the coronavirus crisis.