Scholarly research has analyzed how female athletes use their social media platforms and how they are represented in news media coverage. However, no scholarly literature has specifically looked at Ronda Rousey, an American mixed martial artist. The current study used a quantitative content analysis to examine how Rousey has utilized her Twitter account as well as how local and national newspapers in the United States framed coverage of Rousey between 2014 to 2016. For the tweets, content, referring to pictures that Rousey posted, was the most popular category; the second most prevalent category was promotional, referring to tweets that promoted upcoming events or sponsorships. Rousey mainly used her Twitter to post pictures of herself and promote her personal brand. For the newspaper articles, the most frequently used frames were agency, powerless, and goals and ambitions. Two new frames emerged from the current study – fame, referring to Rousey’s film career, and relations, referring to Rousey’s personal life and relationships. The newspapers were predominantly neutral in their coverage of Rousey throughout the three-year study period. This case study is important because it found that Rousey was framed in a way that differed from previous research. The findings in this study demonstrate that Rousey was not marginalized in newspaper coverage or portrayed in a negative manner, as other female athletes have been in the past. Rather than focusing on her appearance or sexuality, the news coverage highlighted Rousey’s success and athletic achievements.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/626395 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Mikelonis, Ashley, Mikelonis, Ashley |
| Contributors | Relly, Jeannine E., Relly, Jeannine E., Lumsden, Linda J., Wimmer, Terry |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Thesis |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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