{"title":"Reclaim Pride and Dignity within Neoliberal and Olympic Ideals: An Analysis of Olympic Refugee Athletes' Self-Presentation on Instagram","authors":"Zikun Li","doi":"10.1177/21674795251334398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251334398","url":null,"abstract":"This study foregrounds the voices of Olympic refugee athletes by critically examining how they present themselves on Instagram. Using a mixed methods approach, this research analyzed 25 publicly accessible verified athlete accounts, including profile bios, captions, hashtags, emojis, images, and videos. The content analysis revealed that athletes predominantly identify as “Olympian” or “Athlete”. Moreover, their multidimensional and diverse narratives resist the alienation and perceived inferiority perpetuated by reductive media framings. The thematic analysis identified six key themes: (1) resilience and perseverance, (2) personal growth through sports and the Olympics, (3) representation, pride, and achievement, (4) support system and gratitude, (5) advocacy for social justice and peace, and (6) cultural identity and homeland attachment. Their online self-presentation reveals an intricate interplay where resistance to reductive media framings that flatten and isolate the “refugee” identity is both enabled and constrained by athletes’ privileged access to symbolic and institutional resources. By critically analyzing this interplay, this study advances understanding of how representation, resistance, and social advocacy intersect in the digital age. It acknowledges the potential of athletes’ social media to challenge legacy media framings and foster humanizing and nuanced perceptions of marginalized identities, while recognizing that these efforts remain shaped by systemic constraints.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143872791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘I Would Pretend to be a Dude’: NBA 2K Gamers’ Motivations, Use of WNBA Features, and Experiences With Harassment","authors":"Ali Forbes, Sada Reed","doi":"10.1177/21674795251336663","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251336663","url":null,"abstract":"When NBA 2K20 was released in 2019, it was the first time Women’s National Basketball Association players were included in the game. This study’s lead author conducted ethnographic fieldwork and 17 semi-structured interviews with American and Canadian NBA 2K players to explore how the presence or absence of female avatars influence male players’ perceptions of who plays the game, and in what ways NBA 2K serves as a platform for fostering or hindering female gamers’ participation in competitive gaming spaces. Since the game only had male avatars, participants often assumed their opponents were male. Female gamers said it wasn’t unheard of for NBA 2K players to exit the game when they realize there was a female player competing against them. In order to avoid this and other forms of harassment, women said they tried to change their voices in game chats to avoid being identified as women. In many cases, a male ally acted as a shield from such online harassment.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143872774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Addressing the 37 Percent: A Call for Using More Human Subjects in Empirical Sport Communication Studies","authors":"Kenon A. Brown","doi":"10.1177/21674795251333299","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251333299","url":null,"abstract":"A key observation from Cummins and Hahn’s (2024) systematic review of the first ten volumes of <jats:italic>Communication & Sport</jats:italic> is that there is a lack of studies that employ human subjects. In response to this finding, this essay makes a case to consider using methodologies that employ human subjects more frequently to further advance the field of sport communication. The essay begins by exploring some of the reasons studies using human subjects are avoided, followed by a discussion about barriers that can be difficult to navigate when conducting studies using human subjects. This leads into recommendations that might be useful to those who see value in employing methodologies that rely on human subjects more in their work.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"108 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143853631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Omar Daoudi, Jason Gainous, Syed Ali Hussain, Khaled Zamoum
{"title":"Media Bias in Sports Journalism: A Comparative Study of Qatar 2022 World Cup Coverage","authors":"Omar Daoudi, Jason Gainous, Syed Ali Hussain, Khaled Zamoum","doi":"10.1177/21674795251330480","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251330480","url":null,"abstract":"This study offers a comparative quantitative analysis of media bias in the coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup by <jats:italic>The Guardian</jats:italic> and the <jats:italic>New York Times</jats:italic> versus <jats:italic>Al Jazeera English</jats:italic> . Utilizing a combination of sentiment analysis and topic modeling, the research assesses narrative tones and framing across these outlets during the Mega-event itself. The findings reveal that Western media consistently politicized the event, focusing on human rights and workers’ rights to highlight value conflicts, thereby transforming sports reporting into political discourse. In contrast, <jats:italic>Al Jazeera</jats:italic> downplayed political issues that did not align with its interests, instead emphasizing the unifying and celebratory aspects of the World Cup and when addressing the political issues doing so through a less critical, and even defensive, frame of Qatar. This study demonstrates how media framing - through politicization or selective omission - reflects underlying biases, interests, shaping global perceptions and reinforcing divergent worldviews. The analysis highlights the need for a more balanced approach in sports journalism to more accurately represent both the events and their broader implications.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143851038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Kim Mulkey, The Washington Post , and a Stealing Thunder Pseudo-Event During the 2024 NCAA Tournament","authors":"Julia C. Richmond, Travis R. Bell","doi":"10.1177/21674795251334042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251334042","url":null,"abstract":"Louisiana State University (LSU) basketball coach Kim Mulkey held an unorthodox press conference in March 2024 to discredit <jats:italic>The Washington Post</jats:italic> , journalist Kent Babb, and the state of journalism while addressing an unreleased news article. Mulkey’s scripted moment was constructed as a mediated pseudo-event that positioned her and the newspaper in opposition through a crisis communication approach known as stealing thunder. Interestingly, this press conference was constructed for a traditional media audience, though one that circulates the message through social media for interpretation. This discourse analysis traces unfolding digital conversations on the social media platform X across 4209 tweets as users co-construct their reactions. This vacuum of information allowed social media users to construct three discourses around Mulkey’s press conference: curious hype, polarizing Mulkey, and journalistic merit. These discourses served express purposes that generated user-based hype, reiterated existing opinions that users had about Mulkey and/or <jats:italic>The Washington Post</jats:italic> , or considered the broader role of journalism in reporting about sports. Implications for public relations practitioners are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143849601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On Rhetorical Theory and Criticism in Sport Communication","authors":"Michael L. Butterworth","doi":"10.1177/21674795251331024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251331024","url":null,"abstract":"Using Cummins and Hahn’s review of Communication & Sport as an invitation to consider future directions in research, this commentary suggests sport communication scholars can do more to engage with the contributions of rhetorical theory and criticism. While Cummins and Hahn rightly point to the field’s overall limited engagement with method and theory, they may miss the epistemological assumptions at play which guide the use of method and theory in rhetorical studies. This essay offers some counterpoints, using several representative publications to demonstrate rhetoric’s guiding epistemology.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143836655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rich G. Johnson, Samer Al-khateeb, Kyran Cupido, Mohammed Madouh, Miles Romney
{"title":"Cheating or Fair Competition? A Structuration Analysis of Social Media Responses to Lia Thomas’ NCAA Swimming Championship","authors":"Rich G. Johnson, Samer Al-khateeb, Kyran Cupido, Mohammed Madouh, Miles Romney","doi":"10.1177/21674795251330304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251330304","url":null,"abstract":"In March 2022, Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania became the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. Using Giddens’ structuration theory as a theoretical lens, this analysis employs Latent Dirichlet Allocation to examine how tweets about Thomas and transgender athletes contain toxic discourses based on established sports structures of <jats:italic>fairness</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>sex separation of sports</jats:italic> .","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"59 20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143805769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unpacking the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: A Comparative Analysis of Media Representations in Slovenia and Croatia","authors":"Kaja Poteko, Sunčica Bartoluci","doi":"10.1177/21674795251330485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251330485","url":null,"abstract":"In recent decades, the Paralympics have evolved into one of the largest and popular elite-level multisport global competitions. However, research has consistently highlighted issues with both – the quantity and quality of its media coverage. While the representation of the Paralympics in the media has been increasingly studied, there has been no study examining the relationship between the Paralympics and the media in Slovenia and Croatia. This study addresses this gap and examines the representation of the Paris 2024 Paralympics in the media in this region. It applies a mixed-methods approach and focuses on the volume of coverage, agenda diversity and the quality of reporting. The study uses a broader definition of sports media, and includes content from the respective Paralympic Committees, exploring a variety of traditional and digital media outlets. The findings show that coverage was limited, with notable differences between public and commercial legacy media. It also lacked agenda diversity, featuring a strong nationalistic focus that contributed to a relatively balanced gender representation. Furthermore, while disability narratives were minimized in competition coverage and athletes were portrayed as inspirational in other related content, the media largely failed to meaningfully address the broader social context of parasport and the inequalities faced by athletes and people with disabilities.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143775331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Feminist Media Scholarship in Communication & Sport : A Response to the 10-Year Review","authors":"Dunja Antunovic, Toni Bruce","doi":"10.1177/21674795251332123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251332123","url":null,"abstract":"In this commentary, Antunovic and Bruce comment on the state of feminist sport media scholarship in <jats:italic>Communication & Sport</jats:italic> in response to Cummins and Hahn’s (2025) 10-year review. The journal has served as a “go to” space for feminist sport media studies scholarship. Hegemonic masculinity prevails as one of the most often referenced frameworks, but the journal’s publications have also engaged with a range of feminist frameworks. Scholars gravitate towards analyses of content (both qualitative and quantitative), which is reflected in feminist sport media scholarship as well. We advocate for a greater use of interviews and focus groups, and note the glaring absence of experimental design. The commentary also addresses the complexities between authors’ institutional affiliations, lived experiences, and contexts of analysis. We ultimately argue for a deeper engagement with theory and a continued commitment to bridging disciplinary boundaries.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143775327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Henk Erik Meier, Samuel Tickell, Dominik Krüssmann
{"title":"From Marriage in Heaven to Lock-In? Examining Mediatization of Winter Sports by Public Service Broadcasters","authors":"Henk Erik Meier, Samuel Tickell, Dominik Krüssmann","doi":"10.1177/21674795251330491","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251330491","url":null,"abstract":"Digital disruption heavily impacts production, distribution and consumption of sport entertainment. The once symbiotic relationship between sport and linear TV faces far-reaching challenges. This applies also to the specific cooperation between niche sports and public service broadcasters (PSBs), which has evolved in Europe. In exchange for far-reaching mediatization efforts, winter sports gained considerable exposure and audience reach. The current contribution aims to provide evidence for the claim that digital disruption can put the future of winter sport as media sport at risk since the PSBs fail to attract younger audiences. In result, winter sports seem to be subject to a lock-in effect as the cooperation with the PSBs still provides several benefits while no definitive new media model for niche sports has emerged.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143782682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}