{"title":"A Longitudinal Study on the Effects of Parasocial Relationships and Breakups With Characters of a Health-Related TV Show on Self-Efficacy and Exercise Behavior: The Case of The Biggest Loser.","authors":"Perina Siegenthaler, Tanja Aegerter, Andreas Fahr","doi":"10.1177/21674795211045039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795211045039","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Overweight is one of the major health-related challenges in industrialized countries and mostly preventable through a healthy diet and regular engagement in physical activity. Health communication practitioners and researchers, therefore, started using the media's persuasive potential by creating entertainment-education (E-E) programs that promote healthy nutrition and exercise. By observing the characters in E-E programs, audience members can learn vicariously and eventually develop personal bonds with them. The current study investigates the effects of parasocial relationships (PSRs) with characters of a health-related E-E show, as well as the impact of parasocial breakups (PSBUs) on health-relevant outcomes. Using the setting of the show The Biggest Loser (TBL), we conducted a quasi-experimental longitudinal field study. Participants (<i>N</i> = 149) watched shortened episodes of the show once a week for 5 weeks. Results showed that PSRs with the reality TV characters did not increase over time and after repeated exposure. Findings furthermore suggest that PSR did not influence self-efficacy perceptions or exercise behavior over time. Parasocial breakup distress intensity was neither related to self-efficacy nor to exercise behavior. Interpretations of these findings and implications for better understanding the effects of PSRs and PSBUs are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10326891/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10304102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On Creating a Place, Space and Time for the Trans Athlete","authors":"A. Billings, Marie Hardin","doi":"10.1177/21674795231184540","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795231184540","url":null,"abstract":"The two concepts are inextricably linked: access and equity. Each are so often paired in discussions and organizational structures that one could confuse them as one and the same. Nevertheless, each connotes something different, even if the goal of inclusion undergirds both. Access pertains to having a space for all to participate and, ideally succeed — whether that is in an of fi ce space, voting booth, or athletic arena. Equity pertains to the fairness within that opportunity, ensuring a level playing fi eld in which no one enters the equation with an inherent advantage or impediment to achievement. Both are worthy pursuits that must be honored and elevated within any society. But what happens when the terms are pitted against one another, with access and equity seen as a zero-sum game? That appears to be what is unfolding in many aspects of today ’ s society as it relates to the trans athlete. Such debates often are formed on the crucial distinction of what is most important in the sporting sphere: (a) providing a place for all to be included or (b) ensuring that those entering a competitive space are competing on fair physiological footing. Those advancing access-based arguments equate banning trans athletes from a sporting competition as heresy to the presumption that sports should provide a playing fi eld open to all. Those advancing equity-arguments often prioritize the reasons for biological sex divisions in sports using the rationale of fairness in competition and pointing to biological markers such as testosterone, muscle mass, and respiratory systems. We do not claim to have the scienti fi c knowledge to navigate this dif fi cult terrain, but we do believe Communication & Sport can be a place to discuss and interrogate valid claims from hyperbole as well as the legitimate concern from the moral panic. If a primary aim of cultivation theory is to uncover the manner in which communication can","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49579922","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}
Communication & SportPub Date : 2023-06-01Epub Date: 2021-12-08DOI: 10.1177/21674795211041024
Keith D Parry, Beth G Clarkson, Ali Bowes, Laura Grubb, David Rowe
{"title":"Media Framing of Women's Football During the COVID-19 Pandemic.","authors":"Keith D Parry, Beth G Clarkson, Ali Bowes, Laura Grubb, David Rowe","doi":"10.1177/21674795211041024","DOIUrl":"10.1177/21674795211041024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article examines British media coverage of women's association football during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, to identify how the media framed the women's game and how these frames could shape the public perceptions of it. Through a database search of British-based news coverage of women's football, 100 news articles were identified in the first 6 months after the start of the pandemic. A thematic analysis was conducted, and five dominant frames were detected in the context of COVID-19: 1) <i>financial precariousness of women's football</i>; 2) <i>the commercial prioritisation of men's football</i>; 3) <i>practical consideration of the sport</i> (e.g., alterations to national and international competitions); 4) <i>debating the future of women's football</i> and 5) <i>concern for players</i> (e.g., welfare, uncertain working conditions). These frames depart from the past trivialisation and sexualisation of women's sport, demonstrate the increased visibility of women's football, and shift the narrative towards the elite stratum of the game. Most of this reporting was by women journalists, while men were shown to write less than women about women's football. This research advocates continued diversification of the sports journalism workforce to dissolve the hegemonic masculine culture that still largely dominates the industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/44/98/10.1177_21674795211041024.PMC9014347.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9900978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Situational Crisis Communication and the COVID-19 Pandemic Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games","authors":"Donna Wong, Y. Meng-Lewis","doi":"10.1177/21674795231174188","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795231174188","url":null,"abstract":"Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were postponed for a year. While getting through with the organizing of an Olympic Games amid a global pandemic is seen as a success by many (‘The Good’), it was overshadowed by the relentless virus as the Games closed with a muted spectacle in 2021 (‘The Bad’). Pushing on with the Games after the postponement, at the height of the pandemic, has resulted in strong criticisms and caused damage to the organizers (‘The Ugly’). This study seeks to assess the crisis communication strategies implemented by the organizers as they navigated the capricious condition of trudging on with a pandemic era sport spectacle. Through examining the organizers’ crisis communications to the challenges that emerged and public reactions to the strategies, this study seeks to understand the outcome of the strategies on the organizational image and reputation. It also provides reflections on the management of the Games through the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, it is argued that the situational crisis communication theory offers a useful framework that can provide theoretical connections between crisis management in a sports mega-event and organizational response strategies.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42860525","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":"Essential for the Future of the Field: Leadership and Scholarship by Women in Communication and Sport","authors":"Marie Hardin, A. Billings","doi":"10.1177/21674795231176318","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795231176318","url":null,"abstract":"One primary mantra the lead author of this introduction has reiterated over the years is that if you wish to change how women’s sports are covered, you need to focus on the decision makers. Change the editors deciding what is newsworthy. Change the administrator who does the hiring. Build a network for change to help the voices rise more organically. We advance this special issue focusing exclusively on women academicians in sole or lead author roles to mark progress, but also to stress that the fact this is still noteworthy shows there is considerable work yet to be accomplished. When Lawrence A. Wenner published the 1989 seminal work Media, Sports and Society, on a variety of topics at the communication-sport nexus, just two of the chapters were authored by women. This was not from a lack of interest in advancing women’s voices as much as it was a lack of women working in scholarly sports spaces. By the time Wenner’s MediaSport was published almost a decade later – another compendium of contributions by leading scholars in the early days of communicationand-sport research, women were lead authors on seven of the 17 chapters in the volume. He had more options to elevate women’s voices and, quite wisely, used them, even if complete equity was not attained.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43281828","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":"Prolonging the Mental Health Moment: Sport, Media, and the Advancement of a More Authentic Athlete","authors":"A. Billings, Marie Hardin","doi":"10.1177/21674795231162406","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795231162406","url":null,"abstract":"Ask most attuned to issues in the sports world as to whether mental health has experienced a “moment” in the past decade, and nearly all would likely say yes. Defining that moment is much more difficult to pinpoint as that depends on one’s location and sport interest type. For soccer fans, perhaps it was Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon’s admission that he once missed a match because of a panic attack. Others might point to Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, who disclosed that the pressure of playing at the game was a serious issue with profound implications on his own mental health. Swimming afficionados likely focus on record-setting American Olympian Michael Phelps, who not only revealed depression and suicidal ideation but also then created a foundation and a film to show he was not alone with these experiences. In more recent years, women have started to speak about it more, including leaders in their sports such as Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka or American gymnast Simone Biles. Was sport experiencing a mental health moment—or was it something bigger than that? A sequence, an ascending understanding, a progression of insight all ultimately seem more apt. The key for sports media researchers now pertains to discernment, including in how to examine a multitude of stories under the same broad mental health umbrella. Communication & Sport has gradually been entering scholarship into these types of debates, mostly within the National Basketball Association. For instance, Cassilo (2022) contrasted the cases of NBA players RoyceWhite and DeMar DeRozan, finding media coverage was almost universally positive for DeRozan, yet much more critical of White, at least partly because his mental health disclosure was seen as impeding his ability to travel and compete with his team and at least partly because DeRozan was more athletically successful than White. Parrott et al. (2021) compared DeRozan with","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48351605","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 Used to Love Scheifele:” Dominant Narratives on Reddit About the Canadian Division of the Stanley Cup Playoffs","authors":"Brendan O’Hallarn, Mark A. Slavich, Betsy Emmons","doi":"10.1177/21674795231154008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795231154008","url":null,"abstract":"The community-moderated content aggregation social media site Reddit has emerged as a popular destination for discussion of topics of interest in news, sport, and entertainment. This study explored the discourse of hockey fans during the playoff rounds of the Canadian Division in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. The study analyzed fan discourse around two incidents which garnered significant media attention, and subsequent Reddit chatter—the inadvertent knee-on-head collision that knocked Toronto Maple Leafs’ captain John Tavares out of Round 1 and the deliberate late hit by Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets, leading to his suspension for the remainder of Round 2. On Reddit, both incidents revealed a community of hockey fans eager to engage in spirited, sometimes profane, discussion. Very quickly, discussion of the incidents led to the creation of a dominant narrative on Reddit, with the architecture of the site itself helping to inhibit alternative points of view. This contradicts the popular view of Reddit as a fan-powered community because of affordances which inhibit dissent and reward repeating other debate participants. This instant in-group creation could ultimately act as a barrier to fandom among Reddit’s 850 million users not as passionate about particular narratives of hockey.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88040952","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":"Naming and Lower Cases as Diplomatic Tools in Sport? The Case of ‘SPAIN v. kosovo’ During Qatar 2022 World Cup Qualifiers","authors":"Fernando Gutiérrez-Chico, Carlos Pulleiro Méndez","doi":"10.1177/21674795231153662","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795231153662","url":null,"abstract":"This research focuses on the Spanish strategy to balance its political non-recognition of Kosovo and the respect to the Balkan country’s full membership in FIFA and UEFA. Considering the relevance of naming as a political tool in cases of sporting diplomatic conflict, our driving research questions are: How relevant is the name of Kosovo for Spain in its use of sport to perform this state non-recognition? More specifically, how and to what extent did the official name of Kosovo become a key diplomatic element for Spain during the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers? Methodologically, we have applied a content analysis of the Spanish Football Federation, the Spanish public broadcasting corporation and three main private media outlets. The conclusion is that the stronger diplomatic mobilization of Kosovo forced Spain to accept all of its national symbology at the protocol level. Therefore, there was a deliberate attempt not only to avoid the use of the names ‘Kosovo’ or ‘Republic of Kosovo’ by the Spanish establishment, but also using lower cases when no other alternative was possible. However, its application was inconsistent among the executing actors due to the lack of internalization of the naming policy, thus making it ineffective.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80819637","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":"Still Battling for Equity: Examining Biological Sex Portrayals Through the Lens of the Gold Coast During Australian Prime Time Coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games","authors":"Olan K. M. Scott, B. Li, James Bingaman","doi":"10.1177/21674795231153343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795231153343","url":null,"abstract":"This study examined differences in the Seven Network’s primetime coverage of male and female athletes who participated at the 2018 Commonwealth Games that were held in Australia. Over 31 hours of total coverage was analyzed for clock-time, name mentions, and the descriptions of athletes by announcers divided by biological sex. Results found that male athletes received the bulk of the clock time and were featured more in two of the three most-telecasted sports: swimming and track cycling. However, there were few other significant results in the word for word descriptors of success, failure, physicality, and personality, which indicates that the announcers on the Seven Network provided a relatively balanced depiction of athletes. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90879779","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":"Much Ado About Twitter, Twitch, and More: A Maturing Research Agenda","authors":"Marie Hardin, A. Billings","doi":"10.1177/21674795231152657","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795231152657","url":null,"abstract":"In hindsight, one might argue that when Communication & Sport published its inaugural issue in 2013, social media received insufficient attention by essay authors – leading names in the field – in their assessment of the phenomena to which scholars should be attentive in the coming decade. Social media was not entirely absent, of course. For instance, Walter Gantz, in his overview and reflection on the state of the field relating to sports fanship, framed social media and other interactive technologies as increasingly playing a facilitating role for “expression, competition, attention, fun and connectivity” (2013, p. 183). Raymond Boyle, in his assessment of journalism and digital culture, wrote, “Taking the long view of communications culture, social media can be seen as part of an evolving tradition within sports journalism, that offers aspects of change, but also continuity” (2013, p. 94). But he added this, “once the genie of social media is ‘out of the bottle,’ it is out for good” (p. 94). Out of the bottle, indeed. Just a year later, Editor-in-Chief Lawrence A. Wenner convened a handful of scholars to address opportunities and challenges in what he described as a “striking rise” (2014, p. 103) in the number of submissions focused on Twitter and sport. In his editorial essay titled “Much Ado (or Not) About Twitter? Assessing an Emergent Communication and Sport Research Agenda,” Wenner expressed concerns (shared by others, including the two current editors of this journal) that social-media-focused research risked being too enamored with the platform (e.g., Twitter) while being inattentive to wider cultural phenomena and the need for such studies to address important theoretical questions central to communication and sport.","PeriodicalId":46882,"journal":{"name":"Communication & Sport","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48633142","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}