Title: Power trip: sport and media

Authors: David Rowe

Addresses: Centre for Cultural Research (CCR), University of Western Sydney, Parramatta Campus, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC NSW 1797, Australia

Abstract: This article is concerned with two subjects that have an important bearing on sport management and marketing – media power in sport and the power of the media in society. These themes are examined closely, because a failure to appreciate the role of the media in sport is both a professional failing and an abdication of social responsibility. While the media|s impact on sport is undeniable and inevitable, this does not mean that their relationship is determined and immutable. Sport would be unrecognisable today without the media, but the consequences of permitting one major social institution to merge with – and perhaps colonise – another, need to be explored and analysed. This article sets out to perform this task through a critical analysis of broadcast sport and an empirical content analysis of the sport pages of Australian newspapers, as part of the largest international survey of the sports press yet conducted.

Keywords: sport management; sport marketing; media; power; broadcasting; cultural citizenship; sports hierarchy; gender; Australia; sport pages; Australian newspapers; sports press; broadcast sport.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2009.028799

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2009 Vol.6 No.2, pp.150 - 166

Published online: 30 Sep 2009 *

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