Sport and the Media

One of the topics that I found most interest in was the relation of sport and the media. There is much interdependence between the two. Using the conflict theory as my perspective I saw that the control of sport media relies greatly with corporate business men. Learning from Kiola's lecture that the top wealthiest people are not athletes or even coaches was surprising, but makes sense now that I have looked further into it. Conflict theory is seen when the media and sport operate through the constant promotion of the ideology that consumption, competition and individual achievement is the dominant way to live. The media can make an audience want to buy anything relating to the sport event, team, or athlete they are watching. The influence of consumption is what promotes economic exploitation and capitalist expansion. Economic exploitation and capitalist expansion are the foundations for how these these wealthy business men retain their use of power to control the media. I believe that the focus of what is important in sport is skewed to what these wealthy business men want to see. It would be nice to see some social change in sport media pertaining to what athletes actually believe is important and beneficial to the future of their athletic field and sport as a whole.  
Michelle Ng   
Kerrie Kauer/332I/T/Th 9:30