American Sport in the 21st Century - Is the Sport Media Biased?

Way back to October 27 and November 3 our American Sport in the 21st Century talked about sport within the media.  We talked about roles of the media, linkages between sport and the mass media, and the different types of media which sport could be presented.

Roles of the media:

- Inform

- Entertain

- Educate

- Advertise

Linkages between sport and the mass media:

- Professional sport is a media commodity driven by market forces

- Reliance on television for revenues

- Changes to the schedules, length of halftime periods, television timeouts have been a result of the media

Characteristics of the media:

-Print media, words and images printed on paper

Electron/visual media, words, commentary, and images we receive through multiple platforms

Sports have to do with a lot about what is going on in society.  The media is what shapes that and they are the ones who can sway people.  They determine what we see for commercials during breaks from the games, and it really all comes down to, is money.  

After this past election, it was pretty easy to see what side the media was favoring.  It didn't really matter who you were going to vote for, it is just easy to notice.  With ESPN being one of, if not the largest platform of watching sport, they can't afford to be biased in any way.  With the popularity of Fox Sports 1, NBC Sports, and others they can't afford to lose any viewership because that means they are losing money.  

If you want to check out the article talking more about this the link will be below:

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2016/11/28/Media/ESPN-politics.aspx

Here is a youtube clip of Stephen A Smith on the show First Take with some political comments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM38Phpz_UE