Media Representation and Portrayal of African-American Athletes

Download or read book Media Representation and Portrayal of African-American Athletes written by Justin Zackal and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The racial composition of athletes competing at major colleges and in professional sports in America is disproportioned to the general population and journalists that cover their sports. With African-Americans accounting for such a large contingent of athletes, how their race is perceived by society is often predicated on the coverage they receive. The purpose of this study is to look at the importance of media coverage of African-American athletes, and to show if White media scrutinize African-American athletes more than they do White athletes. The misrepresentation of African-American athletes in the press box could mean an unequal playing field in the arena of media discourse. The empirical evidence in this study takes a snapshot of professional football and examines the content of newspapers covering teams over a five-year span. Though presumptions can be made by the racial misrepresentation the context and frequency of the message should be most prevalent factor.