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Media impact on american society
Media impact on american society
Disadvantages of technology in sport
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Remember the time when Michael Jordan hit the game winning shot, with Byron Russel from Utah in is face, to win his six NBA title? Remember all the times that Joe Montana and Jerry Rice connected for touchdowns? Remember the time when Mark McGuire hit his sixty-second home run to break the old record? All of these sporting events are part of the mosaic that is the American society. The media bombarded American viewers with dazzling athletic feats and heroism. But has the media gone too far in making these sport figures seem larger than life? Could it be that the media has corrupted the spirit and integrity of the once proud and traditional games?
During the pre-television era sports were filled with hard work, loyalty, and self-determination but as times changed people began looking for instant gratification. It is easy to see this happening in the much watched and listened to game of baseball. Thus the fans preferred the towering home runs of Babe Ruth rather than the hard work style of base hits, base stealing, sacrifices and hit-and-run plays personified by Ty Cobb. American heroes were no longer lone businessmen or statesmen, but more often the stars of movies and sports. Young boys now dreamed of becoming athletic heroes rather than the Captains of Industry.
The incredible influence television has had on sports is clearly stated in the scholarly essay In Its Own Image: How Television Has Transformed Sports by Benjamin Rader. This scholarly essay is a well-written piece of work that takes a look at how much of an effect television really has on sports.
Benjamin Rader states as his thesis “Television has essentially trivialized the experience of spectator sports. With its enormous power to magnify and distort images, to reach every hamlet in the nation with events from anywhere in the world, and to pour millions of additional dollars into sports, television-usually with the enthusiastic assistance of the sports moguls themselves-has sacrificed much of the unique drama of sports to the requirements of entertainment. To seize and hold the attention of viewers and thus maximize revenues, the authenticity of the sporting experience has been contaminated with a plethora of external intrusions. To capitalize upon the public’s love of sports, television-again with the aid of sports promoters-has swamped viewers with too many seasons, too many games, too many teams, and too many big plays. Such a flood of sensations has diluted the poignancy and potency of the sporting experience.
The world is a very different place than what it was in the 1920’s; however, despite our differences, many things have stayed the same. No matter what, there’s always something to refer back to. Nearly one-hundred years ago, the 1920’s holds a great deal of historical events that changed the world. One of these historical events is when Babe Ruth changed the outlook on negro leagues and african american baseball players. Ruth could do many things that other people couldn’t in baseball. He in general was an amazing baseball player, but he also did something much more, something that would change the world’s views of not just him, but everybody.
There can be no question that sport and athletes seem to be considered less than worthy subjects for writers of serious fiction, an odd fact considering how deeply ingrained in North American culture sport is, and how obviously and passionately North Americans care about it as participants and spectators. In this society of diverse peoples of greatly varying interests, tastes, and beliefs, no experience is as universal as playing or watching sports, and so it is simply perplexing how little adult fiction is written on the subject, not to mention how lightly regarded that little which is written seems to be. It should all be quite to the contrary; that our fascination and familiarity with sport makes it a most advantageous subject for the skilled writer of fiction is amply demonstrated by Mark Harris.
Even with knowledge of Mosher’s Ph.D. in Sports Studies, the essay would have been stronger if it included additional credible resources. I agree with Mosher’s unstated evaluative claim that society should not expect someone to possess the characteristics of a hero simply because they are a sports athlete. Yet, Mosher asserts that society unrealistically demands their sports athletes to possess traits of high character. After reading this essay, I still ask; why not?
...ic times. The same happened during the 1920’s. Thanks to sports heroes like Babe Ruth, Red Grange, Bobby Jones, and Caroline Ederle. This is the first time we saw people look up to people in sports as heroes.
From the age of folk games to the age of televised sports (5th ed.). (pp. 62-63).
Sommers, C. H. (2010, August 12). Take back the sports page? The American Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.american.com/archive/2010/august/take-back-the-sports-page/
In today’s world of big time professional sports there are the two major players and they are football represented by the National Football League (NFL) and baseball represented by Major League Baseball (MLB). Now there are other sports that the American public enjoys watching, however the argument generally boils down to which sport is the true favorite of the American people: baseball or football. In this paper I will attempt to examine both sports from several different angles to include attendance, television revenue, ticket costs, venues, salaries, entertainment value, and athlete perception. The goal of this exercise will be to determine, once and for all, which sport is the American favorite and can truly be called the “American Pastime”.
This has made it easier to stay up to date with new stories. People turned to sports as a way to get over the Great War and pass time. Americans were provided with the economic boom, the automobile became the main means of transport. People also got their hands on many other new devices. Their timing for switching to watching sports as a new hobby was perfect as they had the privilege of seeing many stars such as Jack Dempsey, The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, Suzanne Levine, Eddie Shore and many more.
Sports is real life drama that can’t be scripted, from underdog stories to the fall of dynasties none of the events that occur in sports can be scripted. Sports media cover all these dramas and puts out their opinion about the subject, which usually has a bias towards big markets. The bias of sports media may be predictable, but not every viewer is informed so their opinion about the matter can easily sway the viewer. Sports media isn’t always bad because they do capture the special moments in sports and they bring awareness to social issues to the public. Sports media can single handedly make or break a player’s, coach’s, or team’s image by either covering the good or the bad story and it will affect the opinion of the national audience.
Americans have become addicted to gaining quick rewards of satisfaction through sports and action because they want to be entertained thoroughly without needing to ponder any hidden meaning so it doesn’t take away from the pure entertainment of the action. In his time, Bradbury was fearful of the way that the television’s empty shows were in invading every home in America. The culture in the novel demands for “everything (to be boiled) down to the rag, the snap ending” (Bradbury 52), leaving nothing for the viewer to ponder; they would rather enjoy themselves “a solid entertainment” (Bradbury 58). The same is true in today’s movies and shows, in which most must contain many action scenes in order to keep the viewer’s attention, and the meaning and symbols must be clearly spelled out for them. This is also why Bradbury includes sports as being the main focus of schools in his story, since th...
This game of a stick and ball has captivated the United States during good and bad times. In either time most of us today can remember stories of players from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. These are legendary figures in the sport of baseball that have are celebrated as hero’s and in scandal, i...
Media plays a large role in affecting peoples thinking, opinions, ideas, etc. In essence media can shape our thinking into negative views and perspectives that are typically not true. Sometimes the media plays as a puppet master to society. Specifically, the inequity of the gender roles within sports causes for a stir in commotion that calls for some attention. In doing so the inadequate misuse of media towards women in sports causes low exposure, amongst many other things. On the other hand their male counterparts are on the other end of the success spectrum. Because of this noticeable difference, it is vital that action is taken place to level out equality within sports. Due to the power of media, it is believed that a change in media coverage
Professional sports have always been a major sector in American culture. During the 1950s many Americans looked forward to watching or playing sports, which was an outlet for stress and tension. Over the 50s the television became common in many households, which enabled viewers at home to watch their favorite athletes compete. This advance in technology during the 1950s indirectly boosted the potential growth of sports. People were eager to watch their favorite athlete idols dominate in their respected sport. Sports icons such as Joe DiMaggio and Jim Brown attracted thousands of people to come and watch them play. Whether it was a result of their physical nature or their extraordinary skill level, athletes Wilt Chamberlain and Arnold Palmer exerted significant influence on professional Basketball and Golf, which continues to have a massive impact. The impact Chamberlain and Palmer had in their sport during their playing days, modified how sports are played today.
Women have been criticized when it comes to sports participation, sports is viewed as a dominant role for males and females should play a supportive role rather than participating in the actual field activities, this is just one of many reasons why inequality still exists. Sandys (2007) suggests that gender inequality in sports stems from the stereotypes that exist in society today. For example, stereotypes of women’s physical abilities and social roles are still very prominent today, and so women naturally feel inferior in the sports domain. If we stray away from the right track towards gender equality in sports and increased feelings of empowerment will only be reached if these stereotypes are eliminated (Sandys, 2007). Therefore, it could be argued that increased media coverage of women’s sports could be a possible solution, because it would serve to ed...
The majority of viewers are never able to witness these events first hand, which is where television comes into play. Without television, the people who are able to view sporting events would be restricted by the size of the arena. However, television allows sporting events to be broadcasted to millions even billions of people allowing them to experience the events and feel more connected to the teams they so dedicatedly support. Without television, people would not have as much access to sports, and therefore the ability of sports to unite people and nations would not be nearly as successful. Sporting events are one of the biggest media spectacles in world culture. Douglas Kellner writes “media spectacles are those phenomena of media culture that embody contemporary society’s basic values, sever to initiate individuals into a way of life, and dramatize its controversies and straggles, as well as its modes of conflict resolution” (108). The movie Invictus depicts how Nelson Mandela used sports, in particular rugby, as a means...