"Clay Beats Liston: February 25, 1964"
From the accounts of various Kentucky newspapers, I was able to learn a few facts about Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, as well as the attitudes of his fellow Kentuckians. The first thing I noticed in all the newspapers that
I viewed was that almost all the articles written about the fight were written by writers from either the Associated Press (AP) or United Press International
(UPI). This displayed three things about the Kentucky press, first the belief that Clay's fight was not important enough to cover themselves, secondly that the newspapers probably did not make enough money to send their own reporters down to Miami Beach, and finally the localization of the newspapers' audiences.
Another aspect of the fight is the effect it had on Kentucky society, especially the sports scene.
I primarily noticed that almost all the papers used reports from the
Associated Press and the United Press International, even the (Louisville)
Courier-Journal, one of Clay's hometown newspapers, used reports from the
Associated Press. The only articles that were not written by a member of the
Associated Press were the very rare editorials written about the fight. The use of reports from the AP and the UPI shows that most newspapers did not think the fight was very newsworthy. Only one newspaper published an article that was not written by a member of the Associated Press or the United Press International, however that one article was an editorial about Cassius Clay's new found wealth and not the actual fight. The lack of coverage also proves that even though blacks were supposed to be equal to whites, that in reality achievements by blacks and whites were treated differently. None of the newspapers that I read displayed a large picture or headline proclaiming that Cassius Clay was the new heavyweight champion of the world. Most newspapers had an average sized headline stating that Clay was the new champion, but none had an article about him on the front page. This further illustrates that achievements by blacks were believed to be less important than the achievements of whites. I saw almost the same amount of articles on high school basketball, as I did on the fight. Although I am not surprised by the fact that high school basketball received almost a page of coverage, I am alarmed by the fact that this one page of coverage on basketball was the same amount of coverage for the boxing match.
The stories by Associated Press and United Press International illustrate two more facts about Kentucky during the 1960's, primarily that most of
Seelye, Katharine. “Lack of News Doesn’t Deter Coverage.” New York Times. N.p. 16 Oct. 2002. Web. 09 May 2013.
...in more than 230 articles in national and international newspapers and on the major cable news networks.”
Sports Illustrated has failed to appropriately report the survey results. Consequently, we do not know (a) how participants were recruited, (b) how they were contacted, (c) if they ...
The media takes a biased approach on the news that they cover, giving their audience an incomplete view of what had actually happened in a story. Most people believe that they are not “being propagandized or being in some way manipulated” into thinking a certain way or hearing certain “truths” told by their favorite media outlets (Greenwald 827). In reality, everyone is susceptible to suggestion as emphasized in the article “Limiting Democracy: The American Media’s World View, and Ours.” The
For an example of the authors use of specific examples while describing what the media decides as news worthy the author writes, “The public rarely hears about the routine ceremonies at state dinners, but when President George Bush threw up all over the Japanese prime minister in 1992, the world’s media jumped on the story” (Edwards, Wattenberg, Lineberry, 2015, p. 398). This is an indication of how the media decides what is newsworthy. This quote demonstrates some of the strengths of the article because, not only does the quote support how the media decides what is news worthy, but it also shows no bias and is a factual, specific example. Another quote that demonstrates the strengths of the article is “Journalists and politicians have a symbiotic relationship, with politicians relying on journalists to get their message out and journalists relying on politicians to keep them in the know”. (p.400). this quote demonstrates the strengths of the article because, it shows how the media gets its news, how politicians gains their influence, and shows no bias. One last quote that emphasizes the strengths of this excerpt is “The media can even have a dramatic effect on how the public evaluates specific events by emphasizing one event over others. When during a 1976 presidential debate, President Ford incorrectly stated that the Soviet Union did
Stevenson, B. (2007). Title IX and the evolution of high school sports. Contemporary Economic Policy, 25(4), 486-505.
Brennan, Eamonn. "Men's College Basketball Nation Blog." . ESPN, 27 Aug 2012. Web. 15 Jan
Koba, Mark. "High School Sports Have Turned Into Big Business." CNBC. CNBC LLC, 9 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 May 2016.
Davis, S.. (2011, Sep. 21). Hoop Thoughts. Sports Illustrated p 1-2. from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/seth_davis/09/21/Branch.rebuttal/index.html. Web. 12 Mar. 2014
The whitewash days of the Kennedy period were over. The press was willing to examine and cross-examine. This was a significant departure from the mentality of the press the day Kennedy was assassinated and his alleged assassin incredibly unprotected and gunned down two days later. The country had changed significantly by the early seventies. The passive public was not quite so willing to be blindly led anymore. The press was now activist in nature. Archilbald Cox stated "the Watergate experience is the convincing evidence… of the ability of the American people to come together in times when abuses of political power appear and threaten our political system." The people were not willing to accept without question the proclamations of presidential press secretaries. In the process, the peoples' self-image had to change. They matured and of course were willing to challenge authority. This is something that was unheard of in the 1950's. The effect on our political institutions was dramatic...
Firstly I looked at page 3 of ‘The Guardian’ on which I saw a big
“The odds of a high school basketball player making it to the “next level” to play college basketball (DI, II, or III) is slim. In fact, only 3.4% of high school players go on to play college basketball. Taking it even further, only 1.2% of college basketball players go on to get drafted in the NBA” (Winters, 2016). There are two types of players in the game. There are the kids who play basketball because they are athletic, and all they are seeking to gain is the recognition and awards. They want to be known. Those players are self-centered, they do not play for the team, and generally don’t play because they love the game. These are the types of players who don’t usually go on to play at the next level. On the other hand, there are the players that absolutely dedicate their life to the game of basketball just because they love the game. That is what coaches are looking for in a player, and that is the kind of player I am striving to be.
Background information (if applicable): The participation in high school sports this year topped 7.8 million athletes nationwide, which includes 54% of all high school students taking part in athletics (Chen).
In contrast to the layout of ‘The Sun’, ‘The Times’ puts this story on page three because it does not think it is newsworthy for the front-page and its style of readers. ‘The Times’ also has a smaller e-fit picture than ‘The Sun’, it is made up of two columns both of which have small paragraphs...
Americans look to the press to provide the information they need to make informed political choices. How well the press lives up to its responsibility to provide this information has a direct impact upon Americans: how they think about and act upon the issues that confront them.