Search

Copyright of Science of Gymnastics Journal is the property of Science of Gymnastics Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study used theories of agenda setting and framing to examine NBC's Americanized telecast in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Five sports (gymnastics, diving, swimming, track and field, and beach volleyball) received more than 90% of the prime-time coverage, which set an agenda about which sports were most relevant for Americans to watch. The limited scope within NBC's televised agenda, in turn, facilitated the gendered framing of Olympians through sport commentator accounts. Gendered differences were statistically present in only four sports; diving had no significant differences, whereas beach volleyball contained the most differences. Implications and directions for future research are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of all 348 prime-time hours of the 1996-2006 Olympic telecasts (three Summer, three Winter) pinpointed trends in coverage of men's and women's sports. Results indicate that while men athletes and events received the majority of clock time in all six Olympic telecasts, the Summer Olympic telecasts treated women far more equitably than the Winter Olympic telecast. The longitudinal study does not offer any reason to feel that coverage of women's athletics is improving over time, finding that the proportion of clock time devoted to men's and women's sports is relatively the same in 2006 compared to ten years earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the process of enacting, producing, consuming and organizing sport. Although the actual performance of sport is a physical activity, communication in, around, and about sport influences both the physical performance of athletes and the social construction of the sporting experience. Communication is the vehicle by which community members participate in the enactment, reproduction, consumption, and organizing of sport. These overlapping communicative activities serve to signal membership in or exclusion from the community of sport, to bond members of that community, and to facilitate members' experiences of sport. The community of sport is complex and multilayered. Members are often involved in sport in multiple ways, at various levels, and to varying degrees. Consider for example the parent-coach-fan. Recent work by communication scholars highlights the complex and multiple identities that members of the community of sport enact concurrently and how those roles influence one another and shape the experience of sport for both parents and children.

The words of sportscasters—repeated hundreds, even thousands, of times by different announcers in similar ways—provide a conceptual frame for the sports experience, and that mental frame has particular importance because fans often apply it to nonathletic situations. Contrary to assertions by some critics, analysis of 1,156 descriptors in sportscaster commentary during 66 televised men's and women's college basketball games showed no significant difference between the proportions of commentary and proportions of participating Black and White men players, but showed some overemphasis in comments about White women players. Predictably, Black men players tended to be stereotyped as naturally athletic, quick, and powerful, while White men players continued to be touted for their hard work, effort, and mental skill. The same racial stereotypes also appeared in the commentary about women basketball players, but few gender stereotypes emerged. Thus, increases in the numbers of Black and women game announcers may have lent balance to quantities of coverage by race and gender, but traditional racial stereotypes continue to pervade sports commentary even when gender stereotypes appear to be diminishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of on-air promotion have produced conflicting results, ranging from findings of high effectiveness for promos in comedies to nearly total ineffectiveness for promos in sporting events. Using videotape of the 1996 Summer Olympics, this study analyzed 183 on-air promos for primetime shows carried within prime-time coverage of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with the impact of lead-ins, results demonstrated that promos within the Olympic broadcasts apparently had a surprisingly large effect on NBC's prime-time ratings, although a welter of other factors probably bolstered the effect. For the first time, and contrary to results for the 1992 Winter and Summer Olympics, the industry assumption that an Olympic Games may be an ideal platform for promoting prime-time programs merited support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous gender research in forensics has studied the success rates of men and women within different aspects of competition. While several important differences between the sexes were pinpointed, researchers failed to measure the effects of the sex of both speaker and judge. This study examines these effects, finding that while men and women had virtually identical ranking averages, the sex of the judge and the genre of the individual event significantly influenced student rankings. Conclusions pertaining to alleviating these biases are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a curriculum for a thesis project on communication research. Students can complete either a 30-50 page research assignment with a partner, or a 20-30 page research assignment individually on a topic of their choice. In this course, students learn to (1) synthesize all coursework previously conducted within the speech and communication studies major; (2) compose and construct a thesis-length paper; (3) refine research and library skills; (4) use proper documentation style; and (5) enhance oral presentation skills. Students complete a 2-3 page introduction to the thesis that articulates the significance of the topic, its scope, its timeliness, the primary areas of prior research, and the primary goal of the thesis project. Students compose 4-8 pages of work in the area of related theories and studies. This section grounds the project in appropriate theory and outlines prior work as it pertains to the one who conducted the study, what was studied, and what was found. Students build an argument for their line of research by arguing what they are proposing is the next logical step in a given topic area. Students orally present their projects in conference format, which are 12-15 minutes in length and are formal in nature and dress.

This article examines whether ESPN perpetuates the perception of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as the dominant conference in college football in line with the television sports network's National Signing Day (NSD) where high school seniors are recruited for collegiate sport. Topics covered include NSD coverage on ESPN between 2015-2018, total television exposure and description of the traits of the recruits and perceived SEC favoritism in ESPN coverage of NSD.

Nationalistic notions are embedded within every part of the Olympic Games, inculcating feelings pertaining to one's nation. Previous research examined the degree to which one is affected by portrayals of nationalism during international sporting events, finding that media consumption and results increase nationalistic feelings. However, such analyses rarely infused overarching fandom into the equation and failed to make global comparisons. This study surveyed 2,245 people from three continents in six different nations (Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United States) to examine nationalistic attitudes during the 2018 Winter Olympics and subsequent effects. Significant differences between nationalized qualities manifested between each continent, as did their paths to becoming a fan and consuming content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During live sporting events, female announcer teams for men's sports are becoming increasingly common, however, there is a lack of research examining viewers response to this.. Using psychophysiological measures, this study examines sports fan arousal and depicted emotion while watching sports highlights with female announcers, comparing it to the same highlights using male announcers. Results show that male participants were more aroused than female participants when watching sporting events announced by male and female announcers. However, female participants had a more significant emotional response. Sports fandom was also found to be a predictor of arousal. Results are interpreted using social identity theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]