Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Comparing Coverage of King, Swoopes and Griner

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Sports Journalism and Women Athletes

  • 271 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter reports the results of two content analysis studies conducted for the book. It begins by introducing media sociology and Shoemaker and Reese’s Hierarchical Influences Model, the guiding theoretical perspectives of this work and also discusses literature in the related areas of framing, journalistic routines and source usage. The first study, which employed a two-dimensional framing measurement scheme to analyze coverage of King, Swoopes and Griner, found that more stories were written about King, and they were more likely to employ the individual frame. Articles about Swoopes used the Gay Athlete frame more often. The second study compared source prominence in stories about Swoopes and Griner and found that comments from the two athletes dominated the coverage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bennett, W. L., Lawrence, R. G., & Livingston, S. (2006). None dare call it torture: Indexing and the limits of press independence in the Abu Ghraib scandal. Journal of Communication, 56(3), 467–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benson, R. (2004). Bringing the sociology of media back in. Political Communication, 21(3), 275–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bichard, S. L. (2006). Building blogs: A multi-dimensional analysis of the distribution of frames on the 2004 presidential candidate web sites. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 83(2), 329–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billings, A. C., Moscowitz, L. M., Rae, C., & Brown-Devlin, N. (2015). The art of coming out: Traditional and social media frames surrounding the NBA’s Jason Collins. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 92(1), 142–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, R. (2013). Reflections on communication and sport: On journalism and digital culture. Communication & Sport, 1(1–2), 88–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J., Bybee, C., Wearden, S., & Straughan, D. (1987). Invisible power: Newspaper news sources and the limits of diversity. Journalism Quarterly, 64(1), 45–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cacciatore, M. A., Scheufele, D. A., & Iyengar, S. (2016). The end of framing as we know it…and the future of media effects. Mass Communication and Society, 19(1), 7–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, M. (2009). Dueling, dancing or dominating? Journalists and their sources. Sociology Compass, 3(4), 526–542.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carragee, K. M., & Roefs, W. (2004). The neglect of power in recent framing research. Journal of Communication, 54(2), 214–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, W. P. (2012). Beyond the game, or business as usual? Daily newspaper and wire-service coverage of John Amaechi’s coming out. Journal of Sports Media, 7(2), 23–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, W. P. (2017a). Inching away from the toy department: Daily newspaper sports coverage of Jason Collins’ and Michael Sam’s coming out. Communication & Sport, 5(5), 534–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, W. P. (2017b). Sports journalism and coming out stories: Jason Collins and Michael Sam. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, W. P., La France, B. H., & Babin, S. (2018). Routine adjustments: How journalists framed the Charleston shootings. International Journal of Communication, 12, 4668–4688.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chyi, H. I., & McCombs, M. (2004). Media salience and the process of framing: Coverage of the Columbine school shootings. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 81(1), 22–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, P. (1999). Uses of expertise: Sources, quotes and voice in the reporting of genetics in the news. Public Understanding of Science, 8(4), 285–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dann, L., & Everbach, T. (2016). Opening the sports closet: Media coverage of the self-outings of Jason Collins and Brittney Griner. Journal of Sports Media, 11(1), 169–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dimitrova, D. V., & Stromback, J. (2009). Look who’s talking: Use of sources in newspaper coverage in Sweden and the United States. Journalism Practice, 3(1), 75–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Entman, R. M. (2003). Cascading activation: Contesting the White House’s frame after 9/11. Political Communication, 20(4), 415–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fink, C. (2001). Sportswriting: The lively game. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, M. (1980). Manufacturing the news. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freedman, E., Fico, F., & Durisin, M. (2010). Gender diversity absent in expert sources for elections. Newspaper Research Journal, 31(2), 20–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghanem, S. I. (1997). Filling in the tapestry: The second level of agenda setting. In M. E. McCombs, D. L. Shaw, & D. H. Weaver (Eds.), Communication and democracy (pp. 3–14). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gans, H. J. (1979). Deciding what’s news. New York: Pantheon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gitlin, T. (1980). The whole world is watching. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groshek, J. (2008). Coverage of the pre-Iraq War debate as a case study of frame indexing. Media, War & Conflict, 1(3), 315–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallin, D. C. (1986). The “uncensored” war. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallin, D. C., Manoff, R. K., & Weddle, J. K. (1993). Sourcing patterns of national security reporters. Journalism Quarterly, 70(4), 753–766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardin, M., Kuehn, K. M., Jones, H., Genovese, J., & Balaji, M. (2009). Have you got game? Hegemonic masculinity and neo-homophobia in U.S. newspaper sports columns. Communication, Culture & Critique, 2(2), 182–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hickerson, A. A., Moy, P., & Dunsmore, K. (2011). Revisiting Abu Ghraib: Journalists’ sourcing and framing patterns. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 88(4), 789–806.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holody, K. J., & Daniel, E. S. (2017). Attributes and frames of the Aurora shootings: National and local news coverage differences. Journalism Practice, 11(1), 80–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jurkowitz, M. (2006, April 5). Muckrakers in the outfield. The Phoenix. Retrieved from http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/8312-muckrakers-inthe-outfield/?page=3#TOPCONTENT.

  • Kian, E. M., Anderson, E., & Shipka, D. (2015). ‘I am happy to start the conversation’: Examining sport media framing of Jason Collins’ coming out and playing in the NBA. Sexualities, 18(5–6), 618–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, S. (2008). What’s queer about (queer) sport sociology now? A review essay. Sociology of Sport Journal, 25(4), 419–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kozman, C. (2017). Who framed the steroid issue in baseball?: A study of the frame-source relationship in traditional and new media. Journal of Sports Media, 12(2), 125–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon, K. H., & Moon, S. I. (2009). The bad guy is one of us: Framing comparison between the US and Korean newspapers and blogs about the Virginia Tech shooting. Asian Journal of Communication, 19(3), 270–288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liebler, C. M., & Bendix, J. (1996). Old-growth forests on network news: News sources and the framing of an environmental controversy. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 73(1), 53–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowes, M. D. (1999). Inside the sports pages: Work routines, professional ideologies and the manufacture of sports news. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McCombs, M. E., & Ghanem, S. I. (2001). The convergence of agenda setting and framing. In S. D. Reese, O. H. Gandy, & A. E. Grant (Eds.), Framing public life: Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world (pp. 67–81). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCombs, M., Llamas, J. P., Lopez-Escobar, E., & Rey, F. (1997). Candidate images in Spanish elections: Second-level agenda-setting effects. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 74(4), 703–717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCombs, M., Lopez-Escobar, E., & Llamas, J. P. (2000). Setting the agenda of attributes in the 1996 Spanish general election. Journal of Communication, 50(1), 77–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muschert, G. W., & Carr, D. (2006). Media salience and frame changing across events: Coverage of nine school shootings, 1997–2001. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 83(4), 747–766.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myrick, J. G., Hatley Major, L., & Jankowski, S. M. (2014). The sources and frames used to tell stories about depression and anxiety: A content analysis of 18 years of national television news coverage. Electronic News, 8(1), 49–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nacos, B., Shapiro, R., Hritzuk, N., & Chadwick, B. (2000). From traditional foreign policy news to new global issues. In R. Shapiro, B. Nacos, & P. Isernia (Eds.), Decision making in a glass house: Mass media, public opinion, and American and European foreign policy in the 21st century. Rowan & Littlefield: Lanham, MD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neuendorf, K. A. (2017). The content analysis guidebook (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oates, T. P., & Pauly, J. (2007). Sports journalism as moral and ethical discourse. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 22(4), 332–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, S.-Y, Holody, J. J., & Zhang, X. (2012). Race in media coverage of school shootings: A parallel application of framing theory and attribute agenda setting. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 89(3), 475–494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poole, G. A. (2009, January/February). Back to the future. How sports journalism can recapture its relevance. Columbia Journalism Review, 47(5), 19–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese, S. D. (2019). Hierarchy of influences. In T. P. Vos & F. Hanusch (Eds.), International encyclopedia of journalism studies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118841570.iejs0023.

  • Reese, S. D., Grant, A., & Danielian, L. H. (1994). The structure of news sources on television: A network analysis of “CBS News”, “Nightline”, “MacNeil/Lehrer”, and “This Week with David Brinkley”. Journal of Communication, 44(2), 84–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reese, S. D., & Shoemaker, P. J. (2016). A media sociology for the networked public sphere: The hierarchy of influences model. Mass Communication & Society, 19(4), 389–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Revers, M., & Brienza, C. (2018). How not to establish a subfield: Media sociology in the United States. American Sociologist, 49(3), 352–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riffe, D., Lacy, S., & Fico, F. G. (2014). Analyzing media messages: Using quantitative content analysis in research (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, D. (2007). Sports journalism: Still the toy department of the news media? Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 8(4), 385–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salwen, M. B., & Garrison, B. (1998). Finding their place in journalism: Newspaper sports journalists’ professional “problems”. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 22(1), 88–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheufele, D. A. (1999). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication, 49(1), 103–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schildkraut, J., & Muschert, G. W. (2014). Media salience and the framing of mass murder in schools: A comparison of the Columbine and Sandy Hook massacres. Homicide Studies, 18(1), 23–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz-Jorgensen, S. (2005). The World’s Best Advertising Agency: The Sports Press. Retrieved from http://www.playthegame.org/upload/sport_press_survey_english.pdf.

  • Schwartz, J., & Andsager, J. L. (2008). Sexual health and stigma in urban newspapers’ coverage of methamphetamine. American Journal of Men’s Health, 2(1), 56–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shoemaker, P. J., & Reese, S. D. (2014). Mediating the message in the 21st century: A media sociology perspective. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigal, L. (1973). Reporters and officials. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soley, L. (1992). The news shapers. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soloski, J. (1989). News reporting and professionalism: Some constraints on the reporting of news. Media, Culture and Society, 11(2), 201–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, J. E. (1995). Experts and the operational bias of television news: The case of the Persian Gulf War. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 72(4), 799–812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sugden, J., & Tomlinson, A. (2007). Stories from planet football and sportsworld: Source relations and collusion in sport journalism. Journalism Practice, 1(1), 44–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suggs, D. W. (2016). Tensions in the press box: Understanding relationships among sports media and source organizations. Communication & Sport, 4(3), 262–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi, B. (2010). Framing and sources: A study of mass media coverage of climate change in Peru during the VALCUE. Public Understanding of Science, 20(4), 543–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tankard, J. W. (2001). The empirical approach to the study of media framing. In S. D. Reese, O. H. Gandy, & A. E. Grant (Eds.), Framing public life: Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world (pp. 95–106). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuchman, G. (1978). Making news: A study in the construction of reality. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whiteside, E., Yu, N., & Hardin, M. (2012). The new “toy department”? A case study on differences in sports coverage between traditional and new media. Journal of Sports Media, 7(1), 23–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeigler, C. (2016). Fair play: How LGBT athletes are claiming their rightful place in sports. New York: Akashic Books.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL, USA

    William P. Cassidy

Authors
  1. William P. Cassidy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William P. Cassidy .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Cassidy, W.P. (2019). Comparing Coverage of King, Swoopes and Griner. In: Sports Journalism and Women Athletes. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30526-0_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation