Media, Sports, and Society

Provides a foundation for research on the communication of sports. This volume outlines the parameters of the communication of sports and points to major issues that need to be addressed in the relationship between sports and media. It examines the theoretical, cultural and historical issues, and the production of media sports programming.

Although the American obsession with mediated sports has grown tremendously in the past few years, there has been little scholarly inquiry focused on the development and response to the mediated sports culture. Communication scholars have seemingly asked about every variant in the modern media, and yet sports programming, which regularly attracts high ratings, eludes inquiry. Media, Sports, and Society is the first comprehensive volume to redress this imbalance and provide a foundation for research on the communication of sport. In this volume Wenner first outlines the parameters of the communication of sport in a seminal essay and points to major issues that need to be addressed in the relationship between media and society. Leading communication researchers then examine theoretical and historical issues, the production of mediated sports (media organizations, sports organizations, and sports journalists), its content, and its audience. Individual chapters range in scope from a discussion of the spectacle of mediated sports, to a comparison of Super Bowl Football and World Cup Soccer, to a consideration of the spectators′ enjoyment of sports violence and a fascinating examination of gender harmony and sports interests. The variety of perspectives and thought-provoking issues in this volume make it essential reading for students and researchers in communication, sociology, psychology, and cultural studies. "Written with enthusiasm and insight the book further justifies the prominent place that the analysis of sport takes in the intellectual debates that are the very stuff of (some) academic coffee breaks." --Network "Sport programming is only beginning to receive considerable academic attention, and this is the first comprehensive foray into the field. . . . Advanced undergraduate and above." --Choice "Wenner . . . and his colleagues successfully demonstrate cumulative breadth of their individual research interests in cultural studies and mediated sports." --Journal of Communication "The overall treatment of mediated sport content is refreshing and rich. . . . In total, Media, Sports, and Society stimulates questions about the role of mediated sport in culture, and it offers scholars a framework with which to think about the communication of sport. . . . Although defining a common research agenda is important, this volume′s primary legacy to the discipline will be its confirmation of mediated sport as a legitimate area of study." --Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media "The volume provides . . . food for thought since it is full of interesting research ideas and suggestions capable of motivating future projects in the field. That in itself makes the volume worth recommending. All told, the maiden voyage of Media, Sports, and Society is a bon voyage." --Popular Communication Newsletter and Review "Wenner . . . has done an able job of collecting a range of diverse views on sports and communication into one useful volume. Readers′ time will be repayed. . . . Useful in graduate clases. Wenner′s volume will serve its purpose well; it will introduce a neglected topic to the field and motivate further research." --Journalism Quarterly