Category: Media

An enduring issue is an issue that has existed for a very long time. It is an issue that many societies have attempted to fix with multiple degrees of success. The enduring issue that is being expressed in this research essay is the Impact of Technology. The type of technology that is going to be expressed in this essay is the Printing Press. The printing press affected people in a positive way.

The printing press was very significant back in the day and it is still very significant today. The famous inventor that made the invention was Johannes Gutenberg in 1440. The printing press changed a lot of people’s lives in a lot of significant ways and it also helped a lot of people when it came to education. It helped teach people how to read and write so now everyone was allowed to have an education (S.Kingsley). This is significant because a lot of people didn’t know one thing about education and now they are learning how to read and write. It is also significant because anyone is allowed to get the chance to be educated now. The printing press also helped people during their everyday lives and in their jobs. It helped poets, actors, and storytellers to rely on rhyming lines so that they could remember a lot of material. It also helped craftsmen memorize the secrets of their traders to tell to apprentices (S.Kingsley). People have been affected in a positive way because of this because it helped people learn how to memorize things which benefits them in the long run.

The printing press benefited a lot of people when it came to their everyday lives. It made life easier for people and it made making things like books a lot less time-consuming (Steven Kreis). This has affected people in a positive way because now people can make things a lot easier and quicker using a printing press. The printing press was significant because it helped a lot of people who spoke different languages. It allowed books to be in all languages for anyone to be able to read them (Jeremiah Dittmer). It allowed people who didn’t speak English to be able to read as well. The printing press didn’t just help people it also inspired people. It inspired more and more machines to be made (Jeremiah Dittmer). Now people are going to benefit from this in their lives more and more because more technology is being made.

Before the printing press was invented, it was very expensive to make books and other things. The printing press changed that. It made it cheaper to print paper and to make important knowledge with it (Nancy Giles). This has affected people in a positive way because now all people, even people who aren’t rich can use the invention. The printing press also helped multiple people when it came to religion. It helped inspire a religious revolution because all families are now allowed to have their own Bible (Lemelson). People are now allowed to practice their own religion wherever they are because now they have their own Bible on hand. The printing press was very helpful when it came to money. The invention guaranteed financial success by continuing to print proving “best sellers” such as the Bible (The Applied History Research group). This affects people in a positive way because the more books that people make using the printing press, the more money they’re going to make selling the books which will cause them to be financially successful. The final reason why the printing press was significant is that it helped people speak out for what they believed in (ex. Martin Luther and the 95 Thesis) (University of Arizona libraries). Every person has a voice and they have the right to express that voice. The printing press helped them to do that.

The printing press has changed over time a lot since it was made and it still continues to change over time as the years go on. The spread of knowledge, discoveries, and literacy was quickened because of it (S. Kingsley). This has changed over time because since we have advanced electric printers and technology, it is now very easy and a lot faster to spread knowledge, discoveries, and literacy. It has also changed over time because it made information available to a larger population of people (Steven Kreis). This has changed over time because now when information is acknowledged that is important to everyone around the world, it gets to all the people around the world because of our new advanced technology. The printing press had changed over time a lot since it was made. The printing press caused city growth (Jeremiah Dittmer). Since 1440 cities have grown tremendously because of our advanced technology today. When the printing press was made, most books that were printed by the printing press only really focused on religious topics. As the printing of books spread, a larger range of book topics was explored (Nancy Gigs). This has changed over time because now we have books of all sorts of topics and genres (ex. romance, mystery, etc.).

Back then printing was considered bad and only for poor people. Many people refused to disgrace what they believe in because of a non-manuscript text. The Printing press had to be brought down to the lower classes so people could recognize the importance of the invention. It worked and they did. By the end of the 15th century, more and more printers had printed between 8 and 10 million copies of multiple books, and titles (The Applied History Research group). This has changed over time because back then, people underestimated the printing press until they used it. Then, they made 8-10 million copies of books but today 100-600 million book copies are printed and sold. Into the first half of the 16th century, multiple improvements were made to the invention. (Barry Waugh). This has changed over time because now printers today have more advanced electric technology that has been updated since the 16th century. Ever since the printing press was made the entertainment in books increased (Universities of Arizona libraries). Now we have all kinds of books that give off entertainment. We have all kinds of genres (ex. Romance, graphic novels, mystery, comedy, etc).

The printing press has affected the people in Europe in a positive way. It is significant in many ways, and it has changed over time in many ways. It helped people with their everyday lives and it made their lives a lot easier. Technology has had a large impact on the world then and now and it will continue to impact and benefit us for the rest of our lives.

Works Cited

1. “BRIA 24 3 b Gutenberg and the Printing Revolution in Europe”. Constitutional Rights Foundation. S.Kingsley. 2019. http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-24-3-b-gutenberg-and-the-printing-revolution-in-europe
2. “Information technology and economic change: The impact of the printing press”. VOX, CEPR Policy Portal. Jeremiah Dittmer. February 11, 2011. https://voxeu.org/article/information-technology-and-economic-change-impact-printing-press
3. “Johannes Gutenberg”. ASME.org. Nancy Gigs. May 2012. https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/history-of-mechanical-engineering/johannes-gutenberg
4. “Johann Gutenberg: Moveable Type Printing Press”. MIT Program. Lemelson.
5. https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/johann-gutenberg
6. “Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History”. Historyguide.org. Steven Kreis. May 2, 2016. http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/press.html
7. “The Impact of the Printing Press. End of Europe’s Middle Ages”. The Applied History Research Group. The University of Calgary. 1997. https://www.faculty.umb.edu/gary_zabel/Courses/Phil%20281b/Philosophy%20of%20Magic/Dante.%20etc/Philosophers/End/bluedot/print.html
8. “The Importance of the Printing Press for the Protestant Reformation, Part One”. Reformation21. Barry Waugh. October 2013.
9. http://www.reformation21.org/articles/the-importance-of-the-printing.php
10. “The Role of Printing in Medieval and Reformation Europe”.The Protestant Reformation. After 500 Years. Universities of Arizona libraries. Karant-Nunn, Susan, Lotz-Heumann. 2017. https://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/reformation/role-of-printing

When I think of body language I think of those movies that are about Cinderella and when you go on an interview and do not want to slouch over. The body language we have can make us as people feel powerful and confident at interviews and just in a personal matters. When we communicate it is not just through words, it is our body language as well. It can relate to the way we walk up to someone or the attitude of our body like we do not want to talk to someone, or when we just feel open, and finally when our arms are not crossed. When I was watching this ted talk it reminded me of when I was in my public speaking class and in a situation where I was feeling scared and nervous and my body language affected my ability to talk to the class or said persons.

I did not want to feel this way because I felt like I did not do so well and I have been defeated. When my body feels like that I start to notice what my body does, I start to cross my arms, I start fidgeting my legs crossing them and uncrossing them, and start to look towards the ground which is a sign of being nervous or shy. When I feel uncomfortable as in a feeling it would show in my body language. Does that mean our work, is the same or just about? Another thing is that we feel confident will the language of our body coincides with doing better in public speaking and anything else that is personal. In the Ted Talk that was done by Amy Cuddy, it was about “Your Body Language May Shape Who you are, what I did notice is that she used a lot of ethos, pathos, and logos, but also a lot of mixed media (visuals), she uses these to argue effectively that body language and the mindset can shape who a person is and how their life can turn out to be.

Amy Cubby is a social psychologist, she also does lectures, and she does things for the New York Times. I have noticed she has talked about in this Ted Talk she talked about verbal behaviors, but also how people affect their own thoughts, feeling, and even behaviors. Another thing I really like about this Ted talk is that she said something that really caught my eye “ you can fake it till you make it”. That is something I go by all the time because you can not control what others do but you can control your own body language and how you perceive it. Amy did talk about a lot of her non-verbal behavior experiments, that were talked about in the TED talk. When they have a powerful body stance and a weak or not-so-good body stance you can tell the difference in confidence in public speaking and or in everyday life.

Logos which is logic-based reasoning has been present through more than two-thirds of the whole Ted Talk which is a lot. This does support everything she was talking about in body language and what mindset you would need or will find out who you really are you can get a lot of that throughout your life and it can also affect how well you do in your life as well. The first one Amy Cuddy used for logos is all about facts and data through all of the examples she provides throughout the ted talk. Then she talks about the findings from Tufts University by Nalini Ambady, on how people react to body language. Amy Cuddy also talks more about that with the facts and data, that can coincide with that the behavior of humans and even animals throughout the animal kingdom. There were more studies on the animal kingdom and the behaviors of humans. The facts that were said and studies that were done help picture the body language and how nonverbal behaviors look like and how you can help that to be better.

There were a lot of examples that can prove her point, but she also has a persuasive strategy that proves it all as well. What I found throughout Amy Cuddy’s Ted talk was that she clearly displayed the ethos side of the whole beginning of her talk. Ethos is the credibility of a speaker, it is also it is all about the character that is being displayed or talked about and how true it is. When Amy Cuddy starts to walk out of that stage she used visuals to aid her in what she was trying to say, not only to get her point across but to get the audience engaged. But really if you think about it she did this throughout the whole ted talk. What she did was tell me her educational background and where she works currently or in the past. She told us that she is a social psychologist and she teaches at a business school. What I forgot to mention in the beginning is what I liked about Amy Cuddy, is that she tells us as her audience a little about her personal experiences and life but also where and what she did for her education and this was throughout a few minutes of the video but also sporadic in the video.

Throughout the Ted Talk, there was pathos. Pathos is emotionally based statements and talks so that it will be able to convince her audience. Her goal is for us to believe that our body language would shape how we think and also change how our lives turn out because of our body language. When she starts to get personal it seemed like the audience in the TED talk was convinced and believed why she was doing the ted talk and her credibility but also I was believing her through all of the stories she was telling us and what she was just saying. When the Ted talk started towards the middle to end of it there were a lot of media being used to help support her talk and even convince her audience still but to keep them all engaged. At the beginning of the talk, she used a photo of a runner who was happy and his hands were in the air, but he was also smiling. That is something she said is positive body language where they feel accomplished. Then they succeed in the end. But she also was talking about how his stance so that it can demonstrate what she was trying to say and give examples to the audience. Throughout the whole Ted Talk, she used around 5 pictures to support the evidence she was trying to make her point. But she also used her own body and another example for real-life visuals so that her audience so she can show what a good body stance looks like and what does not look so good to a higher authority. When Amy Cuddy used all of these multimedia choices it was to highlight her argument and to bring everything she was saying, it all comes together and the audience does get it and I do.

There was another multimedia thing where she used a chair to describe the difference between high-power and low-powered poses can change how people do things like when people gamble than with people with testosterone. We use body language every day, it is not something we do not do. When we go about our everyday lives we see all different kinds of body language. Now that I think of it when my body language is good or great I am able to control my emotions and feel more confident. Body language is very important and we work on that every day as well for important things and just in general.

It is better to know how your body reacts to something or how it feels so that we as people can realize what we need to change and how we can feel more confident to do better in life. This Ted Talk is a very persuasive argument of how we see our body language and how we react to those things that control our body language. I will always remember now what Amy Cuddy said, “Fake it till you make it”. That’s something I have always gone by but really didn’t notice.

Citation Page:

1. “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are | Amy Cuddy.” YouTube, 1 Oct. 2012, www.youtube.comwatch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc

The Unspoken

Jay Heinrichs is known across the world. He is a New York Times bestseller and his book, Thank You for Arguing, is published in 14 languages and has three editions. In this well-known book, he talks about the work of rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art to persuade. The book is divided into four parts. The first part is the offense, then the defense, advanced offense, and lastly advanced agreement. In the first section, he specifies that before you even think to argue you must first, “set the goals for the audience. Do you want to change their mood, mind or their willingness to carry out what you want?”(pg. 26). Once a goal is set, then there is a specific reason to support your claim. This section concentrates on ethos, one of Aristotle’s modes of persuasion. Ethos includes practical wisdom, disinterest, and decorum. The next section, defense, focuses on speech tense, whether it be inductive or deductive reasoning, and who the audience can trust. Advanced Offense is making the relationship between the speaker and the audience. Better known as Pathos, another mode of persuasion. The last section labeled Advanced Agreement is giving the speech or reasoning to the audience but using proper “tools” mostly known as arrangement. This arrangement is referred to as, “Cicero’s Outline” following the guidelines of order introduction, narration, division, proof, refutation, and conclusion (pg. 295-296). Heinrich refers to Aristotle’s Modes of Persuasion regularly. The modes include ethos, logos, and pathos. Heinrichs has his own interpretation of each of the modes. He refers to ethos as “argument by character, employs the persuader’s personality, reputation and ability to look trustworthy to the audience” (pg. 40). An example of the proper uses of the modes of persuasion is the TED TALK and speech by Aaron Huey titled, “American’s Native Prisoners of War”.

Aaron Huey is well known for his publications in National Geographic Magazine. He documents his learnings or stories through photographs. He is most known for his “ Walk Across America through photography”. In the speech and TED Talk, he takes us on a journey through Pine Ridge Reservation. Pine Ridge is a reservation of the Lakota Tribe. He captures images and records stories of their tribe and everything they have been through in their short history. The speech and TED Talk are defined as, “American’s Native Prisoners of War”. The talk is given at a private school in the west with the audience being plainly white students and faculty. In 2010, the speech became a TED Talk. The speech dives into the Native American tribe earlier named the Lakota. Lakota Tribe including hundreds of thousands of indigenous people is stripped of their land and forced to live on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota or other war camps that have later turned into reservations. The Pine Ridge Reservation is known for there black hills in South Dakota. Huey describes the depressing timeline of battles, scenarios, and treaties broken. This all began in the year 1824. In 1824, The Bureau of Indian Affairs began the sad story of the Lakota Tribe. The treatment of the tribe is nothing less than unfair, merciless, and cutthroat. This is all because of the United States Government. Our government and the people in the office have continued to rape and pillage the Lakota Tribe and their people. The US government continues to break the treaties of 1851 and 1868 of Fort Laramie. The conditions the Lakota Tribe face every morning they wake up to the moment they close their eyes at night reflect how most indigenous people feel each and every day. Non-Indians declared the name “Wasichu” which translates to greedy and taking the best meat for themselves. We leave indigenous people with the scrapes from our table while we have our bellies full.

In my essay, I will show the teaching of Jay Heinrich’s book and how it connects to Huey’s speech and later TED Talk. Huey is a spectacular example of the proper way to use the teaching of rhetoric.

The first step of arrangement is the introduction. The introduction uses the side of ethos. Ethos is to win over your audience through interest and goodwill. Aaron Huey begins his TED Talk by creating a commonplace with his audience. Simply, making them comfortable with him and making it seem that they are on a first-name basis in a sense. He starts off with some background knowledge about the Lakota Tribe. The area of South Dakota where they are imprisoned. He talks about his strong relationship with the Lakota people and how they took him in as one of their own. This is where he brings in Practical Wisdom. The audience now considers him as a reasonable person as well showing that he is adequately educated on the topic he is about to discuss with his audience (pg. 69). A phrase from Huey states, “you’ll see a lot of people in my photographs today. I’ve become close with them and they have welcomed me like family.” He is showing us as his audience that he has become well-rounded in terms of knowing the Lakota people and what really happened to put them into their poverty-stricken lives. This makes him credible due to the fact that he is hearing what happened from people who reap the results each and every day of their lives. Heinrich describes in his book, “disinterest means not lack of interest but lack of bias” (pg. 57). This is crucially important to create a commonplace with the audience. You are not on one side or the other. You are educated on both sides of the story. He describes that because of his skin color it has taken a lot for the Lakota people to gain his trust and welcome him in. He is showing that even though he is not one of the Lakota people he relates to them and understands their struggles. He is there at the TED Talk in a sense to educate his audience for the people who can’t speak for themselves.

Narration is the next step. Narration, “ tells the history of the matter or lists facts and figures. Brief, clear and plausible” (pg. 284). Huey has now gained our trust as an audience and we believe he is trustworthy on his topic. From minute 2:22 to 7 minutes in his TED Talk he takes the audience on a journey through the history of the Lakota Tribe and their dealings with the United States Government. He controls his tense during his speech. By using the “past tense rhetoric threatens punishment” (pg. 30). As Huey goes through past events he uses this tense. He infers that the blame is on us for the U. S Government’s actions. It impacts us to this day. Suddenly he changes over to the future tense or deliberative. He uses this mode to show choice to the audience, when he states, “How should you feel about the statistics of today” (13:19). He uses inductive reasoning as Heinrich specifies as “argument by example” (pg. 141). It begins with specifics and progresses to the general. Huey uses specific examples and facts to create a commonplace with the audience. By using the photographs, he shows up leading up to the present day.

Heinrichs states divisions as, “list the points where you and your opponent agree and where you disagree” (pg. 284). Aaron Huey is trying to prove one side’s proof. He is on both sides. This step isn’t directly covered in his TED Talk.

Cicero’s Outline’s following step is Proof. Proof can change the view of the audience plainly by showing the statistics. Heinrich discusses, “We should do this because of that” (pg. 284). From 10:43 to 12:22, Huey takes us on a journey just by expressing statistics. He states when he spoke in 2010, “More than 90 percent of the population lives below the federal poverty level”. The federal poverty level for a family of five in 2010 was $25,790. Ninety Percent of the Lakota People are below the household income of 25,790 dollars a year. This is unbelievable. Just by stating this specific statistic, the audience can only imagine what the Lakota people are living like at Pine Ridge Reservation. He states a loaded logical fallacy, “prisoners of war camps”. You can only imagine the living conditions of a war camp.

The main source of information comes from photographs. This refutes the statement that the Lakota People aren’t really living any worse that the poverty situation of the rest of the United States. Huey produces these photos that cause an emotional effect on every single individual in the audience. Whether it be hate, sadness, or disbelief. This is better known as pathos. Each photo pulls a bit more at the audience’s emotions. Especially the little children in the photos, the audience will confide in the truth. Huey becomes emotional showing and describing each and every photo and this creates a stronger relationship with the audience. We feel a sense of community with him because he is showing the emotions that we are all feeling. It creates a sense that as a community we can make a change in the Lakota Tribes’ lives and living conditions.

Lastly, the conclusion. The conclusion bridges the audience and asks them if the United States is still being unfair to the Lakota Indians and other indigenous groups. Huey shows that he is holding himself to the same standards and responsibility as he wants us to be. Huey planning is the interpreter. Speaking for the ones who can’t speak for themselves. He is showing how the U.S. is keeping the best things for themselves and giving the leftovers or nothing at all to indigenous people. The resolution can be giving money or building a house but takes more than that. He expresses in his last words, “Give Back the Black Hills. It’s not your business what they do with them.” The Black Hills belong to them. Leave them alone. Let them live their lives. This is our call to make a change and speak up for the people without a voice. That is the main purpose, to speak for the ones who can’t speak for themselves.

The media affects society’s perceptions of women’s sports through either conforming to or challenging conventional gender norms and generating interest. Sport has traditionally been considered a male-dominated area and many people hold the belief that women’s sports simply aren’t as interesting. However, is this a reflection of the skill of female athletes or of the media coverage they receive? Especially in the modern context, the media, as the primary source of information, shapes societal thought. In recent years, women’s sport has reached a new threshold, swiftly growing in popularity. This has been a combination of “ingredients” or events, such as the successful inauguration of the women’s Australian Football League (AFLW) and the “goldilocks condition” of increased media coverage. The media influences societal opinion through the quantity of women’s sports media coverage, the quality of the coverage and its portrayal of female athletes.

The quantity of women’s sports media coverage shapes society’s perceptions through defining the position of women in the sporting world. In 2010, a report authorised by the Australian Sports Commission found that women’s sport accounted for less than 10% of all sports coverage across the country. Lack of media coverage for women’s sports is not isolated to Australia and is a world-wide issue. A study by the Tucker Centre for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota found that women’s sport in the US receives only 4% of the total sports media coverage. The lack of professional women’s sports coverage globally has a direct psychological impact on society. Alina Bernstein and Yair Gaily, in their journal article Games and Sets: Women, Media and Sport, argued media’s role in “fulfilling important functions regarding women’s image in general, and a particularly crucial role in the context of women in sport.” The media is such an influential entity which has the power to affect societal opinions and its under-representation of women creates the impression that female athletes are of little importance to the sporting world. When young children look to their televisions and consistently see men playing sport, it reinforces the stereotypical ideas that women are not as strong as men and should not play sport. Increasing media coverage would show young boys and girls that women can be athletes just like men and would solidify their place on the sporting field.

The quantity of media coverage also affects societal opinion through generating interest in women’s sports. The lack of professional media coverage clearly affects the amount of interest in women’s sport. For example, it would be completely unfair to compare the amount of interest in a consistently televised men’s league to a women’s league with 10% of the coverage. How can someone be interested in something that they have no means of watching? Alina Bernstein and Yair Gaily suggest that “the media cannot change the inequality of sport itself, an issue that demands profound and immediate treatment… However, the media can contribute by sparking wider initiative toward the promotion of women’s sport.” This idea was supported through the creation of the successful AFLW season in Australia. The inaugural season of the AFLW was a resounding success, particularly due the intelligent use of “ingredients” such as it being freely televised and widely advertised. Media analyst Dr Kate Greenwood suggests they “used the media really intelligently to engage the audience… [They] worked with broadcasters to get it on prime time.” The correlation between increasing media coverage and interest was revealed through the 1.7 million people who viewed the opening round of the league and the incredible turnout of over 53 000 people at the 2019 AFLW Grand Final. These statistics challenge the popular arguments that people are not captivated by women’s sport and reveal the true extent of the media’s power to generate interest and shape societal thought.

The quality of media coverage also affects collective opinion of women’s sports. A common argument against increasing women’s sports media reporting is that people simple do not find it as interesting as men’s sport. However, society’s perceptions of how fascinating or boring women’s competitions are, is derived directly from the media. Purdue University Professor Cheryl Cooky argues “men’s sports are going to seem more exciting… they have higher production values, higher-quality coverage, and higher-quality commentary … when you watch women’s sports, and there are fewer camera angles, fewer cuts to shot, fewer instant replays… it’s going to seem to be less exciting.” Her arguments are supported by three reports from the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles from 1990, 1994 and 2000. They all uncovered significantly lower production values in the coverage of women’s competitions. They were less likely to include features such as slow-motion replays, unique camera angles, statistics and graphics which would greatly decrease its watchability. As Arthur Raney and Jennings Bryant argue in their book Handbook of Sports and Media, “whether women or men, few viewers are likely to watch games in which there are unsophisticated or missing graphics, poorly informed commentators,… few replays and muffled sound.” Poor production quality makes women’s sports appear slower and less professional, when in reality it is not a reflection of the athletes’ skill but simply the lack of investment from networks into higher quality production. Therefore, the quality of media coverage can influence its audience into thinking women’s sports are less exciting or advanced as the “ingredients” and “goldilocks conditions” to generate interest are missing.

Society’s perception of women’s sports is influenced by the media’s portrayal of women which has been shown to contain discrimination that trivialises their athletic ability. Female athletes are often highly sexualised by media outlets where they are assessed on their appearance rather than their sporting performance. An example of this is the tennis player Anna Kournikova who was admired for her attractiveness rather than tennis skills, evident in the study by an English tabloid, revealing that 67% of articles on her focused on non-tennis-related issues, primarily her sexual appeal. The pop band Binge even wrote a song about her with highly sexualised lyrics such as “Anna Kournikova with legs so long,” “with the real short hemline” and “let me be your Ball Boy now.” Alina Bernstein suggests the sexualisation of female athletes “trivialises them and in fact robs them of athletic legitimacy, thus preserving hegemonic masculinity.” It creates a laughable effect that undermines their sporting performances, encouraging a collective lack of respect for female athletes and women’s sport in general. Discrimination can also come in the form of infantilisation which is when commentators and journalists render grown female athletes childlike. Alina Bernstein and Yair Gaily argue that where “men are valorised, lionised and put on cultural pedestals, female athletes are infantilised by sport commentators, who refer to them as ‘girls’ or ‘young ladies’.” Female athletes are further infantilised through what Arthur Raney and Jennings Bryant referred to as the “hierarchy of naming”. They found that women are often called by their first name and men by their last name. Name usage by commentators and journalists conveys the status and prestige of the athletes, so calling women by their first name along with terms such as “girls” creates a subordinate and less professional effect compared to the “men”. The highly sexualised and infantilised portrayal of female athletes undermines their hard work and success, influencing society’s perception of women’s sport as less significant and professional than men’s.

Society’s perceptions of women’s sport are greatly influenced by the media. The lack of quality media coverage makes female athletes appear less important and gives the sports little opportunity to generate interest. The discrimination that exists in the media trivialises the athletes’ success and encourages a lack of respect from society. To allow women’s sports the opportunity to truly succeed, they need to be given more, higher quality media coverage that respects their positions as powerful athletes.

The Catawba County Sheriff Department is a prime organization built on a solid foundation, and moral values. The Sheriff’s office major responsibilities include security and maintenance of the county jail, as well as county schools, and other government entities. Unlike smaller departments that have main objectives of being a deterrent towards crime. The Sheriff’s office has a major responsibility with community relationship and making sure the government functions stay running. Our department is unique to surrounding departments because of the large area we are forced to safeguard. Though extremely big the sheriff department only has 198 deputies and employees. This includes people in the jail, as well as courts, and schools, which leaves very few people to do the job of patrol which is what most people think about. Though very large, the department manages to stand as the focal point, and model agency of the county. Departments like this have huge responsibilities, and to keep something like this functioning it requires active members of the community.

This is where volunteers and interns come into the equation. A day in the life of an intern involves many different tasks, and is a unique experience that promotes growth, and rounds you to be a better person. Interns play an important role in daily tasks around the office and are important to keeping a functioning office. For example, one of the major responsibilities of the sheriff office is managing gun permits for the citizens of the county. Due to the high population, and genuine political views of the county this is a very tasking job. Interns are a very important piece of this puzzle. One of the major responsibilities of interns is to keep this part of the department organized and flowing. Some days are spent filing hundreds of files in an effort to keep organized. Other days are spent doing fingerprints to make sure you don’t keep people waiting too long. Like described some days around the office can be very boring but provide a major key in the daily operation of the department.

On other days interns spend their time riding with or shadowing sworn officers throughout the department. This is often times where you learn the most, and where some of your most exciting memories come from. During the time spent with officers you are normally out of the office, which means you never really know what you are getting into. I for one have been everywhere from helping elderly people, to as much as a homicide scene. These are situations that will be burned into your memory forever, some for the good, and some for the bad, either way they are experiences you can look back on. Through each situation there is always something to learn, and often times even more comes from the conversations with the officers afterwards. This valuable experience is something that will change you forever, it forces you to grow, forces you to learn, and in the end, you come out with a completely new respect for officers, and the job they do.

Over the past few years one thing that has really been visible to anyone who keeps up with current events is how police have been labeled in the news. This internship gave me the opportunity to learn a lot through the unique experience of seeing it first-hand. Through the internship you see how an office runs, and the importance of keeping a functional office. You notice how delicate cases can be, and the detail that must be put into cases for them to see the end. But you also see how outside forces can affect how officers do their job. This was something that seems hard to ignore, and something that I had to look into. Mass media is a great tool and, in many situations, helps to develop better departments. However, there are instances in which it causes more problems than it helps.

Mass Media

Media is something that has been around since the day of man. In early times it may have just been word of mouth. Things have evolved in ways that many people could never imagine. Going from writing to now having information in the palm of our hands the way we get our information has changed in big ways. Mass media has developed through the use of technology. Instead of an audience of a few hundred people, media outlets are now able to reach thousands, which in many cases has been an advantage. For example, the Hickory Daily Record, a local newspaper, is able to communicate information regularly and keep the citizens of Catawba county informed of what is going on. However, through extensive research there are problems that can arise through this fast process of communication.

History of Police and Media

To really dig into the roots of police and media, along with whether it effects how police do their job we need a brief history lesson. Police in media is not a new thing, though it may be more readily available to people today, it is not new. Police have been criticized by the public eye far before the past few years. One case that tends to come to mind is the 1992 race riots, which involved footage of Rodney King being beaten by police (Soo-Kwang Oh and Hudson, 2017). One of the key differences from other situations before was the news coverage and how it affected how people were able to see what was going on. Though the footage hit deep and engraved feelings that were rooted in neighborhoods, and African American communities what really made this event special was how it was covered. Not only was it on display but it showed how media was able to stir opinion and cause public outrage (Soo-Kwang Oh and Hudson, 2017). One interesting thing that was shown through the riots was how the news changed its perspective based on how the audience was responding. According to the study done by Soo-Kwang Oh and Hudson (2017) they contrasted just how news changed once it was aired to the public. According to the study issues such as causes of the instances, and politics increased as the story progressed, where as legal issues, and police reaction decreased (Kwang Oh and Hudson, 2017). This study was important because it shows just how powerful media influence is on those who view it. Instead of broadcasting both sides, they are strictly feeding off of the reaction from those watching. Under the same study by Kwang Oh and Hudson (2017) there was shown to be a decrease in coverage on Rodney King, and a huge spike in coverage of racism. Though this could be evidence that media has a way of digging into the roots, or core issues and problems. It could also be inferred that instead of reporting the facts of a story, media attempts to dig deeper in search of a story to keep more views. This case was a landmark case, that sets up the backbone of this paper. Although this case is nearly 20 years old the basic foundations of media still stay the same.

Media Twist on the Story

The relationship between police and media has always been a shaky one. Due to the power police have over people, they tend to catch a lot of flak from not just people but news stations. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing our country is based on a system of checks and balances, and it is important that there is media to counteract the power given to our police force. Yet what we are here to look at is whether or not media inherently tries to make police look bad to the public. In a study conducted in Finland they studied just how a high-profile case effected the public trust in police (Kaariainen, Isotalus, and Thomassen 2016). Though the study was conducted in Finland, there was a lot to be learned from the research done. Though they are from different walks of life it is important that we look at other countries around us, and how media affects them. In this study done by (Kaariainen et al., 2016) they focused on a high-profile case involving Jari Aarnio a man who was accused of police misconduct in 2014. Though this case was focused on a single man’s behavior, it was interesting to see how police were negatively impacted by how media portrayed it. Through the course of the investigation and looking at media posted by news outlets across Finland there were 48 articles in which brought up concerns of trust in police (Kaariainen et al., 2016). As the year drew to an end, and the case started losing the interest of the public there were even more post involving police trust. Kaariainen et al., (2016) note that an additional 10 articles were posted in the month of December alone that concerned trust in police. The most interesting thing to note from this research is the data gathered. According to the data gathered by Kaariainen et al., (2016) there was a gradual increase in trust in police. However, in 2014 we see a slight decrease in trust along the same time the articles were released. Though there was no dramatic evidence to support media played a role in the negative attituded towards police, there was some evidence that showed how media chose to deliver certain stories.

Interaction of Police and Media

Though it was obvious in the study done by Kaariainen et al., (2016) that media did have a way of twisting information that they showed to viewers to better fit their audience. There are other important factors to remember when considering whether media has a direct impact of police, and their ability to do their job. In an article done by Stefanovska (2015) they describe how in some cases it is often a beneficial interaction between police and media. In rural areas such as Catawba County sometimes print media is plays a very important role as well. Unlike other sources of mass media print media is different in the way of how they get their information. According to Stefanovska (2015) print media generally attempts to focus on police effectiveness. However, something to be noted is that much of it tended to be a more positive tone, but one thing that really played a role was the political stance of the paper (Stefanovska, 2015).

Print media is different from other sources of media in the way they gather their information (Stefanovska, 2015). Print media only comes out once a day, and the stories take a day, sometimes more to reach the reader. Because of this media outlets are able to do more research, and in some cases show a more accurate picture of the events they are reporting (Stefanovska, 2015). Another reason for this is that in small towns papers often contact the departments and attempt to make contact and speak with reporters prior to releasing the stories (Stefanovska, 2015). This is something very unique to small print media shops because they generally have access based on their location, and direct relationship with departments. Print media is unique in the way that they tend to run their stories.

However, regarding this study done by Stefanovska (2015) it is important to remember that these positive media releases were not the same across the board. Depending on the political nature of the paper the stories tended to sway as to how they impacted police. For example, one media outlet showed only 3.3 percent of its articles related to police were positive in the tone in which they were delivered (Stefanovska, 2015). This shows that not all print media shops have the same relation that was previously described, but instead adjusted the story to fit the narrative they had set. This is something important to remember when going forward in our research.

Use of Video in Media

So far research has shown that there is not really a huge impact regarding media, and the ability for police to do their job. But one thing that has not been explored yet is the effects video has on the public, and how that may turn public opinion. Though all research is important, video has been a focal point of media activity in the recent years. Due to this being so recent it is imperative that it be covered, and to see just how impactful it really is. As talked about earlier as technology has advanced so has the way we view media. Split decisions officers are forced to make are now played out for the world to see and having an idea of the role this plays in public opinion is imperative.

In an article by Boivin, Gendron, Faubert, and Poulin (2017) they attempt to find the answers to these questions. The study was done in response to use of force videos and attempted to gather the reaction and how it impacted people (Boivin et al., 2017). One thing that was extremely important is that the study did not focus on minorities, however surveyed a spectrum of people including all races. Though this may not seem very important it can ultimately be important because it gathers information based on a whole population, and not just one specific population (Boivin et al., 2017). Use of force is something that has been a focal point of media attention and has played a key role in many recent riots, and public outrage towards police forces across the country. To effectively know whether media is the direct impact of this it is important to see how people respond to these questions without watching the video (Boivin et al., 2017). The interesting part of this study was that it proved prior suspicion regarding just how impactful these sources of media could be. Those who did not view the video prior to answering questions regarding whether police used excessive force tended to have the lowest responses regarding police use of force (Boivin et al., 2017). On the other hand, those who watched the video tended to respond that police did use more excessive force than necessary in situations (Boivin et al., 2017). Overall, this study shows just how impactful media use of video can be to the public. Though in prior studies such as the one done Stefanovska (2015) regarding print media there was not a huge impact on public perception of police. We now see that the new wave of mass media and use of video plays a more prominent role after all.

Impacts of Media on Police

Through our research the primary goal was to determine whether there was a role in whether or not media had an influence on police, and their ability to do their job. Media is a daily part of our lives, and due to the little public interaction officers have with individuals on a daily basis, much of the opinions drawn on by police are due to what we see in the news, and different sources of media. Through research it has shown how much of the media we see on a daily basis has little impact on how we view police (Kaariainen et al., 2016). Yet we also know that much of the information provided by media outlets depends on their political agenda, and in turn media outlets often times tweak the story to better fit their political views (Stefanovska, 2015). Something to be drawn from these findings is that regardless of how little it may affect the viewer, or what story is being shown it does have some effect, and in some cases that may just be the image of police we have in our mind (Rantatalo, 2016). Image is everything for those involved in public departments, and with so much of that image drawn from regular viewing of media, it is something that must be looked into. In a study done by Dowler (2002) they do just that.

One interesting thing done in the Dowler (2002) study is the impact regular viewing of media related to police has on people. Though there was little evidence to support the claim that media has an effect on public opinion of police effectiveness, there were some interesting findings (Dowler, 2002). For example, one thing to note is that this was not the same across all groups of people. Dowler (2002) states that the African American community showed to have some negative attitudes towards police, and this may have been linked to direct viewing of media. There was also an interesting finding that attitudes tended to differ depending upon the amount of media that was viewed on a daily basis (Dowler, 2002). Overall this study was imperative though it showed no direct findings there is evidence to support the claim that media has an effect on those who regularly view it.

Secondly, in an article by Rantatalo (2016) they discuss the image of police, and how it is drawn from the public eye. Policing like any other public service is all about public image. Policing involves direct contact with the public whether that be arrests, or community relations keeping a good positive image is at utmost importance (Rantatalo, 2016). In this study much of the data analyzed was positive regarding police, whether it be their effectiveness, or recent busts, it was more positive than negative (Rantatalo, 2016). However, one thing to be noted was that regardless of what was in the media it tended to effect public opinion, and the more negative the more impactful it was (Rantatalo, 2016). Going forward if there is one thing to be noted it is that not all that is posted in the media regarding police is bad. But like seen in the Rantatalo (2016) study all it takes is a small amount of negative media to effect how you are viewed in the public image. For police to effectively do their job it is important for them to hold themselves at the highest standard possible and limit the amount of bad media that is published.

Integrating Research and Practice

Looking back on the Rodney King case, and how media twisted the story to achieve more views (Kwang Oh and Hudson, 2017). We can now look back and see that not much has changed on how media works today. This internship has given me the unique experience to be able to see the responsibilities of a police force first hand. But more than that it has given me the ability to see how outside forces effect how police forces are able to do their job. Looking back on the instance of Rodney King we are able to see the need for media. Media is a balance that is able to balance the power given to police forces, and in that since it is much needed. However, there are instances when media serves a different role, and in that since media can act as a burden.

First and foremost, it is important to acknowledge that not all media is bad. During my internship I was often in close proximity to different news outlets. For example, during a day spent in the courts I noticed two reporters from the Hickory Daily Record sitting in on a high-profile case going on in the area. For the most part they said nothing bad but were merely reporting the facts of the case to the public. However, I did start noticing some changes as the trial went on that connects back to some of the research. Looking back, we went over how media twisted their story to better fit the audience (Kwang Oh and Hudson, 2017). But we also noticed that this was often times to fit in with the narrative set by the editors, which was especially evident in the research done by Kaariainen, Isotalus, and Thomassen 2016. Through this case I saw examples of both of these factors as work. During the trial the defense argued that there were issues in the investigation, and that the defendant may in fact be innocent. They attacked the integrity of the Sheriff’s Department, as well as the integrity of the officers involved. This story began running through the papers, and you could see public opinion starting to turn. This is something that was apparently obvious to me as to how media is really able to stir public opinion, on major issues involving law enforcement.

Another aspect that is important to remember is how media throughout the United States impacts even our small department. In the article by Boivin, Gendron, Faubert, and Poulin (2017) they discuss just how impactful use of force videos in media can be on public opinion. With the immediate access to recording devices, and body camera footage, more and more videos tend to be popping up in today’s time. This is something that must be taken into account because as shown by Boivin, Gendron, Faubert, and Poulin (2017) it has a huge impact on how citizens view the police. Through my internship I have had numerous discussions with deputies, and officers, about how they feel their job was affected by these events. Some officers wish that our department would use body camera footage, they feel there would be far less complaints, if they were able to show the whole situation, rather than just being complained on, others feel this would only cause more problems. During one of my discussions it was brought up how media doesn’t show the whole story. They take the incident and air it out to the public without showing the footage that led up to that event. It appeared through much of this conversation that the individual believed that media outlets wanted nothing more than for him to mess up so they would have a story to run with. These instances happen in the blink of an eye, and in many times, officers are put in the position to make decisions that will affect them forever. To get rid of bias, media outlets need to begin their own investigations and focus more on facts, than creating their own stories.

On the other hand, through gathering information around the department there is a sense of fear in their ability to do their job. Not because they feel unequipped but because they feel as though the public is against them. Through conversation there has been many instances when officers would not risk pulling their gun because they are scared someone will be videoing and it will end up on the news. Though some may say this is a good thing, and may lead to less excessive force incidents, there are problems. This fear leads to issues with officer safety, which is also important. An officer that is scared to do their job at the end of the day is not an effective officer.

Though there are many instances in which media causes problems for police, it is a relationship that is important for both parties. Through my experiences I have grown to know many local reporters on a personal level, it is important for both parties to work together. In an article by Stefanovska (2015) they talk about how these relationships are not always bad, and this is true from what I have seen. It is a relationship that must work, but there must be respect and privacy. Through conversation with those that are directly involved with the press, I have learned that there is certain information you just do not talk about. There are instances that protein to officer safety, as well as privacy that if you let press to close, they will run with. On the other hand, I have learned that you must share, you can’t hide stuff from the press, or it will only turn out bad.

This internship has taught me a lot about the relationship between media and police forces. It has shown how dangerous bad press can be to an agency, as well as how hard it can be for officers to do their job in the wake of bad press. Officers have a hard-enough job as it is, once the public trust is gone in police it makes the job that much harder. Police have a duty to protect the public, yet they rely a lot on the public to do their job. Through media some of that trust has been eroded, as this happens so does the effectiveness, and ability for the police to do their job. Whether intentional or not media does have an effect on officers. It has led to policy change, and effects the minds of those on the front line. Going forward it is important that police and media fix this crucial relationship and help to rebuild the trust of the public.

Reflection

This internship has been a huge learning experience for me both as a student and as a person. First and foremost, it was neat to see things I have learned through my time at Appalachian play out in a real setting. I have learned to see patterns in criminal behavior, and in turn have a better understanding of how to approach different situations. But one thing I have noticed is that there are certain things in policing that cannot be learned through class, or books. You notice through working alongside these guys that most of the most valuable skills to be an effective officer is learned through experience. Looking back, I will be grateful to finish this internship because of the lessons I have learned through my own experiences.

First as an intern you get used to working in an office. This was new to me, though I have worked full time jobs in my life, I had not worked in an office. Getting used to working in this environment takes some time. Time goes by slower, this was something I had to get used to. Coming from working outside to working in an office time seems like it drags. You find yourself looking at the clock, and it becomes hard sometimes to stay on task. Another thing that can be challenging is dressing professional. This doesn’t seem like a hard task, and in the end, it is not but it does take some getting used to. You have to allow yourself plenty of time in the morning to get ready, and make sure you have plenty of dress clothes. Though this doesn’t seem hard it is just something else to get used to. Overall office life is not bad, you get close with those that work around you and soon after you start those small hurtles don’t seem to bother you anymore. However, it is important to remain professional and diligent throughout your time there.

Though there are some speed bumps through this internship there are chances for you to really see areas in which you could see your career. For me that was working with investigations, and the warrant division. These are areas of law enforcement that really caught my attention. First investigations, an area where I could really see myself making a career. I have always had the drive to never let a problem go unsolved and being able to do that on a professional level is something I have always wanted to do. Though there tends to be more paperwork than the movies show, the reward is even better. Being around the detectives and being able to tell someone you solved their case is a feeling I will never forget. On the other hand, riding with warrants was something I didn’t expect. The warrants division is unique to other departments I have talked to. Daily task involves nothing but tracking down people with warrants. Though this area is more dangerous than other areas, it was something I really thrived in. Like stated earlier this internship was unique in that it allows you to experience different areas of law enforcement and see areas in which you would like to get into.

Overall this internship will forever be something in which I look back on with a smile. I have built more relationships during my time here than I would have ever imagined. But more than anything I have grown as a person. I have noticed through this internship that my priorates have changed. Through situations you learn to be grateful for the things you have because there are people out there that don’t have the same opportunities that I have had. On the other hand, you grow a deeper respect for people who work in law enforcement. Prior to doing this internship I always knew being an officer was a hard job. But you never know how hard it is until you witness it first-hand. Those who work in law enforcement have to deal with people on the worst days of their lives in one way or another. For some it may be an arrest that will change their lives forever, for others it’s something that has impacted for there life. Either way most interactions with police are never good. Yet each day officers come in and do it to the best of there ability. If there is one thing, I have gotten out of this internship it is that everyone of us should be thankful for the job they do, because it is an extremely hard job. This internship gives you a different outlook on everything around you, and for that I am grateful.

In finishing up my career at Appalachian State I would say this internship has been a highlight of my career. I have learned more in this semester than I could ever imagine. I have learned how to deal with people. Learned tricks that would help me to be a better officer. But most importantly I learned that I am capable of being an officer, and believe I have what it takes to be an officer. I have grown into a better person, a better student, and can now leave Appalachian a student eager to enter the workforce.

Reference

1. Boivin, R., Gendron, A., Faubert, C., & Poulin, B. (2017). The malleability of attitudes toward the police: immediate effects of the viewing of police use of force videos. Police Practice & Research, 18(4), 366–375. https://doiorg.proxy006.nclive.org//10.1080/15614263.2016.1230063
2. Dowler, K. (2002). Media Influence on Citizen Attitudes toward Police Effectiveness. Policing & Society, 12(3), 227. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1080/10439460290032369
3. Kääriäinen, J., Isotalus, P., & Thomassen, G. (2016). Does public criticism Erode trust in the police? The case of Jari Aarnio in the Finnish news media and its effects on the public’s attitudes towards the police. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology & Crime Prevention, 17(1), 70–85.
4. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1080/14043858.2016.1144315
5. Rantatalo, O. (2016). Media representations and police officers’ identity work in a specialised police tactical unit. Policing & Society, 26(1), 97–113. https://doi.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1080/10439463.2014.942844
6. Soo-Kwang Oh, & Hudson, J. (2017). Framing and reframing the 1992 LA Riots: A study of minority issues framing by the Los Angeles Times and its readers. Revista de Comunicación, 16(2), 123–146. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.26441/RC16.2-2017-A6
7. Stefanovska, V. (2015). The Image of the Police in the Printed Media. Balkan Social Science Review, 6, 75–90. https://login.proxy006.nclive.org/login?url=http://search.ebsohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=112975034&site=ehost-live&scope=site

As the use of social media has been increasing day by day, a large amount of user content is freely available on social media sites. Nowadays companies need to monitor and analyze customer content on their social media sites to increase their competitive advantage and growth of their businesses. We conduct a detailed case study for the analysis and comparison of the content available on social media. We picked the top 5 games (GTA 5, Red Redemption 2, Assassin’s Creed, Battlefield, and Fortnite ) and conduct an analysis of social media content on their Facebook official pages. We found comparisons and differences in social media use among these game franchises and discuss our findings and recommendations to help companies in improving their social media competitive analysis strategies.

Nowadays, people use social media sites to present their feelings, opinions e.t.c but social media sites are also used by customers to express their reviews on the product they have purchased. Their reviews and concern on social media sites help us to learn about their purchasing experience and provide important knowledge to improve their market service and their quality. We analyze that the textual data on social network sites plays very important for the growth of any business. The rapid growth of social media content requires the ease of using new social media techniques. Competitive intelligence is important for companies to use in managing risks and making decisions.[1] . Not only do they need to monitor their own social media sites but they also have to monitor their competitor’s social media sites. To make their business successful companies need to process all available information (customers’ opinions, reviews of services, quality ) to predict what happened and what’s gonna happen. With the increasing use of social media, the tremendous amount of customer-generated content available on social media sites has now become a new source of mining competitive intelligence. [2].

Helping gaming businesses to understand how to perform actionable social media analytics and how social media content can be transformed into strategically actionable knowledge by conducting an in-depth case study using frameworks and tools to analyze and compare unstructured text content on the Facebook sites of the top 5 best selling games franchises (GTA, Red Redemption, Fortnite, Assassin Creed, BattleField). We focused on comparing posts on their official Facebook pages to understand the issues and problems with customers’ reviews of these games. As the gaming industry is a billion-dollar industry and games are available on many platforms including consoles, PC, Portable consoles, mobile, etc.

Social media sites provide the facility for users to create and share content like photos, videos, sharing, etc. Facebook is the most popular in terms of its use, and network traffic and is widely used by many business companies to interact with customers and to track customers’ feedback and reports. [3][6].Many business companies use social media to track their product feedback among customers and to communicate with customers.

Social media plays an instrumental role in promoting consumer awareness and providing access to vast amounts of information that impact decision-making processes. [7].As social media reach a large audience at a low cost.[8][9].On social media, platform businesses are able to develop new techniques to rapidly learn customer perceptions of new product offerings and maximize opportunities to attract and collaborate with loyal customers [10][11].

It is very important for business companies to constantly collect and check information about their competitor’s products and services and plans. [3][2].As social media is used as a medium for companies to interact with their customers, companies need to monitor their own social media sites.

To conduct social media competitive analytics we use a combination of traditional statistical analysis, text mining, content analysis, and sentiment analysis techniques to examine social media content collected by comparing customers’ experiences from social media sites.

Text mining aims to extract meaningful information from unstructured textual data [3][4]. The main purpose of text mining is to automatically extract knowledge, insights, and useful trend from a given set of text documents.[5]. This technique has been used to analyze a large amount of social media data. Text mining identifies trends in posts or comments from social media sites.

Sentimental analysis is the computational detection and study of opinions, sentiments, emotions, and subjectivities in the text [12][16][17]. Sentiment Analysis is concerned with the automatic extraction of positive or negative opinions from the text [12].

The video game industry has grown from a focused market to mainstream. The annual earnings from the games industry are higher than the film industry. According to the latest global games market reports from intelligence firm Newzoo projected that a base of 2.3 billion gamers worldwide spent a total of $ 137.9 billion on games this year.[13]. The industry-wide figure is up 13.3% year-over-year, driven largely by a 25.5% jump in mobile revenues to reach $70.3 billion. Breaking it down a little further, smartphones will account for about 80% of the mobile number, with tablets making up the remaining 20%. According to Newzoo, this will be the first year where mobile revenues make up a majority of the games industry.[13].As for the rest of gaming, it’s split nearly evenly between consoles and PCs. Newzoo expects console revenues to reach $34.6 billion for the year, or just over 25% of the total gaming spend, while PCs will contribute $32.9 billion to the total, or nearly 24% of all gaming revenues. In all, 91% of all industry revenues will be generated from digital sources.[13]

Data from social media can be collected from many software tools. The easy way is to use web-crawling software to access the web interface of the site. Many social media (like Facebook and Twitter) provides API services for data tracking. However, blogs and online forums typically do not provide API for data tracking but there are many forums that offer RSS feeds that can be tracked easily [15]. The framework can be used to facilitate the construction of a social media repository for managing heterogenous longitudinal social media data from competitors.[14] The framework collects, stores, and analyzes data by conducting continuous longitudinal monitoring and analysis from social media sites. The data can be generated on a daily, monthly, or weekly basis to facilitate social media analysis for example by comparing customers’ comments and sentiments about a particular competing product.

Introduction

The media landscape has undergone an unprecedented revolution in recent decades, becoming an integral and omnipresent part of modern society. In this comprehensive essay, we delve into the multifaceted role of media and its profound impact on individuals and communities worldwide. Media, encompassing various forms such as television, radio, print, and the internet, has evolved into a potent tool capable of disseminating information, shaping opinions, and instigating transformative change. 

By exploring the mechanisms behind media’s influence, its multifarious role in society, and the consequences of its power, we gain insight into the complex dynamics that shape the world we live in today.

Role of Media in the Society

The role of media in modern society is irrefutable and multi-dimensional. At its core, media acts as the primary conduit for information dissemination, facilitating the flow of news, knowledge, and ideas. Journalism, a critical aspect of media, plays the role of a vigilant watchdog, holding governments and institutions accountable for their actions. By reporting on social, political, and economic issues, the media empowers citizens to make informed decisions, fostering transparency and strengthening democratic principles.

Beyond information dissemination, media serves as a powerful cultural mirror, reflecting societal values, norms, and aspirations. It influences public opinions, attitudes, and perceptions, ultimately shaping the collective consciousness. Through television shows, films, documentaries, and various online content, media significantly impacts how individuals view themselves, others, and the world, thereby contributing to the process of identity formation.

Moreover, the media plays a pivotal role in shaping public discourse and social movements. By providing a platform for diverse voices and perspectives, the media fosters social change, champions human rights, and drives advocacy efforts. It serves as a catalyst for collective action, promoting global solidarity on issues ranging from climate change and social justice to public health and humanitarian crises. However, this power can be a double-edged sword, as misinformation, sensationalism, and propaganda can lead to polarization, mistrust, and societal division.

Media’s impact is not confined to a single community or nation; it extends to the global stage. The interconnectedness of the world through digital media and the internet has resulted in a globalized media landscape, where events in one corner of the world can instantaneously impact individuals across continents. This interconnectedness has the potential to foster understanding, empathy, and cross-cultural appreciation. On the flip side, it can also amplify conflicts and misinformation on a global scale, challenging the very essence of truth and shared human values.

Impact of Media

The impact of media on society is far-reaching and often transformative. As a vehicle for communication, media shapes political landscapes and influences policy-making decisions on local, national, and international levels. It amplifies social issues, influencing public sentiment and mobilizing collective action in times of crisis, aiding disaster response and relief efforts.

On an individual level, media influences belief systems, ideologies, and behavior patterns. It can inspire and educate, fostering personal growth and cultural enrichment. However, the media’s influence can also be manipulative and misleading, perpetuating stereotypes, fostering consumerism, and influencing lifestyle choices.

The rise of digital media and social networking platforms has further transformed the impact of media. Social media serves as a powerful agent of connectivity, enabling individuals to share information, experiences, and opinions instantaneously across the globe. It has played a pivotal role in mobilizing social movements, driving political activism, and fostering cross-cultural dialogue.

However, the algorithm-driven nature of social media raises concerns about information silos and filter bubbles. The personalized content feed may limit exposure to diverse perspectives, leading to echo chambers and reinforcing existing biases, thereby hindering the formation of a well-informed and empathetic society.

Furthermore, the entertainment industry’s global reach has contributed to the homogenization of culture, promoting certain lifestyles and value systems as aspirational, while marginalizing indigenous cultures and traditional practices. This phenomenon, known as cultural imperialism, raises questions about the preservation of cultural diversity and the need for media to foster cultural appreciation and understanding.

How Media Works?

The functioning of media is a complex interplay of various actors, technologies, and sociocultural factors. At its core, media operates on a business model that relies heavily on audience engagement and advertising revenue. The 24/7 news cycle, characteristic of modern media, demands constant updates and content, often leading to sensationalism and the prioritization of attention-grabbing stories over in-depth reporting.

News agencies, journalists, editors, and content creators play a crucial role in the process of gathering, producing, and disseminating information. They must uphold ethical standards and adhere to journalistic principles to ensure the accuracy, objectivity, and fairness of the content they produce.

Digital media and the internet have democratized information dissemination, enabling citizen journalism and participatory media. Social media platforms, search engines, and news outlets act as distribution channels, allowing information to reach a global audience in real-time. However, the decentralization of media raises concerns about the veracity of information and the spread of misinformation.

The advent of big data and analytics has further transformed media operations. Media organizations leverage data-driven insights to understand audience preferences, tailor content, and optimize advertising strategies. While this data-driven approach enhances user experiences and revenue generation, it also raises concerns about data privacy, surveillance, and the potential for manipulating public opinion.

Conclusion

Media’s influence on societies and minds is undeniably powerful and transformative. As we navigate the vast and ever-evolving media landscape, it becomes crucial to approach media consumption with mindfulness and critical thinking. Media literacy is essential in discerning between credible sources and misinformation, ensuring a well-informed and discerning audience.

Journalists, content creators, and media organizations bear the responsibility of upholding ethical standards, fostering accountability, and promoting responsible journalism. Striking a balance between delivering timely news and in-depth reporting is essential for fostering an informed and engaged society.

As consumers of media, we must remain vigilant and proactive in seeking diverse perspectives, engaging in constructive dialogue, and challenging our preconceived notions. This proactive approach to media consumption can counteract the formation of echo chambers and filter bubbles, promoting a society that values inclusivity, empathy, and understanding.

So, the media’s impact extends beyond information dissemination; it shapes societies, minds, and global perspectives. Understanding the multifaceted role of media and its mechanisms empowers us to harness its potential for positive change. By collectively fostering responsible media practices and promoting media literacy, we can ensure that media continues to be a force for progress, enlightenment, and harmony in an ever-connected world. Embracing the transformative power of media with wisdom and compassion, we can strive for a world where information serves as a catalyst for positive change, understanding, and unity.

The methodology chosen for the research is discourse analysis, specifically analysing contemporary media texts (post-2010) that depict images or focus on Muslim women in the forefront of the articles. The media texts are newspapers, with a mix of tabloid and broadsheet newspaper articles. The language, visual elements and the contextual meaning behind the articles will be analysed. “The method explores power relations from a critical standpoint to make sense of the social world by providing new critical insights – a positive contribution to both theory and research” (Morgan, 2010). This sort of research is essential to examine the social standing of Muslim women as depicted in the media with a critical view. It is required to understand how the media represents Muslim women, answering questions such as: do their voices act as a narrative? , are they still depicted with generic stereotypical tropes?, has their image in the media worsened after Islamophobia? etc.

Since this research contains the social standing and representation of Muslim women – “discourse analysis involves the text’s ‘socio cultural practice’ of which the communicative event is part” (Fairclough, 1995a:57), events here being activities that Muslim women have been a part of or are involved in. The article’s language will be analysed in-depth especially as “language use is always active, it is always directed as doing something; and the way in which language achieves this activity is always related to the context in which it is used” (Richardson, 2009).

It is also important to note that the bias found in certain newspapers depends on the company or force behind the paper. We must keep in mind the news values of the publisher and their (often) singular objective. Different newspapers will be encoded with the same ideological message but will be written and depicted in various ways depending on the voice of the paper. This could also be a limitation of using discourse analysis – “our ‘meaning’ of the text is often affected by our judgement of who produced it” (Richardson, 2009).

Examples of critical discourse analysis include the subject of racism (Dijk, 1993), and welfare reform (Fairclough, 2001). These subjects are complex and require critical discourse analysis to assess a situation that a majority of the country faces. A critique of this sort would provide accountability of these newspapers that are often responsible in creating an image in the eyes of their readers. “This model incorporates very specific concepts, and social conflict and ideology can be evidenced in evaluative accents, or judgements, which are conveyed by words” (Morgan, 2010).

The analysis will go deeper than what meets the eye and challenge the media publication and the reason behind the story. The analysis’ aim is to understand how Muslim women are represented, and why are they are represented in that manner. As racial profiling is a big part of this conversation, “discourse analysis is a useful tool in explicating racism because it allows for a nuanced analysis of the socially and historically informed discourses that are available for negotiating racial positions” (Gee, 1999; Van Dijk, 1993). For some of the articles, we will witness social reality of the subject by researching what consequences followed post publishing these articles.

Martin Luther’s rise in popularity began when he nailed his ‘Ninety-Five Theses’ to the door of the Wittenberg Church on October 31, 1517. Luther aimed to show how corrupt the Catholic Church had become and in a letter to the Archbishop of Mainz, he wrote: “Works of piety and love are infinitely better than indulgences, and yet these are not preached with such ceremony or such zeal; nay, for the sake of preaching the indulgences they are kept quiet, though it is the first and the sole duty of all bishops that the people should learn the Gospel and the love of Christ”. He aimed to demonstrate with this message that the church was based greatly on luxuries and not God himself. Luther needed to spread this message and create his own Protestant Reformation. ‘Ninety-Five Theses’ failed to be answered, but it did cause a lot of controversies. Luther began his spreading of media and created a German translation with twenty-two German editions being printed. If it had not been for the accessibility and efficiency of type printing for copying documents, Luther’s Reformation and its influence on others could never have happened, and therefore the printed media was the most important reason for the spread of the Reformation.

Literacy in Germany was extremely low, was estimated to be as low as five percent in rural areas, and urban literacy around thirty percent. This made Luther’s printed media less common in Germany. However, people were still taught about them, and it was known that his books were read out loud in markets and people also made transcripts of Luther’s work. This was extremely important for the growth of the Reformation and further solidifies the idea that printed media was extremely important for the growth of the Reformation. People who could read, such as teachers, lawyers, and doctors acquire Luther’s latest pamphlet and then read it to crowds or households. A lot of the time people who could read, read his work to others. As Luther’s work spread via printed work, it gave certain people motivation to learn how to read, which further increased the popularity of the Reformation.

For Luther and other Reformers to express their views on the Catholic Church, they required printing services that could assist in the distribution of Luther’s publications. Johannes Gutenberg was a German inventor who introduced printing to Europe. At the request of the Wittenberg University leadership, Gutenberg had moved to Wittenberg from Erfurt in 1508 to set up a printing operation. His skills as a printer are shown in his publication of Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt’s ‘Distinctiones Thomistarum’. Without this invention, Luther would not have been as known due to people disagreeing with him and wanting him dead, such as Charles V who made him an outlaw who could be killed without consequence.

Luther’s use of technology in the 1520s brought a significant increase in the number of printing businesses. Richard Glenn Cole looked at the industry’s publication of works by Martin Luther and other Protestants and concluded that Germany dominated the industry with almost fifty printers of Luther’s works in the 1520s printing in twelve separate locations. He also found that there were seventy printers in various locations printing mostly Reformation tracts. During the sixteenth century, three hundred and ninety-one printers were printing Luther’s works. Without these Luther would not have been able to spread his beliefs quickly and could have ended up being killed before achieving his goals of pointing out the corruption of the Catholic Church. Richard Cole would agree that printed media was one of the most crucial reasons why the Reformation could spread. Cole also went on to say that it is likely that German printers chose to publish Protestant material on pamphlets during the 1520s. It cannot be ignored that these printers and publications were the beginning of something huge. The ease in sharing his views with others was thanks to Gutenberg’s genius. In all regions of Germany, a given purchaser could buy more books at lower prices out of appreciation for buying more stock. These purchasers could bring them into their library. This made Germany an excellent location for publishing, as the country had enough printers to allow for a large distribution of his writings. Furthermore, it allowed people to purchase his work for a good price making it more accessible to the general public.

With presses available and secondary ways of presenting his writings to the illiterate, Luther kept on giving Germany his work and teachings. Richard Crofts noted the number of publications produced in Germany during the period 1521 and 1545 and then compared them with Luther’s work. He found the information on German publications via ‘Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in the German-Speaking Countries’. The statistics he talked about were the number of printed works per five-year period. These included non-religious works, works by Reformers, and works by Catholics. The period of 1521 to 1545 produced 5,651 works with 34.1% being non-religious titles, 30.2% published by Reformers, and 17.6% were by Catholics. In the first half of the same period, the works by Reformers had an even greater percentage of work being presented with Reformers’ producing 46% of the works. Crofts’ notes show that Reformation teachings were being printed more than the works from the Catholic Church. This demonstrates the complete importance of printed media. Without it, the chance of Luther being talked about more than the Catholic Church would be almost impossible. What was also incredible about the statistics was that on average, Luther’s work was just over 50% of the works by Reformers, showing how influential his work was.

Luther needed a printer that could print his work, and this must include them not finding his views controversial. Luther’s first Wittenberg printer was Johann Gutenberg. Gutenberg published Luther’s translation and commentary on ‘The Seven Penitential Psalms’. This publication became very popular and was republished in Leipzig, Strasburg, and Erfurt. Using Gutenberg for his printer was a good choice for Luther as he could keep a close eye on what was being printed while he taught at the university.

Gutenberg’s work wasn’t up to Luther’s standard, and he became dissatisfied, so he brought the more experienced and established printer named Melchior Lotter to Wittenberg from Leipzig to set up a printing shop. Lotter completed establishing his Wittenberg facility. He then gave the management of the facility to Melchior and Michael, his sons. Lotter’s facilities seemed to do the job for Luther. Furthermore, it is believed that Luther had a good relationship with the Lotter family, as Michael married one of Luther’s first cousins. Luther found Lotter’s printing business an efficient operation for publishing his writings and spreading the Reformation. Lotter, it meant Luther could continue to expand further and have better prints of his work, making his ideas more interesting.

Luther’s contributed to the Reformation greatly with his German translation of the New Testament, which was published in 1522. He then went on to translate the Bible into German which was a success and was completed in 1534. Luther knew it was of importance to turn the Word of God into the language of the people. However, Germany during the 16th century didn’t have a common tongue. This didn’t dampen the success of the translation, as it allowed for Luther to reveal the true words of the Bible to people who may have been corrupted by the Catholic teachings, further showing the importance of printed media to the spread of the Reformation. Luther’s translation of the New Testament provided was used to teach reading to the illiterate, which helped unite a mother tongue as people were learning that form of German more than anything. The translations were a great success and were accepted by most of the German population. A printer in Wittenberg named Hans Lufft produced thousands of Luther’s Bibles between 1534 and 1574. These thousands of Bibles were used to help people with their literacy so not only were they learning the language, but they were also learning about the true contents of the Bible, making these printings vital in the success of the Reformation.

Lucas Cranach partnered with the goldsmith Christian Döring to establish a printing shop. This resulted in the production of several dozen Luther pamphlets between 1522 and 1525 and a few of the first versions of the Bible in native German. Joseph Klug published Luther’s ‘A Mighty Fortress’ in his shop in 1529. With all these different printers assisting in the spread of Luther’s Reformation, it meant that the Reformation could spread with such ease, covering as many people as possible a day that it would take Luther months if he were to be working alone.

Although printed media was vital to the success of the Reformation, it did come with issues. As Luther’s popularity kept spreading and more of his work came to light, certain printers took advantage of this opportunity to make money. Printers began the printing of Martin Luther’s publications in an unauthorized manner, and this was a problem. Publishers saw the profit potential and would make and print their own editions of his works. This was very bad for Luther’s Reformation as it meant that some ideas could be changed and then mass-printed, or the production quality of his work could be not of standard, which could ultimately turn people away from the Reformation. Some of Luther’s unfinished books were stolen from his printers and printed and re-sold by others with certain modifications by someone else. In a later edition of Luther’s German New Testament, he included in his preface a comment, “I beg all my friends and foes, my masters, printers, and readers, let this New Testament be mine. If you lack one, then make one for yourselves… But this Testament is Luther’s German Testament”. This comment shows the worry that people were changing his word and urged others to make their version, instead of copying his. These printing problems luckily didn’t escalate to become out of control with Luther sharing all this work to printing industries, it did increase the risk of his work would be in jeopardy.

Luther was annoyed by his works being copied, but he was also angry about the quality that they were being produced at. He wrote to George Spalatin in 1521, expressing his thoughts about his work being pirated and the errors in his work: “I have received the second and third parts of my ‘Sermon on Confession’ from you and the first part from Melanchthon. I cannot say how sorry and disgusted I am with the printing. I wish I had sent nothing in German, because they print it so poorly, carelessly, and confusedly, to say nothing of bad types and paper”. Despite Luther’s anger at the failure of certain printing, it is undeniable that the main reason for the success and widespread popularity of Luther’s Reformation to this day was down to the printed media. You can argue that it was risky as work can be changed and then printed off to favor the Catholic Church, but without taking that risk, the Reformation would never have been known as it is today, and we must thank printing for that.

To conclude, printed media was fully important for the spread of the Reformation. In this essay I have shown that printing completely changed the life of many, as it allowed popularity that was never seen before, a revolution within technology. During the sixty years of development, the printers of Luther’s era were able to publish all his books, pamphlets, tracts, treatises, hymns, and his translations of the Bible into German. Of course, he faced challenges with this technology, but it did not slow him down too much. Printing was so important for Luther as it meant that people across the country could learn of the corruption within the Catholic Church and understand that the poor are just as equal as the wealthy. People were motivated to learn German so that they could understand Luther’s teachings. Printed media also allowed for the Bible translation and made people realize that the Bible doesn’t encourage the ways of the Catholic Church, such as the church selling indulgences for money for the dead so they could go to Heaven faster. Finally, Gutenberg’s introduction of the printer changed the West. “A man born in 1453, the year of the fall of Constantinople, could look back from his fiftieth year on a lifetime in which about eight million books had been printed, more perhaps than all the scribes of Europe had produced since Constantine founded his city in A.D. 330”. This quote sums up the argument that printing was vital for the success of the Reformation. Without the printer, Luther likely wouldn’t be known today, and people would have taken him for a fool, but the printer meant that he could spread his message quickly, making printed media the most important reason for the success and popularity of Luther’s Reformation. Martin Luther used this technology and efficiently used it for the distribution of his writings and exposed the Word of God to the people who were trapped within the belief that the Catholic Church was correct in all their teachings.

Media carries an impactful role that can affect society’s perspectives of different genders, races, and cultures. Whether it is a negative, or positive effect, media plays an ongoing significant role that can change the outcome. There are numerous types of worldwide media such as: newspapers, magazines, television advertising and radio. Social media and television have been rising and influential platforms that many people in this century engage with. Many people have the option to stay updated with their family, friends, role models, or favourite celebrities.

However, media and gender representation unfortunately do not go hand in hand. Gender differences and stereotypes have been a traditional consistent piece in society. Misrepresentation in the media can reveal negative stereotypes and limited standards for society. Media has the ability to alter society’s assumptions, values and expectations. It places heavy pressure on people to act differently, or attempt to act a certain way to live up to what is expected from the people and to reach society’s standards.

From perfect scores across the board to podiums and medals, media bears a major influence on the way athletes and their successes are represented. Sports and media have been used as a platform to share accomplishments that is viewed as “means of achieving health and fitness, personal empowerment” (Weber & Carini, 2013, p. 1). However, it does not mean that representation is always accurate. Bernstein (2002) explains that sports have only been entitled to men and that it was viewed as a masculine event. On the other hand, women are presented as fragile and have been judged based on their appearance thus not being encouraged to participate, as women do not have the masculinity that is required. Male athletes are often presented and exposed to media more than women. Yet, when women in sports are represented in media, they are predominantly based on society’s stereotypes. A woman’s ability, achievement, and accomplishment are hidden behind their roles as a woman and their physical aspects. Though there has been an improvement of popularity among women’s sports and athletes, women are continuously being misrepresented and are still considered to be inferior to male athletes.

Female athletes have various skills and talents, yet women’s sports do not obtain as much media coverage in comparison to men’s sports. Approved on June 23, 1972 by U.S Congress, Title IX declared that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity” (Augustyn, 2019, p. 1). This made a significant impact for female athletes, as this created an opportunity for them to be more involved in high school, or college league sports. Conversely, before it was passed, Women’s Sports Foundations (2016) discusses how only one in twenty-seven females participated in athletics. In 2016, the proportion increased to two in five females. However, with the increase in participation, it would be ideal that it would result in an inflation of broadcasting for women’s sports. However, the result of increase, or equal coverage for women’s sports has yet to happen.

The lack of coverage of women’s sports from provincial, or national media affects the opportunities and beliefs for young girls, or women in general. Lewis (2014) reveals that the total broadcast time for women’s sport was only 1,000 hours. Additionally, the percentage of media exposure was quite low, as only “5% of media coverage in the UK is devoted to women’s sport” (Lewis, 2014, p. 1). Based on self-report results, 66.7% of participants chose that they always noticed male athletes on newspapers, or sport covers. On the other hand, 100% of participants answered that they sometimes see female athletes on the same platforms. The consequence of this outcome is that young girls do not have anyone to look up to. It is difficult to find role models to fill this position, as the women who are needed are not being covered in media, or exposed to the community. Female athletes are competent to compete and play every sports, just as well, or even better, than men. Despite the skills and abilities than a female athlete has, media coverage for women’s sports are unquestionably less in comparison to men’s sports.

Not only does the lack of athletic awareness and acknowledgement of female athletes in media can affect the motivation of athlete to continue to participate in sports, but it also can influence how a female athlete sees herself. It is important to increase the coverage for female athletes as many women’s sports go unnoticed and to open opportunities for aspiring athletes. Women are misrepresented in media on a regular basis. Their portrayal and coverage consists of their appearance and features rather than their athletic capabilities and victories. The importance of accurate representation of female athletes and women’s sports have the greatest influence on young female athletes and young generation, in general. If the media continues to make a woman’s appearance, this will unfortunately changes society’s perspective on women’s sports. Bissel & Duke (2008) examines how there was direct attentiveness towards a woman’s sex appeal and femininity, as there was a “high level of sexualized talk and concentration on the athletes’ body parts” (p. 1). During the Women’s Beach Volleyball during the 2004 Olympics, more than 20% of the photographs were focused on players’ chest. As well as that, just a little over 17% were established to be buttock shots. This leaves society a “lasting memories of players’ bodies” (Bissel & Duke, 2018, p. 1) rather than remembrance of sports and athleticism.

While male athletes are shown as strong, masculine and dominant, female athletes are presented in a sexualised way. Knight & Giuliano (2001) analyzes how female athletes are valued for their attractiveness instead of achievement. Male athletes have the luxury to b primarily portrayed as high performance athletes, unlike females (Liang, 2011). Female athletes are viewed as “women first, athlete second” (Liang, 2011, p. 1). In magazines, or sports covers, male athletes are shown in a sport, or competitive context. In contrast, female athletes barely have remarks on their athleticism. Based on self-report survey results, 48.1% of participants agreed that media sexualises female athletes and do not give the athletic recognition that they deserve.

An example of the lack of acknowledgement of athletic abilities is tennis player, Anna Kournikova. Harris & Clayton (2002) discusses how Kournikova was successful, but was hardly recognized for her success and domination in tennis. Instead, she was recognized for her modelling and superstar status. Furthermore, Carty (2005) acknowledges how Kournikova was featured in the 1999 edition of ​The National Sports Review​. In her feature was a list of ten reasons on why the audience loved her. Carty (2005) reveals that nine out of the ten reasons were regarding her beauty, fashion and appearance. Only one reason commented on her athletic qualifications and skills. This type of exposure decreases the priority of women being seen as legitimate and genuine athletes, as it focuses on her physical beauty. By continuing to sexualize female athletes, this will reduce the importance of their accomplishments and strengths.

Society molds athletes to have a specific set of attributes, behaviour and characteristics. Men are more favoured to participate in more aggressive and competitive sports like football, or basketball, whereas women are more preferred to participate in delicate and pleasing sports like gymnastics and figure skating. Society has created standards for athletes that divides the sports along masculinity and femininity. This traditional gender issue places a physical and psychological limit on athletes. While there may be physical differences, it does not affect the skills and strengths that one may have.

Schmalz and Kerstette (2006) conducted a study regarding the involvement of gender roles and sports. The authors found that social and gender roles contributed to stigma in sports. From a young age, children attempt to fit the mold that is designated for their gender. The young sport enthusiasts “curb their behavior” (Schmalz and Kerstette, 2006, p. 550) and put in the extra effort to conform to society’s social norms. In their one on one interviews, children as young as eight to ten years old are aware and troubled by the gender stereotypes. Children learn about such stereotypes, as they observe their environment. They classify what they see in male and female athletes on television. The study led by Schmalz and Kerstette (2006) proves that girls are disheartened to participate in “masculine” sports, or activities and vice versa for boys.

A sport that an athlete engages in affects the way that they are seen by society. Jones, Murrell, & Jackson (1999) divides sports in three different categories. The first one being masculine, such as rugby, or basketball. The second one being feminine which involves cheerleading, or volleyball. The last one being neutral which consists of cycling, or track and field. These matters have “created unfairness and discrimination” (Katz & Luckinbill, 2017, p. 1) and have influenced the participation in sports. In a self-report survey, 85.2% of participants agreed that it was as good idea to have the same standards and rules for both male and female athletes. The gender inequality is being challenged by both male and female athletes that are ready to break the social norm and traditional values and roles.

The increase of participation from female athletes breaking stereotypes has made a big impact on traditional stereotypes and society. This is because of the high amount of female athletes challenging the system and wanting to increase the female participation in sports. Women have “gradually entered more areas of sport” (Tjønndal, 2019, p. 87), yet men continue to “dominate positions of power in sport on a global scale” (Tjønndal, 2019, p. 87). The sports world continues to play the antagonist role towards female athletes. However, this norm is now being challenged by athletes who refuse to fall under the categories and labels that society and media have made for them. Male athletes are shown as powerful, dominant and strong, whereas female athletes are viewed in a more sexual way where their appearance is more valuable than their skills.

References

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