As we have seen so far, sports can influence books and readers in society. Today, however, we will seek to find if sports can influence and impact another written media: Magazines and Newspapers. We know books are great for athletes to write, but does this same spirit of positivity carry over into the magazine or newspaper world? Is it helpful for athletes to have articles written about them or their sport? Let’s find out.
Magazines
Magazines and sports go together like Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen, they are great on their own, but once they find their rhythm and work together, great success is accomplished. You may have heard of Triathlete, Slam Magazine, Sports Weekly, ESPN: The Magazine, and, most popular, Sports Illustrated. Each of these magazines cover articles from triathlons to the NBA Finals, from swimming to the Super Bowl. Do you have a favorite athlete? There’s an article! Do you have a favorite sport? Chances are there may be a whole magazine issue written on that sport. Typically, magazines pick an athlete, produce a magazine cover with that athlete’s photo, and then feature a story on the athlete’s life, training, the sport they play, and just how well they are doing. This method provides specific insights on athletes and their methods, how they apply their skills and practice in order to become greater. Readers can then seek to apply the same techniques, becoming more skilled and drawing closer to the athlete.
Athletes do enjoy telling their own stories, though, and not having someone else write them for an article in a magazine without permission. The Players’ Tribune is an online site from which writers partner with athletes to tell the athletes stories in their own words, instead of having magazine articles surmise about the athletes. An article by Digital and Social Media Sports describes The Players Tribune as “less about soliciting and stealing information from athletes between cliches and outbursts and more about being honest and real with athletes,” meaning that magazines tend to surmise about athlete based on limited information and then write stories based on what can be false information. This is counterintuitive and can hurt an athlete's reputation. Magazines are useful for gaining sports knowledge and information, but only when they are written with facts and permission from the athlete. Otherwise, they may be damaging to reputations, spread rumors and false information, and confuse readers who think false articles are sincere. Granted, most of the time, magazine articles are insightful, educational, and uplifting to the athlete in question. This boosts the athlete’s reputation and is encouraging to the athletes themselves, all the while providing the readers with a successful role model.
For more detailed sports articles, check out The Best American Sports Writing 2016, a book that has compiled some of the greatest sports articles, edited and assembled by Rick Telander, a sports columnist who’s written for Slam Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN: The Magazine.
Newspapers
Newspapers are a little different than magazines but have much the same goal. Writing articles that society will find interesting enough to read is their main purpose and many times the stories written are about sports. In fact, many newspapers have entire sections of their issues written entirely on sports. Such an example is The Washington Post which says about their sports segment, “The SPORTS section reflects the Washington metropolitan area’s appreciation for sports by covering the latest in local, national, regional and international competition. As in most news throughout the paper, SPORTS articles and features are about people and the events that bring these people together.” Newspapers write about sports in order to bring their audience together and build the community, seeking to unify the American people through sports and their love of the games being played.
Much like magazines, newspapers can influence an athlete’s reputation, whether they portray them positively or negatively. Weebly.com says, “Newspapers can go one of two ways. They will be biased towards a certain player, remain biased and give them a bad image or they can be positive towards that player, giving them more respect from the public.” Newspapers, then, hold massive sway in the sports world, they can literally make or break an athlete. Therefore, yes, it can be helpful for an athlete to have newspaper articles written about them, but also no, it can be very destructive for athletes to have stories written about them, whether those stories are true or false.
Unfortunately, magazines and newspapers can attempt to write negatively about athletes purely based on bias. Even more of a malady, people read those articles and their own opinions can be formed around the dissentient beliefs of the author. Thankfully, it is much more common for articles to be written in a positive way towards athletes which increases their reputations in the minds of readers and is encouraging for their future career.
Telander, Rick, The Best American Sports Writing, Boston: Mariner Books, 2016.
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