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The place for social analysis in the press coverage of sports : a comparison of sports newspapers and general press in Italy's media ecosystem

Authors
  • Cuccoli, Rosarita
Publication Date
Nov 23, 2020
Source
HAL-Descartes
Keywords
Language
English
License
Unknown
External links

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the coverage of sport-related matters of social relevance in daily newspapers. Sports benefit from massive media coverage but even though the extent of sports reporting allows to deliver, in principle, a multiplicity of subjects and angles of analysis, the coverage of sports tends, in reality, to focus on a limited span of topics (the wealthiest sports and athletes, the most lucrative tournaments, etc.). Moving from the concern about whether or not the coverage of sports reflects the full extent of the sporting phenomenon, the study has engaged in the elaboration of a new taxonomy of topics to define the wider “social dimension”, or social analysis, in the media coverage of sports. This taxonomy, intended as both a conceptual and operational tool, is at the core of the study. The thesis has then engaged in the content analysis of over 6,500 newspaper pages, taking the Italian press as a case study. The analysis has been conducted with a view to compare social analysis in the coverage by general-interest newspapers with that in sports-specialised newspaper. This approach also constitutes a significant contribution to knowledge, as sports newspapers are hardly ever examined as a category in its own right. Italy was chosen, among other reasons, for the presence of multiple sports newspapers. Finally, considering the current decline of press circulation, the thesis also shows the business potential – or “business case” – of social analysis in the coverage of sport, and why this can attract, perhaps unexpectedly, new readers.

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