Blake Lawrie Assessment 3

Introduction to Media Studies

Assessment 3

Blake Lawrie: 9828613

Sport over the last 30 years has seen rapid  commodification  in Australia and the rest of the world as sports have shifted from mere ‘games’ to a professional career. With increased professionalism and interest in sport come issues that were previously non-existent or not reported on. One such issue that is hot topic among the public sphere and therefore the media sphere is the use of sport science and more to the point the use of drugs in sport performance.  The lines between sport and science have becoming increasingly blurred as the two disciplines frequently impact one another.  The public and professional debate between good and bad sport science is one that the fourth estate is currently reporting on a daily basis.

Example’s that fuel this debate are becoming more prevalent as the advances in science are exponentially growing along with the commodification of sport.  From Olympic athletes such as Ben Johnson and Marion Jones to Lance Armstrong the science behind doping has been exposed. Locally the supplement saga engulfing the AFL and the Essendon Football club has been of great media interest.

The reporting of these topics has become and the issue overall has been widespread throughout the media sphere with varying discourse’s depending on where and by whom the media texts have originated from.  This blog will provide a comparison between two texts that have a varying representation on the issue and how the text’s attempt to influence the audiences perceptions of reality.

The first text is an article by The Age.com.au released in 2004 named “Good Sport, Bad Sport” written by two journalists Julian Savulescu and Bennett Foddy. The discussion in the text is based towards the viewpoint that sport science and the use of drugs should not be banned but rather encouraged as it levels the playing field. The text argues that ‘Taking drugs would make sport less of a genetic lottery’ (Savulescu & Foddy 2004). It’s representation of drugs in sport is a positive one where drugs such as Erythropoietin are encouraged as they allow athletes to correct for natural inequality. Winning athletes would be not only those with a combination of the genetic potential, training, psychology but also those with the creativity and judgement to select drugs that will enhance performance. The message of the article is controversial and resists the hegonistic ideas of drugs plus sport equals illegal and unethical behaviours.

In comparison, the second media text offers little challenging ideas and follows the hegonistic ideology of the issue. The second media text that looks at the issue of drugs in sport is a news report conducted by Australian’s Channel 7 in their current affairs program ‘Today Tonight’. Aired in 2013 at the height of the Essendon Football clubs doping scandal the report loosely details the issue both locally and abroad. It takes  the angle that drugs in sport is prevalent and a major threat to the integrity of the  sporting landscape, ultimately representing the issue in a negative way without actually making any succinct and or depth analysis of the issue.  How the report attempts to represent this perception of the issue will be discussed as well as why it may be doing so.

Today tonight is regarded as a current affairs program that help commercial stations like channel 7 dominate the media institution that is television. Today Tonight’s purpose is to function with the daily news program that airs just before it to dominate the attention of audiences for a ‘block’ of time. The theory behind marrying the two programs is that audiences will stay with the network for the rest of that night’s schedule (Bainbridge 2011). It is because of this that Today Tonight is regarded as less journalist news and more tabloid infotainment. Due to news and current affairs programs shrinking in terms of audience reach and thus significance to public discourse, programs like Today Tonight have adopted this infotainment style of journalism (Stockwell 2004). It makes proper sense that network schedulers use this type of programs as a bridge between the news and latter programming that are more focused on entertainment. For example channel 9 have the daily news program, followed by their current affairs program which then leads straight into an episode of ‘Two and Half Men’. Thus retaining its audience for the period of time in which they can fill gaps with sponsors and commercials for which essentially exists. The infotainment style is adapted by Today Tonight to attract the type of viewer that is more concerned with sensationalism rather than serious journalism.

Unlike the news report, the article in The Age functions less on the entertainment and more on providing personal social commentary on the drugs in sport issue. The article is constructed and written in a manner that displays a positive representation of the use of drugs in sport. It supports the use of drugs to increase performance whilst at the same time it defends athletes who adopt this approach. It stops at going as far as justifying the illegal use of convicted athletes such as Ben Johnson; however its discourse is clear in making a case for such actions and their place in the world of sport.  The text is challenging the philosophical discourse founded on morals and ethics as it represents an alternate reality of sport.  It challenges the fabric and ideologies of sport in general.  The ideology of sport and its importance to the society is dependent on the culture in which it is viewed. From ancient Greek culture where sport was viewed as a ‘ritual sacrifice of human energy’  to modern western culture  where sport is a commercial product undertaken for entertainment (Guttmann 1990) This article is constructed and released by a media platform that challenge’s the ideologies of sport in modern times.  The ideas of ‘fair play’ and competing within the spirit of the game are warped as the argument for drugs in sport is promoted over natural ability. It challenges the western view of sport that drugs that improve our natural potential are against the spirit of sport model (Savulescu & Foddy 2004). The text argues this does not need to be the only model. Adopting a postmodern viewpoint the article represents its own reality to persuade the audience too its position.

The view express in the article is a postmodern viewpoint as it challenges conventional thinking towards drugs in sport. Conventionally the hegemonic powers promote red flags to be signaled when drugs are mentioned in the same breath as sport. This representation has become a common theme in the media sphere  and likewise the news report offer’s little opportunity for the audience to view sport science as a positive issue. The reporter states that “sport scientists are employed to produce best available substances to enhance athletic performance”. In isolation a comment like that is likely to create connotations that sport science is all human lab rats and test tubes.   Traditional ideologies around the spirit of sport are that athletes should be pure and clean where natural ability and hard work are the fundamentals to a winning performance.  Post modernity challenges the expected norm and the truth of the modern era, it prefers idealism over realism (Bainbridge 2011). The article is constructed in this way as it represents a viewpoint that is presently a minority where the report is affirming the current cultural ideology that drugs in sport is a danger to society.

The article is promoting cultural resistance to the drugs in sport issue reflecting its position as a pluralist media text.  The current media sphere is reporting on the drugs in sport issue with total dominance on the negative stance. Is this representing the actual thoughts and feelings of the public sphere regarding this issue or is an overreaction to new issue facing the word of sport. Whichever it may be the text as a journalistic article is written for the purpose to engage readers and entertain an alternative train of thought.  The article can be regarded as written as a piece that is interesting to the pubic rather than in the best interests of the public. This is similar to the TV report in that both texts sensationalize the issue of drugs in sport.  Both texts blur the lines between public interest and what is interesting the public, they do this however to position audiences differently and to construct differing representations.

 The article promotes essentially a form of cheating as a point of discussion rather than condoning the use of drugs in sport and outlining the dangers for athletes and the ethical implications. The text is an opinion piece rather than a representation of the factual events that are occurring and this important to understand in analysing its structure.  The author’s are under less responsibility and self-regulation and can therefore represent the issue in a manner that suits their discourse (Peters 1998).

Both texts draw on the power of the public sphere to help inform the audience of the different representations. Media texts surrounding the issue are numerous given the current sporting climate with texts from multiple media platforms and institutions providing information and commentary to engage the public. An understanding of this dialogue is less important for the report as a basic background to the issue is delivered in black and white. Both texts are acting as the fourth estate and as journalistic texts act as gatekeepers of the news (Bainbridge 2011). The article however lends it hegemony as informant to a larger degree as the representation is more open to criticism. Today Tonight not only fulfils the role of the fourth estate but also informs and engages the public sphere more effectively than traditional news programming (Bainbridge 2011). It is for this reason that Today Tonight is used to mediate a point of view. It does this through basic tools like signification and the use of celebrity.

The TV report uses signification to position the audience to its negative representation of drugs in sport. The report uses the signifier of syringes throughout to attach connotation of drugs and danger to the issue of sport. A syringe is present in the introduction to the report as well as in the report as the text discusses the science behind the drugs used. To round it out the closing image is again of a syringe to re-affirm the negative connotations associated with the signifier. The report relies on the audience’s cultural competency to end up with a denotation that syringes as a sign have a negative impact on sport and drug issue (Bainbridge 2011). This is achieved by the mention of Lance Armstrong and Ben Johnson that through cultural knowledge the audience can build a connection between their use of drugs and what is occurring here in Australia.

The TV report uses Dr Peter Larkin’s as a reference for discussion in the report to further position the audience. The use of Larkin’s is no coincidence as he can be deemed a celebrity in the Australian sporting media sphere.  Larkin is frequently consulted on during the AFL season and is part of channels 7 AFL coverage.  His presence is a good example of convergence in the media sphere where the Seven network is drawing on the celebrity of Larkin to cross promote its AFL coverage. As the audience identifies and trusts Larkin, the program has positioned the audience to accept their representation of the issue. 

The two selected texts both provide a different representation of the issue of drugs in sport. The televised Today Tonight report discusses the current alarming state of drug use in sport and the negative impact it has on the sporting landscape in Australia.  The online article in The Age represents an alternative way to think about the issue and makes comment on why drugs should be used in sport.  The difference in the texts is shown by the contrasting power relations present in the media sphere.  They also differ in how they position the audience in relation to the drugs in sport issue.

References

·         Bailey R 2011 ‘Sport Science - good, bad and bogus’ , Talking education and sport, 15 November, viewed 21 May 2014, <http://talkingeducationandsport.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/sport-science-good-bad-and-bogus.html,  >

·        Bainbridge, J, Goc, N, & Tynan, L 2011, Media and journalism: new approaches to theory and practice, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.

·        Guttmann A, Donald K, and Gary D. Stark, eds. Essays on sport history and sport mythology. Vol. 24. Texas A&M University Press, 1990.

·         Peters, B 1998, ‘Media and Democracy’, Rights and responsibilities of media professionals-laws and ethics, pp. 61-62

·         Savulescu J & Foddy B 2004,”Good sport, bad sport”, The Age, 3 August, viewed 21 May ,<http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/02/1091432108050.html>.

·        Savulescu J, Foddy B, Clayton M 2004 , Performance enhancing drugs: Why we should allow performance enhancing drugs in sport , British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume  38 issue 4 p.666-670, viewed 23 May 2014,<http://bjsportmed.com/content/38/6/666.full.pdf+html>

·         Stockwell S 2004, ‘Reconsidering the Fourth Estate: The functions of infotainment’, Refereed paper presented to the Australian Political Studies Association University of Adelaide 29 September – 1 October 2004

·         Today Tonight 2013, Australian sport drug cheat scandal, 6 February 2013, viewed 22 May 2014, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN3-Tlh1294>

ASSESSMENT 4 BLOGS WEEK 6-10-BLAKE LAWRIE

SLTS100 Assessment 4:  Sport Management Blog                                               Blake Lawrie 9828613

Week 6

Week 6 looked at sport governance. Sport governance as the structures and processes used by an organization to develop its strategic goals and direction, monitor its performance against these goals. Good governance is essential for an organisations success. A local cricket club in Perth nearly had to disband due too poor administrators with lack of goals towards delivering success and little to none monitoring processes.

Week 7

Week 7 was all about the money. And there is a lot of it in professional sport these days. Sport managers have to deal with pressures placed on sporting organisations, players etc. due to the massive amount of money in professional sport. Financial planning is crucial to success in all sectors of sport. As discussed a balance sheet is a basic tool used by sport accountants. At my local cricket club our accountant is the most important person as he runs the book.

Week 8

Sport and marketing for week 8 .As sports have become professional in the last 30 years, players, stadiums and events have become billboards.

Photo of Australian open court, not the best pic but even still can make out about 10 sponsors with their logos everywhere. This event goes global and companies like KIA would be feeling they are getting their monies worth.

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/tennis/galleries/g/15831776/australian-open-day-one/15831779/  

Week 9

Sporting culture came under the microscope in week 9. Culture or organisational culture is a set of beliefs/values/attitudes that are agreed on by its members and set the behaviours of members within it. Culture can be hard to pinpoint and very hard to change depending on the history.  One club in Australia famous for its “bloods” culture is the Sydney Swans. The link below looks at this culture based around team play and respect amongst each other, and how effective this will be on a new recruit.  Ultimately culture of a club is bigger than any individual or collective individuals and will live on if the members are willing.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/will-bloods-culture-work-on-kurt-tippett-and-turn-controversial-forward-into-an-afl-success-story/story-e6frf3e3-1226534423497#.UQkVur8slX0

Week 10

Week 10 delved into the sport performance model and how each organisation that adopts a model is based on the set of goals laid down by stakeholders within the club. Stakeholders range from sponsors to players to club administrators. Balancing the needs and passions of stakeholders is a challenging test for modern sport managers in professional sport.  Sport is unique in that its stakeholders are passionate about success and that can cloud financial decisions. Look at Chelsea FC in England. The president (Roman Abramovich)  is so passionate about success and style of play that he fires coaches in frequent succession, often having to cut contracts short and pay out millions just so he can be satisfied

week 10-blake lawrie

this week we looked at how sport performance models are different from traditional from business models and the stakeholders involved within an organisation.

performance models for sport organisations have become very professional as the money involved with sport has sky rocketed. clubs use business models to strategically plan for sucess. what the text makes clear is that sporting organisations unlike regular business are emotionally charged with individuals. sporting organisations have history, traditions, idols, hero's, rituals etc. that are very important to alot of people who run these clubs. this emotional attachment can cloud commercial logic and economic rationale.
the stakeholders involved within organisations generally determine what performance model is adopted and what is deemed a success. in terms of professional organisations that may be many diiffernt stakeholders concerned. take australian rugby for instance. the sponsor(qantas) who are concerned with publicity of their brand, the players who are concerned with their paychecks as well as success, the player managers who are concerned with their players planing and attracting lucrative contracts, the coaches who are concerned with success and ultimately keeping their job, they keep their job by making the higher up administrators happy.

all stakeholders can have conflicting ideas that need to be balanced by sport managers but they can also have similar views that can be beneficial.

week 6 -blake lawrie

this week looked at risks in sport management. managing and avoiding risks is done through governance. the ASC describes sport governance as the structures and processes used by an organization to develop its strategic goals and direction, monitor its performance against these goals and ensure that the board and management seek to deliver outcomes for the benefit of the organisations and its members and that the means used to attain these outcomes are effectively monitored. the 2 areas of sport governance is corporate( deals with profit seeking companies and corporations and protecting the shareholders) and non-profit( governance of volunteers and facilitate involvement of individuals). corporate governance  has a number of theories which the text touched on.  through pinboard i read some articles about major issues in professional sport in australia that concerns governance  in particular the salary cap issue. this problem has occured in AFl and NRL in the last 15-20 years as the sport has become more professional. clubs like carlton and recently adelaide in the AFL and bulldogs and storm in NRL have fallen victim to salary cap breaches. both the NRL and AFL organsitions have put in place structures and restrictions to catch and monitor clubs that breach the salary cap. the salary cap is in place to ensure a equal playing field for all clubs and he competition remains fair for all. protecting the value and intergrity  of the game and the competition is vital for all sponsors, broadcasters, shareholders, players, and audience of the game.

week 8 -blake lawrie

really enjoyed this weeks topic. i am studying marketing concepts in another unit so it tied in well. sports marketing is different from conventional marketing in that it has two dimensions. firstly is marketing sport through sport. this include trying to sell sport related products and services through the use of sport. i.e- advertising slazenger cricket bats during the cricket commercials. the other dimension is marketing product through the median of sport. we see alot of this in professional sports were sports "star" promote a brand that really is not related in any way too the sport in which they compete. sportmen and women acrooss the globe earn  a substantial  chunk of their salary through promoting large brands. there are important factors that athletes need to be marketable. first and foremost they need to be successful in their field. once that is achieved they then need to be able to brand themselves. this is where sports management comes in to play. branding is vital for an athlete to be paid top dollar for major companies. companies like nike, adidas, puma etc. pay athletes massive sums to be part of their brand and endorse their products in a way in which the company wants to be seen to the public. sports stars are seen as ambassadors for the company and therefor they must adhere to image of the company. this can lead to major problems when sports stars fall from grace, lie we have seen with tiiger woods and lately even worse with lance Armstrong  Armstrong was sponsored by massive companies like Nike and Oakley but since his doping scandal they can no longer support him as he doesn't fit the brand image in which these companies desire.

back to the coarse work, we looked at the marketing framework and the 4 stages
1.identify marketing opportunities
2. develop a marketing strategy
3.plan the marketing mix
4.implement and control the strategy

week 9 ---blake lawrie

this week we looked at culture in sport. more specifically sport organisational culture and how its formed.  from the text sport organisational culture is described as a collection of beliefs, values and attitudes that arre common to members of a sport organisation and which subsequently set the behavioural standards for all members. agreed assumption of sport culture are
 1. culture tends to be inflexible and hard too change
2. the culture iis shaped by circumstance, history and its members
3. culture is learned and shared by members
4. culture is covert and can be hard to pinpoint.
5. culture is manifested in a variety of ways that affect performance of an organisation and its members

culture is varied across sports, across different countries and of  coarse across different clubs/organisations. professional clubs tend to focus on a culture base around results and winning, where as nonprofit organisations tend to focus more on developing a culture around participation and mateship. in terms of professional clubs, this culture of winning is talked about frequently. developing a history and player/member base which is based solely aroound the desire too win is crucial to many large clubs. Clubs and i find common in sporting clubs in Australia  try to develop culture around not only winning but playing for you team mates. In AFL last year there was many occassions were clubs suspend their own players when they dont adhere to this culture. If an indivudal breaks the rules and does selfish acts that are seen to be not doing their best for the team then they be punished, we see it alot when players have a few too many drinks and make headlines for the wrong reasons. it is important for sport mangers too  identify the cultures surrounding the indivudal or club they are working and  work towards success by integrating into the culture,

week 7- blake lawrie

this week we looked at money in sport and the growing pressures the populaitry in professional sport casues on sport managers and sporting instituations.  4 phases of sport development over the past 50 years from recreational/cultural purposes to modern sport with corporasation and sports clubs run as a business. then looked at  where money for sport comes from. areas of revenue include membership, fundraising, sponsorship, media contracts, assest owned by clubs or organisations such as the stadiums.  the growing pressures placed on sport managers was most intersting to me this week. the articles which were on pinboard weere intersting and relevant. especially liked reading about over price beer at the olympics, as this is something that irrates me when i go to live sport. anenjoyable week of readings.