SPORTS AND MEDIA
February 2nd 11:05 to 12:05/Chair: Gloria Fanokun
This panel will cover the topic of sports within media, looking at a wide range of examples. The panellists will consider the impacts of finance, marketing narratives, or social media, on their chosen sport or theme. Questions and research will be raised to gain insight into our chosen topic.
Reef Boltwood
My dissertation is about the fandom that surrounds professional wrestling and explores whether the Internet caused this fandom to become more volatile and hostile towards other fans. I will conduct an in-person interview to get fan accounts as well as attempt to speak to someone in the industry to get their opinion on the matter. I also want accounts from before the Internet became mainstream, I will track down old websites, newspapers, and other media to try to answer my questions.
Harry Pascall- 11:15
My dissertation will explore the sport of boxing from a journalistic perspective, observing what made certain individuals and events so influential. This will include looking at themes such as masculinity, race, and gender to dive into what draws in the audience and how a boxer is marketed to appeal to fans.
Anish Beeharry
For my dissertation I will be discussing how the media portrays sports celebrities and teams. I will be creating a YouTube Video discussing how the print media and social media act towards certain sport stars or teams, I will be showing how celebrities get so much pressure from the public due to social media and print media and how it has affected them as they will be talking about racism and mental health. Examples of this include England Euros of 2020, Manchester United Takeover and how TV shows/ companies portray Max Verstappen in the F1 industry.
Ross Herbert
My research is based on how English football, specifically the Premier League, has been affected over time by the increase of money involved in the game. I will focus on how certain teams have gained a huge advantage from this and on the contrary, how it has disadvantaged other teams and will also focus on how growing costs and expenditures have affected the fans.
Amelia Jones
I am writing a dissertation about women's football and the portrayal through social media. Women in football have always faced criticism and sexist views, especially about ability and competitive levels. I will debate the pros and cons of social media in relation to the criticism faced and the little censorship that there is. I will also look into spaces where women supporters can freely speak on the topic without any judgement.
Mohamad Mansour
For my dissertation I will be writing about how the media portrays stars in the sports world and the influence that this has on the public. I will be going in depth on the pros and cons of being a top star in today’s world, highlighting the use of social media and the impact it’s had on society as a whole. I will also be researching why individuals are so fascinated by drama and sensationalised headlines.