A new study from the University of Missouri released this week suggests that Black athletes are treated differently than their White counterparts in the media, a fact that comes as no surprise to many whose lives and livelihoods revolve around sports.
In an examination of 155 news articles, MU associate professor of strategic communication Dr. Cynthia Frisby found that not only were more stories written about White athletes overall than their Black counterparts, but those Black athletes were overrepresented in crime stories and domestic violence stories and, overall, “53 percent of the stories involving black athletes had a negative tone, while only 27 percent of stories about white athletes were negative.”
“This study provides quantitative evidence of disparities in how media cover and stereotype Black male athletes,” Frisby said. “This serves as an important exploratory study that sets the framework for extensive future investigations into the way media portray and cover athletes from different ethnic backgrounds.”
But, for many, the study’s outcomes come as no surprise.
“Sports media is a White male affair,” said Dr. Frederick Gooding Jr., an assistant professor of ethnic studies at the Northern Arizona University whose work has focused largely on critical race theory in Media, Movies & Mainstream Sports.
Key to understanding this concept is studying the power structure under which media organizations are structured.
According to recent data, only 7.6 percent of Associated Press sports editors are Black, meaning that, even if media organizations make a push to hire Black talent, the people in control often do not look like the athletes they cover.
