SoK Pilot Award: Stacy-Lynn Sant & Wenche Wang
Event Details
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Time
About this event
The Role of the Media in Professional Athlete Activism
With Stacy-Lynn Sant, PhD, Assistant Professor, Sport Management
and Wenche Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor, Sport Management
Friday, May 7
Noon-1:00pm
Zoom link: myumi.ch/E3qxn, passcode: KINES
Abstract: Athletes’ social and political activism, particularly as it relates to racial injustice, is highly controversial. In 2016, NFL athletes’ protests to draw attention to the disproportionate killing of African Americans by law enforcement became a major news story in the United States. These protests spread to other professional sport leagues and sparked heated debates about athletes’ right to free speech, patriotism, and racial injustice. This study examines media as a key resource in shaping public opinion and thus building support for social movements. We draw on the literature on media framing and resource mobilization theory and utilize qualitative and quantitative analyses to examine: (i) how the mainstream news media framed these protests; (ii) how public sentiment influenced media outlets’ decisions to cover the protest and (iii) how athletes utilized media to produce mobilizing ideas to elicit support for their activist activities.