“THEY DID WHAT!?”
The sports industry is not just sports… Overall, it is the entertainment industry and many see it simply as just entertainment. With entertainment comes stories, and with good stories comes viewers. Sadly there are people in this world willing to ruin one athletes career/ image in order to get a story that entertains the audience. Lazarsfeld‘s Two- Step flow model explains how people believe what they hear whether it is from a reliable source or not. Not only are sources an issue, but because television is 24/7, that means they need content 24/7. In result, stories will be followed hour by hour or day by day, leading the audience to develop an opinion on these athletes through media and rumors that are not necessarily true. Television and other forms of media have left athletes with a platform that can easily change the worlds perspective on them, even if it is just one small event. Forbes states, “the way that social media has impacted the sports industry has been profound.”
Media’s Effect On Athlete’s Performance
Imagine going into work everyday knowing the whole world is watching. If you make a mistake, it will end up in some form of media. Well, that is what these athletes deal with on a daily basis. According to The Sport Journal it actually does effect athletes performance. Psychology Today states, “the biggest area in which athletes are finding more and more difficulty is in the simple act of focusing” due to social media.
Mental Effects
Television and social media put an enormous amount of stress on athletes and it certainly has an affect on athletes mental health. On top of the impact athletes bodies have to deal with, they also have to worry about what the whole world has to say about them. In a study done by Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), “the findings suggest that elite athletes experience a broadly comparable risk of high-prevalence mental disorders relative to the general population” (NCBI).
No Negative Nancy’s
I hate to be a negative Nancy and make television sound like a terrible thing for sports, because we all know it is not. Of course there are plenty examples of bad stories and framing on athletes, however there are also an endless amount of amazing stories that show how important athletes are to our society. All Research Journal states, “the increasing attractiveness of the mega sports happenings in the last 100 years has an international influence on all sports viewers and a gigantic addition of cash.” I am sure the payroll these athletes receive make all the negative backlash they receive worth it. Overall, television plays a negative and positive roll in the sports industry and that is something athletes have to go in knowing in order to have a lengthy, successful career.
Sources:
Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)
Media and Sports 
I loved your connection to social media! I think a lot of pressure for athletes comes from the idea of surveillance. Someone is always watching and monitoring their every move. Their private life has become public. They feel the pressure to be perfect on the field, on the internet, or even just at the grocery store. I enjoyed the link to psychology today you included, as it had a lot of great information about how this pressure from surveillance actually stunts their growth and development.
LikeLike
Cool article! I would suggest adding a few terms or themes from class though. I actually wanted to write one on controversy and how the media influences the perception and mentality of athletes. You touched on some great and important points. Thanks for this!
LikeLike