Color Coded: Racial Descriptors in Television Coverage of Intercollegiate Sports

The Games Through the NBC Lens: Gender, Ethnic, and National Equity in the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics

“…For decades, researchers have analyzed the significance of portrayals of ethnicity (Rada & Wulfemeyer, 2005) in televised sport with many discussions of race focusing predominantly on Black athletes (Bernstein & Blain, 2003;Davis & Harris, 1998). Hardwired stereotypes, such as White athletes having superior ''intelligence'' and ''work ethic'' as compared to Black athletes (Birrell, 1989), are reinforced within the majority of sports media content studies (e.g., Billings & Eastman, 2003;Murrell & Curtis, 1994).…”

A Black and White Game: Racial Stereotypes in Baseball

“…One difference in how athletes are described that researchers have consistently found is that the sports media tend to portray White versus Black athletes in the context of brawn versus brains descriptors (e.g., Billings, 2003Billings, , 2004Denham et al, 2002;Eastman & Billings, 2001;Halone & Billings, 2010;Rada & Wulfemeyer, 2005;Rainville, Roberts, & Sweet, 1978). Studies argue that although it may seem rather complimentary to say a White athlete is intelligent or that a Black athlete is very strong, bias reveals itself when we think about this through the prism of race (Rada & Wulfemeyer, 2005). Rainville et al (1978) first examined whether audiences could detect "covert" racial biases in sports journalism.…”

“He was Framed!” Framing Criminal Behavior in Sports News

“…One salient difference that has been widely examined is the difference between portrayals that focus on mental acuity versus athleticism. Sports commentators, for instance, are more likely to praise White players for mental abilities and leadership skills and Black players for their strength, aggressiveness, and raw natural ability (Rada & Wulfemeyer, 2005). The effects of such representations have not been studied extensively, but initial work indicates that viewers attend to these cues and use them when asked to describe athletes of various races (Buffington & Fraley, 2008).…”