‘I am happy to start the conversation’: Examining sport media framing of Jason Collins’ coming out and playing in the NBA

Abstract

A textual analysis examined US media framing of National Basketball Association (NBA) player Jason Collins' coming out as the first 'active' gay athlete in one of the four most popular US professional men's team sport leagues. We analyzed all articles on Collins published over a four-day period in the five most circulated US newspapers and five most trafficked USA-based sport websites after he came out publicly, and then analyzed those same publications over a three-day period following his signing with and playing for the Brooklyn Nets as an openly gay player. Journalists framed Collins' self-outing as a landmark for US sport, noting that both sport and the USA are now far more accepting of sexual minorities. The few media members and athletes who criticized Collins or homosexuality were framed as antiquated outliers. Sports journalists continued to frame Collins as a hero after he signed with the Brooklyn Nets. Upon his return to the NBA nearly 10 months after coming out, prominent African-American basketball players and Collins' teammates with Brooklyn were quoted as equating homophobia with racism in offering their support for Collins. Overall, media framed sport as an inclusive, accepting institution for gays, countering most previous research on homosexuality in sport media.

Bisexual Erasure in the British Print Media: Representation of Tom Daley's Coming Out

“…Given the frequent coverage of Daley's apparently ambiguous sexual orientation, it is important to note here that we examine the one-week period immediately after his initial announcement on his social media sites. Thus, by examining the intersection of sporting celebrity, bisexuality and inclusivity, we extend current theorizing of media analyses beyond gay and lesbian athletes (Cleland, 2014;Forman & Plymire, 2005;Kian & Anderson, 2009;Kian, Anderson & Shipka, 2015;McDonald & Eagles, 2012;Plymire & Forman, 2001) by providing the first-ever analysis of the print media's response to an openly bisexual athlete.…”

Inching Away From the Toy Department

“…But, given that research in this area is still developing, Kian, Anderson, and Shipka (2015) call for additional studies of how the media frame gay athletes. Framing, albeit a different ''kind'' of framing, is the method employed in this study.…”

Discursive shifts associated with coming out: A corpus‐based analysis of news reports about Ricky Martin

“…Research in the realm of pop music is less well represented (see Benozzo, ). This may be because popular culture and the pop music industry have long been considered domains where more progressive explorations of gender and sexuality are common, accepted, and even desired (Kian et al., : 621–622). However, as the delay of Ricky Martin's coming out shows, such a step, even in this realm, bears certain risks, especially in the potential loss of audience support.…”

“…In media and communication studies, there has been recent work on the coming out of gay male sport celebrities (e.g. Kian, Anderson, & Shipka, 2015;King, 2017;Magrath, Cleland, & Anderson, 2017), maybe because professional sports (especially male team sports) is a context in which traditional hegemonic masculinities are still highly valued and same-sex affection is viewed as a threat (see Nylund, 2004). Research in the realm of pop music is less well represented (see Benozzo, 2013).…”