Page 14 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

Introduction: Interacting with Media Sport • 3

media and social identity; and sport, media and embodiment. We will discuss each of
these in turn and provide a guide to further reading at the end of the chapter.

Sport, Media and the Values of Society

The connections between sport and values have been of interest to sociologists of
sport with reference to the assumed characteristics and qualities of sport partici-
pants, particularly young people and celebrities. The ‘fair play’ ethos at the heart of
modern sport has been critically examined as reinforcing dominant values and social
cohesion (Jarvie and Maguire 1994). Sport stars are often expected to serve as role
models and to behave in socially approved ways according to the demands of an as-
sumed and imagined community (Eitzen 2000). In addition, the behaviour of athletes
with endorsements may be further scrutinised by advertisers, sponsors, managers
and administrators with little tolerance for negative publicity (Whannel 2002). The
mediation of the character of sport stars, therefore, involves linking particular signi-

fications to an image that may appeal to media consumers. For example, MacDonald
and Andrews (2001: 21) discussed the ways that ‘[Michael] Jordan’s celebrity sign
is also incredibly malleable, highly mobile and the carrier of shifting, but important
cultural meanings.’ Jordon’s positioning as a transnational superstar and a commod-
ity was linked to his perceived ability to transcend race and signify multiple desirable
qualities, including hard work, achievement, family orientation, trustworthiness and
affability. Whannel (2002: 215) observed that ‘the public identities and images of

such figures are a product of the social relations of moral contestation rather than an
expressive product of their own actions.’ Of particular interest in analysing celebri-
ties and values, then, are the characteristics of the layers of mediation surrounding
sports stars as well as public engagement with these images and discourses.
The capacity of sport to reinforce the social order has also emerged as a persistent
theme of sport broadcasts and dramas. The sport media in all its forms regularly
accentuates attributes of fair play, impartiality and meritocracy and deemphasises
interconnections to broader social issues, problems and challenges. Hillyard (1994)
referred to the presence of an (anti) sociological imagination to capture how sporting
controversies and scandals were reported in ways that protected the interests of those

in power and deflected attention away from political and social issues. For example,
stories about performance-enhancing drug use tend to emphasise the bad behaviour
of the individual, deflecting responsibility or culpability away from organisations,

clubs and coaches (Padwe 1989).

Sport, Media and Commercialisation

Some of the earliest scholarship on sport and society focussed on the way com-
mercialisation has shaped the experience of sport. In his now classic text, Huizinga