Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Assessing The "Goodness Of Fit" Between Scholarly Assertions And Audience Interpretations Of Media Images Of Black Male Athletes, Emily J. Houghton

Human Performance Department Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the "goodness of fit" in sport media research, specifically how audiences interpret media images of Black male athletes and the ways in which their interpretations "fit" with scholarly assertions pertaining to racially marked media depictions. Participants in the study (n=36) were part of eight focus groups segmented by age, gender and race. They viewed and discussed mainstream media images of Black male athletes found on major American sport media websites (ESPN.com and SI.com). The images corresponded with five categories of representation found in the literature: highly competent/natural athlete, exotic savage, deviant, emotionally …