Stick to Sports

Evidence from Sports Media on the Origins and Consequences of Newly Politicized Attitudes

Bibliographic Data

ID6335140
AuthorsErik Peterson (0000-0002-9073-4619, Texas A&M University, corresponding author), Mónica Muñoz (0000-0002-8890-4535, Texas A&M University), Manuela Muñoz
Year2022
Volume39
Issue4
Pages454-474
Publication date2022-07-04
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1058-4609 • E-ISSN: 1091-7675
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10584609.2022.2039979
OpenAlexW4214727155
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited40

Politics now intrudes into many aspects of social life. How does this occur and what are its consequences? We study the sources of politicized attitudes toward ESPN, a sports media outlet involved in controversies where politics and sports intersect, and consider their implications for sports news use. We assess two potential contributors to politicized attitudes toward ESPN: exposure to political media criticizing the network and encounters with its sports coverage. In survey-linked web browsing data and a survey experiment, exposure to political media led the public to evaluate ESPN in political terms, showing messages from political elites can affect opinions of entertainment media. In contrast, exposure to ESPN's typical sports coverage failed to alter views of the network. We also find these newly politicized attitudes do not reduce use of ESPN, demonstrating the intrusion of politics into a seemingly apolitical setting may not displace other considerations underlying behavior

Advertising · Affect (linguistics · Business · Entertainment · Intrusion · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics

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