Matching Items (6)
Filtering by

Clear all filters

132842-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
In this research paper I explore former male athletes, specifically professional football players entering local journalism. Research paired with interviews in regards to the topic explain why there are nearly 10 former NFL players in local markets where an NFL team is present, and why local journalists along with future

In this research paper I explore former male athletes, specifically professional football players entering local journalism. Research paired with interviews in regards to the topic explain why there are nearly 10 former NFL players in local markets where an NFL team is present, and why local journalists along with future journalists should not be worried about the number of former male athletes in local journalism. The paper also dives into the side-by-side statistics of why there is significantly more former college athletes in local journalism than former NFL players. The research focused on more than 100 television stations, revealing that 100 former or current collegiate or pro athletes are journalists for local stations where an NFL team is present. The data is solely reliant on the information that the journalists provided in their bios on the station websites. This could be seen as a possible limitation, however, the likelihood of these journalists either lying or not identifying as a former athlete is minimal due to the size of the accomplishment of actually participating in college as an athlete. The basis of my research is to figure out if former NFL players and former athletes in general are taking journalism jobs from aspiring journalists. I conclude that future journalists are not at risk of losing jobs when it comes to retired football players entering the field of local journalism. With that said, aspiring journalists need to continue to develop their social media skills to compete with athletes’ audiences on social networks.
ContributorsTotri, Anthony Matthew (Author) / Kurland, Brett (Thesis director) / Reed, Sada (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor, Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
132213-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
This thesis will take a look into the perspective of graphic designers and the important factors that they feel make a good sports logo. The relationship between sporting logos, their respective fan bases and human society will also be addressed. On the surface, logos may seem like an unimportant aspect

This thesis will take a look into the perspective of graphic designers and the important factors that they feel make a good sports logo. The relationship between sporting logos, their respective fan bases and human society will also be addressed. On the surface, logos may seem like an unimportant aspect of sports and of a team. They have always been a part of the sporting world and can often be an afterthought. Interviews with two graphic designers were conducted for this paper, one who has worked in the sports logos industry for over 25 years creating the identities for close to 100 different teams and the other being the Director of Clubhouse Creative, the design team within the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Through those two interviews, I have discovered that there is much more to logos than sitting in front of a computer trying to be artistic. Each logo has a story and reason for being designed the way that it is, and I hope to convey that to the reader. In addition to the interviews, I have presented various examples of controversy in sports logos. My research of these controversies will display a wide range of examples from issues involving racism in logos to fan base disapproval. The information presented in this thesis is designed to show the reader why sports logos are important and why they shouldn’t be an afterthought.
ContributorsWelter, Nicholas E (Author) / Rawitch, Josh (Thesis director) / Hass, Mark (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
131877-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Ice hockey is a minority sport in New Zealand, but many people are dedicating their lives to grow its popularity in the country. Hockey in Kiwi Land: Exploring the Ice Hockey Culture of New Zealand presents the voices of those involved in the country’s largest city, Auckland, and their efforts

Ice hockey is a minority sport in New Zealand, but many people are dedicating their lives to grow its popularity in the country. Hockey in Kiwi Land: Exploring the Ice Hockey Culture of New Zealand presents the voices of those involved in the country’s largest city, Auckland, and their efforts in the country’s highest league. The New Zealand Ice Hockey League is made up of people of different backgrounds, including fathers, teenagers, university students, full-time workers, and Canadians. Information on ice hockey’s culture was found through spending a week in Auckland and interviewing different people involved with the West Auckland Admirals, the defending champion at the time. The information was then created into a website that displays both a written and visual component. The photo stories were made to capture the physical aspect of a game that wants to dominate in a country obsessed with rugby. The interviews capture why those born in New Zealand love ice hockey and what needs to change to promote the sport better. Many in the league came from ice hockey haven Canada, and they provided insight on the differences they noticed between New Zealand and North America. The project taught me more about New Zealand’s ice hockey programs and how they differ from those in North America. The interviews showed that while the sport will be a minority in the country for the next few years, it will continue to grow through the joint efforts of international and New Zealand-born players giving back.
ContributorsOrtiz, Jenna (Author) / Kurland, Brett (Thesis director) / Reed, Sada (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
131612-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
The NFL has a positive history sending teams across the pond to play a “London Series”. These games began in the 2007 season and have since increased popularity and buzz for the NFL as a whole in the London and UK market. Many conversations have occurred and spanned years of

The NFL has a positive history sending teams across the pond to play a “London Series”. These games began in the 2007 season and have since increased popularity and buzz for the NFL as a whole in the London and UK market. Many conversations have occurred and spanned years of speculation of a possible franchise being relocated to London to allow American football fans in the UK market to have their own team as opposed to a few games a year. Because of the massive success of the international series for the NFL and the success that other leagues have seen with having a team outside of its home country, there is an argument for the NFL
to not only move a current franchise to London, but rather to create a brand new NFL franchise in London. Therefore, the objective of this proposal is to give a detailed amount of evidence to support the development of a new NFL franchise in London and provide the proposal for a possible franchise in the London market. The following describes instances of NFL franchises relocating and the effect of the decision.
ContributorsKish, Natalie Ann (Author) / Lee, Christopher (Thesis director) / Montoya, Detra (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor, Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
131134-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Analytics has transformed many of the core principles of sports journalism, forcing journalists to work smarter, harder and more creatively than ever before. Yet reporters today are uniquely prepared to navigate the constantly evolving world of journalism, as they now find themselves armed with a plethora of statistics and data

Analytics has transformed many of the core principles of sports journalism, forcing journalists to work smarter, harder and more creatively than ever before. Yet reporters today are uniquely prepared to navigate the constantly evolving world of journalism, as they now find themselves armed with a plethora of statistics and data that allow storytelling at depths never previously imagined. In interviews with those at the cutting edge of the industry, journalists from around the country imparted insight into how they work to blend new age thinking with time-tested methods of journalism. This thesis expands on those insights and examines the strategies employed to best attack questions of how to best integrate analytics into writing, what role analytics should play in interviews, how to find stories using analytics and others.

The process to answer these questions began by compiling a list of 166 journalists who could provide valuable insight into the current state of sports journalism. Targeted specifically were those journalists who were either currently or had spent extensive time as a beat reporter, as a crucial aspect of the study hinged on the exploration of the role of analytics in day-to-day coverage. Of those 166 journalists, 93 made themselves available through either Twitter direct message or email. Once contacted, 47 of those journalists responded, eventually leading to 27 phone interviews and 7 email interviews.

Each interview began with the journalist establishing a baseline for what they thought the role of analytics should be in the coverage of their respective sports. From there, the conversation often took a linear turn as journalists talked about the experiences in their career that led them to that conclusion, what moments had shifted their overall opinions of analytics, their best approaches for utilizing analytics in both articles and interviews, their favorite and least favorite analytical measures, the gaps that remain in analytics, and the future of the industry as a whole.

Each interview was transcribed, and a number of compelling themes emerged. The many different themes were organized into three different groups, past, present and future, where they were further expanded on to best display the many concepts illustrated in this thesis. Among the themes explored include how journalists use coaches and players to validate statistics, what strategies work best when including analytics in conversations with athletes, how to find story ideas through analytics and the issues plaguing the analytics community. Once themes had been identified, the percentage of journalists who had indicated agreement with the themes were calculated. Thus, themes investigated were represented statistically as well as by a quote from a journalist addressing the idea.

Across 34 interviews with some of the country’s most established and well-respected voices, many of the pressing issues facing analytics in sports journalism today were explored, including the melding of analytical and narrative writing, how best to use analytics in question asking, and the “holy grail” of analytical data. Across interviews, a host of interesting strategies and ideas emerged as journalists examined how the industry reached its current point, what practices are currently most effective, and where the industry is headed. The perspective gained from this thesis gives insight into many of the lesser-discussed elements of journalism, imparting a deeper understanding of the challenges that lay ahead for sports journalism through an examination for how far the industry has come. While analytics and their usage in sports journalism remains a difficult concept to fully encapsulate, this thesis hopefully gives a better look at their complex and ever-evolving relationship.
ContributorsRosenfarb, Jacob Alexander (Author) / Boivin, Paola (Thesis director) / Reed, Sada (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
131119-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Tiger Woods’ adultery scandal was one of the most widely covered sports stories of the 2000s, in part because of how famous he was as a person and athlete. But the scandal and Tiger’s handling of it provided public relations professionals one of the most relevant crisis communications case studies

Tiger Woods’ adultery scandal was one of the most widely covered sports stories of the 2000s, in part because of how famous he was as a person and athlete. But the scandal and Tiger’s handling of it provided public relations professionals one of the most relevant crisis communications case studies in the history of sports. This case study is split into three sections; pre-scandal, the scandal itself and then his road to recovery. The case study is accompanied by an essay analyzing Woods’ crisis communications and image restoration strategies.
ContributorsVatti, Rayan (Author) / Hass, Mark (Thesis director) / Hege, Kristen (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor, Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05