Essay About Influences Of Mass Media And Mass Media

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Influences of Mass Media in Sport
When communication is spread not just between two
individuals but rather between tens of millions of
people it is known as mass media. Mass media is known
as the central nervous system of society and it
functions as a medium of exchange of information
across the globe. Mass media has many different
purposes, such as providing information, entertaining,
persuading and also by carrying a vague general
function of culture to millions of people. In order
for mass media to exist, there must be an audience.
Todays society is very selective; each receiver
reacts differently through his or her own experience
and orientation. Therefore, mass media exists in many
different forms such as magazines, television,
newspapers, internet, motion pictures, and even plays.
Some examples of these forms of mass media are
cosmopolitan magazine for young modern women and TSN
television network for sports fans. With such extreme
varieties of mass media existing in todays societies
there are three major constraints that seem to have an
impressionable impact. These constraints can keep
mass media very restricted. The major constraint of
mass media is competition. Each form of mass media
wants to be the one to target the audience, so
therefore competition between mass media is very
strong. With the constant growth of mass media,
opportunities for individuals have been rising. Mass
media has opened many doors for many individuals, in
the world of sports; both the positive and negative
effects of the mass media.
Basketball was invented as a recreational sport, but
now considered a universal sport. The introduction of
this sport to the rest of the world started in the
late nineteenth century as a form of recreation.
Universities began incorporating this new recreational
game into their sporting activities and were
considered a male oriented sport. Women were not
recognized at the time as basketball players even if
they had an interest in the sport.
Throughout the
years basketball was transformed from a recreational
sport into competitive sport and the players competed
for a prize which in its early existence was a trophy
or medal. The media in all forms such astelevision,
radio, Internet and newspapers never took an interest
in the sport until the end of world war two. At the
time peoples interest in the sport was growing
rapidly mainly because of the transformation of the
sport from a recreational sport to a competitive
sport. Universities and private businessmen who
spotted the potential success of the sport invested
theircapital in building stadiums for athletes of the
sport to compete. In the early 1950s professional
leagues were starting to develop across the United
States; as more private business men realized profits
in relative terms meaning essentially the profits made
were considered great in that time period. At the time
the main form of media in households across the United
States was the radio and newspaper few households had
televisions and live coverage of games were seen by a
few.
The rules and the format of the game had to be
changed to make the game more interesting to fans of
the sport and many sports historians contribute
basketball transformation over the years to the media
involvement. Media coverage of sporting events such as
basketball grew dramatically as more and more
households had both radios and televisions. In fact
the television a medium contributed the most to the
transformation of basketball. The media has given the
sport exposure to a much larger audience than just the
people in attendance at the games. This means people
who like to watch the sport but cant afford to go to
the games live, can watch it in their home or listen
or read the results of the game in newspapers, or on
the Internet which is also an extension of the media.
The media has shaped the publics opinion on
basketball and through the media people seem to have a
more profound interest in the sport of basketball.