Football Journalism: The Power To Address Societal Issues
Insidious racism and inequality are deep-rooted in sport. With the rise of social media, football journalists have been granted greater freedom in their writing, with fewer repercussions for spreading hate speech or posts with racial and homophobic undertones. This can be seen to have fuelled discrimination and feed into unfair representations of BAME members in the sports community.
Sports journalists can use their power to challenge this and create a more welcoming and respectful environment, where prejudice and discrimination are given the boot so that more people can enjoy the game.
However, there is still a long way to go. Footballers, especially of an ethnic minority have been increasingly targeted in the media by overt racism or racial undertones, with the most high profile case in England being Raheem Sterling.
Raheem Sterling vs The Media
Manchester City footballer Raheem Sterling has been in the limelight for the wrong reasons in the past years, and has come out and said that newspapers are ‘fuelling racism in the UK’ and the wrongful betrayal of young black footballers. Sterling took to Instagram after suffering racial abuse from Chelsea fans in a 2–0 defeat. He voiced his frustrations with how the media treat members of the BAME community.
“All I have to say is have a second thought about fair publicity and give all players an equal chance”
In his post, he discussed how two of his teammates had been treated by the media with regards to how they had spent their wages, choosing both to buy their mothers a house. 21-year-old black defender Adarabioyo had been brought into the spotlight as he supposedly ‘splashes out on mansion…despite never starting a Premier League match’. In contrast, 18-year-old white midfielder Foden, according to the media, was ‘buying a home for his mum’ and ‘setting up a future’. Foden is framed in a more positive light despite them both performing the same act. The only difference…their race.
“But look at how the newspapers get their message across for the young black player and then for the young white player.”
“I think this is unacceptable, both innocent, have not done anything wrong but just by the way it has been worded, this young black kid is looked at in a bad light, which helps fuel racism and aggressive behaviour.”
Sterling has been a victim of unfair media abuse for years, an example being him coming under scrutiny for having a rifle tattooed on his leg. He later defended the artwork saying it had a deeper meaning about the death of his father. He should never have had to justify this to the media.
The Black Collective of Media in Sport (BCOMS) said it hoped Sterling’s comments would “serve as a wake-up call not just for the newspapers, but all the media”.
A statement read:
Many sports journalists in the industry came together to condemn the unfair abuse towards Sterling, showcasing the importance of addressing racism in football with greater urgency. It is not enough to report on its decline, for as long as racism exists within football media more must be done and viewed with disdain and completely unacceptable.
“Despicable”. — Gary Lineker, Match of the Day Host
“Are we going to continue to allow this type of racist behaviour go on?” — Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United & England Defender
“The bad old days are back”. — Ian Wright, BBC Pundit
“No-one should expect any form of discrimination, racism and the fact that no matter how strong of a character you are, you can only take so much, so for him to come out now and speak, enough is enough. — Alex Scott, Former England & Arsenal Forward
BBC Sport part of the problem?
In light of the racial abuse Raheem Sterling received, many sports journalists up and down the country, questioned if they were doing enough to represent the BAME community. The overriding conclusion being that the industry was failing black people. BBC Sport has come out and talked about the difference in portrayal between white and BAME players, and had there been a better representation of BAME employees working for the BBC it would never have taken place.
BBC Sport looked into their internal structure, and it showed a lack of diversity across the board. As seen below:
- In over 50 years of Match of The Day, there has never been a black host.
- If you listen to ‘5 Live Sport’ on Radio 5 live, you will only hear one hour of around 27 per week hosted by a solo BAME host. (Three, including two former Premier League footballers, are co-hosts.)
- None of the domestic sport correspondents for BBC News are black.
- None of the individual sports correspondents (cricket, football, athletics, etc) within BBC Sport are black.
- None of the staff writers on the BBC Sport website are black.
- If you saw the BBC’s Wimbledon or Six Nations coverage this year you won’t have seen a single black host and, if you watch Sports Personality of the Year this weekend, you will not see a black presenter out of the three hosts on the main show.
BBC Sport has since been determined to change this with the appointment of a diversity lead within the company last year. Now about 18% of BBC Sports News staff are BAME, with the national average for the population being 13%, according to the last Census. The BBC as a whole has also set the target of 15% of its workforce being from BAME backgrounds by the end of 2020.
Although this is a step in the right direction, work still needs to be done to create a more equal environment to improve sports journalism. You can imagine a lack of diversity is apparent across the majority of companies across the industry, but with BBC Sport now asking the question and making changes, hopefully more companies will follow suit. It is important for media companies to address their own issues with racial equality and to create strong defences against discrimination and racism before they can preach to others about discrimination and the wider issues of racial inequality.
Rainbow Laces Campaign
The annual Rainbow Laces Campaign aims to ‘make sport everybody’s game’ for the ‘inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people’ across the sporting scene. Stonewall, the charity heading the cause, has been linking up with journalists and reporters so that they can provide a #RainbowLaces game week and content surrounding it. Alongside this, rainbow-coloured corner flags and captain armbands will be used across all EFL games.
Exeter City had their #RainbowLacesCampaign on the 8th December 2020 against Tranmere Rovers. Leading up to the matchday, journalists spoke to the players and managers around what inclusivity means to them. Spreading messages about inclusivity directly from the players is likely to be one of the most effective ways to reach fans.
A video was, also, produced, documenting footballers around the country talking about the harmful effects of discrimination. The magnitude of this campaign represents a willingness and determination for change. Hopefully, it can be viewed with optimism as we await a time of more equal and amicable football, no longer marked by hateful, tenacious racism and discrimination.
On the matchday, coloured corner flags and armbands were used, accompanied by rainbow-themed photos across all the social media channels.
“We also know that the campaign and all of the hard work being done by clubs, teams and managers across the country is making a real difference.
“Our research found that two thirds (66 per cent) of fans feel more confident that reports of anti-LGBT+ language at live sport fixtures will be taken seriously after seeing the Rainbow Laces campaign. We’ve seen a steady growth in the proportion of fans who would report anti-LGBT abuse online or in stadiums too.”
-Maria Munir, Stonewall’s Associate Director of Community Engagement.
More must be done.
Britain has become a multicultural place and yet football practices have, in large part, remained stuck in the past with deplorable racial and homophobic abuse still existing within the game. The battle against discrimination in football is ongoing and is nowhere near the finish line. Racism remains culturally embedded in football. With the rise of social media, it has become harder to calm the storm, as so many accounts carry on the racial undertones in their content, even unknowingly since it has become ingrained into the language of some football fans. Football journalists must use their position of power to engage with fans and act as opinion leaders with a responsibility to represent and drive change within the industry.
Make sure to follow my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for extra content, and to make sure you never miss a blog post!
