PALAKASAN AT MEDIA: Analyzing the Sports Media Agenda on the Philippine National Sports Teams’ Performance at Southeast Asian and Asian Games
Mercene, J.V. (2015). Palakasan at media: Analyzing the sports media agenda on the Philippine national sports teams’ performance at Southeast Asian and Asian Games, Unpublished undergraduate thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman College of Mass Communication.
This research probed the extent to which sports news coverage was able to reflect the perspective of stakeholders in terms of the performance of Filipino athletes. Using Agenda-Setting and Framing as theoretical anchors, it specifically examined the leading print media (i.e. Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin) in tackling the Philippine’s poor performance in international sport events over the years. Results showed that media heavily publicized the event but most of the articles remained to be factual, straightforward, and positive. Episodic frame were normally used in the coverage, suggesting that the media has minimal intention to describe the bigger picture and to discuss the root causes of problems. Insights from athletes and officials on how they view the current situation of sports in the country were also explored. This study revealed that aside from budget, internal and external elements were cited as hindrances in attaining good results from the sporting events. Media attention has been pointed out as a problem due to its bias on mainstream sports. However, it is important for stakeholders, especially the athletes, to be exposed for promotional purposes. This study provides points of discussion on both the media’s and the sporting bodies’ side to keep the people informed not only of the Games results, but also with significant reports on sports development.