Thomas Dowd

Mass communication theory

Professor Zimdars

Blog #1

                                                Steroids in The Sports world

            In recent years athletes in almost every sport have been caught using steroids to help better their performance in the sport. Particularly in baseball, a lot of well known major league baseball players that people look up to get caught and their reputation fails and that one flaw sticks with them for the remainder of their career. Before there was media coverage of this problem, athletes might have been using performance enhancement drugs all time and even if they did get caught there wasn’t much media coverage for it. However, media has definitely helped with the awareness of steroid use in the sports world.

            Barry Bonds has been one of the known athletes that have been caught using steroids. Bonds broke the all-time record for most homeruns ever hit, passing Hank Aaron. However, after that had happened he was tested for steroids and failed, therefore he was stripped of everything that he had accomplished. I feel that the Major league Baseball organization made the right decision of stripping all of his accomplishments because he broke the rules. In a two-investigation study, written by Brian L. Quick, and Natalie J. White Lambert, they did one study to see how sports journalists categorize athletes linked to steroid use from distinct ethnic backgrounds. They found that blacks are portrayed more negatively than whites. The color of some ones skin should not be even a question in regards to sports and steroids. This is simply a question of whether an athlete cheated the game or not. This should have nothing to do with the color of ones skin. The media gives this vibe that because Barry Bonds is black that we should have assumed this was coming. Sportscasters characterize blacks as naturally athletic quick and powerful, where as they characterize whites as more hardworking. This is why people are so quick to judge others because the media makes it seem like we shouldn’t be surprised that a person with color was caught using steroids.

            Barry Bonds also received so much attention because his father was well known MLB player and so was his godfather. That right there is something for the media to feed off of. Also, why he gained more attention than Mark McGwire; a white baseball player caught using steroids. To be honest I think this is bullshit because why should it matter who his family was. He simply used steroids to better his performance just like other athletes, why should he receive more attention then Mark McGwire? A quote from a sports journalist, Whitlock, explaining the Bonds news coverage shows how the media really stirred up this conflict, “Bonds provided the colors and the brush, and we painted him as a weapon of mass destruction, a threat to truth, justice and the American way.” Barry Bonds made a big mistake that he is paying for, so why did the media need to continually revisit his mistake? We are all only human and we as humans can make mistakes.

            In regards to Barry Bonds’ fan base, his likability as player definitely went down hill after this incident. I still liked Barry Bonds even though he cheated. As a fan he made the game more exciting to watch. When I found out what had happened I was certainly not happy, but that being said I also feel that there are many other major league baseball players were doing the same thing, yet Bonds should have known not to do this but like I said before we are only human. I think every player that is caught using steroids should deserve equal media coverage. Why should Bonds deserve more media coverage then Mark McGwire? They both did the same thing so they should both earn the same media coverage.

            The media can definitely stereotype athletes because of their background, I said this earlier but I feel that in Bonds’ case they really brought out that his dad and godfather were hall of famers and that they were shocked that Bonds had done such a thing. I feel that shouldn’t be relevant to this because this the most elite baseball league in the world, you need to be a stand out player in order to play in the league. These guys will do anything to better their play. Not all of them will go to the extreme and use steroids, but I can bet you a lot them do it anyway. However, the media does help spread the awareness of steroids, they may make false assumptions about the players background, but all in all they help spread steroid use in the sports world.

                                                            Works Cited

Quick, Brian L., Natalie J. White Lambert, and Christopher S. Josey. "A Two-Study Investigation Into How Television News Frames the Steroid Scandal in Major League Baseball and Fans’ Support for Bonds, McGwire, and Palmeiro’s Pending Induction Into the Baseball Hall of Fame." Sign In. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

Black, Martin. "Steroids: A Media Disaster." Bleacher Report. N.p., 8 May 2009. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.