Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Chapter 3: A Perfect Combination

Chapter 3: “A Perfect Combination: The Mass Media and 

Representations of Race in Sports.”


  1. Do you think mass media contribute to perpetuate 

racial and ethnic stereotypes?

  1. For the author, mass media and sports have a 

“symbiotic” relationship. Do you agree?

  1. Do you think that the media can divert attention 

“away from members of the elite within the dominant 

racial group and toward people of color”? (P. 36.)

  1. McChesney’s definition of mass media. Debate. 

  2. Media in the 1770s. Summary. 

  3. Societal changes during those years. Summary. 

  4. What was the Spirit of the Times?

  5. How does the author define the “modern news 

papers” appearing around the 1830s? (P. 37)

  1. The origins of baseball. Summary. 

  2. Social transformations in the decades following the 

Civil War. Sport coverage. Summary. 

  1. Twentieth century, and feature stories.

  2. “Sports are neutral, while politics is divisive”. Debate. 

  3. 1920s, and the emergence of certain athletes as “heroes”. 

  4. What is a “reluctant hero”?

  5. How does the author explain the emergence of black 

newspapers?

  1. What are the main topics of the black press?

  2. Boxers and slavery. Summary. 

  3. How does the author describe the coverage on Jack 

Johnson?

  1. According to Denise Morgan, reluctant heroes debunk 

the myth that blacks are inferior to whites; but, at the 

same time, reinforce the myth of white superiority. Explain. 

  1. Was does the author say about Johnson’s marital choices? 

  2. Was Johnson the embodiment of a racial struggle? Was 

he a threat to the racialized social system?

  1. The myth of black biological inferiority. Summary. 

  2. Johnson’s problem with the law. Exile. Summary. 

  3. Can a reluctant hero bring about social changes? Debate. 

  4. Sports and the Media after the 1950s. Summary. 

  5. 1960s. Civil Rights movement. 

  6. Caricatures. The brute, and 

  7. The Saphire. How do these caricatures work? 

  8. The double standard in gender and race. Explain. 



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Gender Equality in Media Coverage.