University of Missouri Study Suggests Media Stereotyping of Black Athletes

The University of Missouri has released the findings of a new study that shows the media could be guilty of a negative stereotype when it comes to reporting on black athletes.

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The media has an influence on the perception of people, groups and ideas…there’s no question about that. The more you read something, the more likely you are to believe that it’s true. If there is a pattern in how stories are presented, subconsciously people can begin to have their thoughts follow the flow of that pattern.

A new study by Cynthia Frisby, an associate professor of strategic communication in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, suggests that black athletes by and large are stereotyped and receive a negative perception by the media as opposed to white athletes.

In her study, examining 155 articles about male athletes from various online and print news sources, Frisby identified key themes such as crime, domestic violence, training/hard work, moral success or failure, league/school rules violations, accomplishments, and aspects of personal life.

The findings were unfortunately not surprising:

"Frisby found that overall, more stories were written about white athletes (43 percent) than black athletes (39 percent). Frisby also found that more than 66 percent of the crime stories involved black athletes while only 22 percent involved white athletes. More than 70 percent of domestic violence stories involved black athletes and only 17 percent involved white athletes. Finally, 53 percent of the stories involving black athletes had a negative tone, while only 27 percent of stories about white athletes were negative. Frisby says these statistics point to an existence of stereotyping in the sports media."

“This study provides quantitative evidence of disparities in how media cover and stereotype black male athletes,” Frisby said to the MU News Bureau. “This serves as an important exploratory study that sets the framework for extensive future investigations into the way media portray and cover athletes from different ethnic backgrounds.”

While the findings of this study can’t be disputed, one has to wonder if the cross-section obtained were enough to give a true picture of how these stereotypes are presented and who is presenting them. In what parts of the country were they published, how many of them were written by professional journalists as opposed to bloggers or other non-professionals, and how are the findings comparable to these ethnic portrayals in other areas besides sports?

When news breaks about athletes being suspended, dismissed or arrested, it’s hard to think that members of the media intentionally pick stories on specific races on which to write or report. These types of news items are what readers, listeners and viewers voraciously eat up, and regardless of the race involved, journalists want to feed that craving.

In some cases, a story that contains a negative theme can affect or even change public perception, while other times it can rally support for the athlete.

Take the cases of Johnny Manziel, a white Texas A&M quarterback, and Todd Gurley, a black Georgia running back. A year apart, they were both accused of signing autographs for profit (a violation of NCAA rules) and were subsequently disciplined.

The backlash against Manziel was furious, with fans (even some at Texas A&M) becoming tired of his hijinks and questionable decisions. The media was quick to jump on the Manziel-bashing bandwagon and relentlessly tore into Johnny Football.

Oct 11, 2014; Columbia, MO, USA; A Georgia Bulldogs shows her support for running back Todd Gurley (3) (not pictured) during the first half against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

In Gurley’s case, fans rallied to his side, starting a #FreeGurley hashtag movement on Twitter, with media stories focusing more on the snake-in-the-grass who had blown the whistle on Gurley — white memorabilia dealer Bryan Allen — than on the player.

In either case, the news needed to be reported, regardless of race, and the results couldn’t have been more diametrically opposed.

Getting past preconceived notions and perceptions is a battle that every media member has to fight, whether it be about race, gender or any other social division. Studies like this are a good reminder of that fact, but shouldn’t necessarily be taken to mean that these views or stereotypes are running rampant throughout the journalistic community.

The study is published in Frisby’s new book, How You See Me, How You Don’t, which is a collection of more than 15 different studies executed by Frisby examining various aspects of media stereotypes and their effects on minorities, women and adolescents.

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