Why Interested?

I’ve been asked recently why I have such an interest in the Olympics. Is it just curiosity or is it something more?

I thought that was a very good question. I guess my interests are twofold: personal and professional.

First, I do think that the Olympics are an interesting event. It brings forth feelings of national pride and sportsmanship. The best athletes in the world come together in order to test their abilities against the world’s other top athletes. And great stories that you would never have heard on a national stage come forward.

Second, I do have a professional interest. How each athlete is discussed as well as how much screen time is devoted to male sports as compared to female sports is of particular interest to me. Projects that I would like to explore based on the 2006 Winter Olympics include a comparison of the broadcasts on network television and the broadcasts on cable television and a comparison of the network television broadcasts to newspaper coverage of the Games in the nation’s major newspapers. Are the Games framed in the same way or differently?

The Olympics are more than just something that is fun to watch on television. It’s also ripe with research possibilities.