Inclusion of Persons With Disabilities Through Media Sports: Attitudinal and Behavioral News Framing Effects

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session and Reception
  In Interactive Paper Session: Journalism Studies Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that the media – by specifically framing news articles – may systematically affect a nondisabled recipient’s perception of athletes with disabilities (AWD). However, it remains unclear how specific sports news frames affect a recipient’s quality perception of a journalistic product and if news frames further affect an individual’s post-exposure behavior in social interaction with a person with a disability (PWD). To shed some light on these potential news framing effects, two experimental studies (between-subjects designs) were conducted.
Study_1, revealed systematic news framing effects on recipients’ attitudes toward a depicted AWD and showed effects on a recipient’s perceived quality of a news story.
Study_2, further revealed that specific news frames may (automatically) affect a recipient’s behavior (e.g., verbal communication performance, visual attention/eye contacts) in a subsequent face-to-face social interaction with a PWD. The findings are discussed regarding their implications for the journalistic coverage of disability sports in the media.

Author

• Christian von Sikorski, German Sport U Cologne