SCIENCES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ - N° 72 - oct. 2007
Sport and media
Edited by Valérie BONNET and Robert BOURE

Valérie BONNET, Robert BOURE, Médias et cultures sportives. Discours sur des pratiques et discours des pratiques  [Text in french]
Guy LOCHARD, Modes of visualizing sport competitions
Jean-François DIANA, Sports slow motion on TV. Between apparent and real modernity
Daniel JACOBI, Joël JACOBI, A sports show yet to be invented : live bullfighting on television
Valérie BONNET, Robert BOURE, Jean-Michel CASSAGNE, The values of rugby in the media commentaries
Iouri BERNACHE-ASSOLANT, Patrick BOUCHET, Fanzines: an identity media of Ultra soccer fan groups
Christine MENESSON, Pierre-Emmanuel SORIGNET, Images of « immigrants » in regional press sports articles
Vincent CHARLOT, Jean-Paul CLEMENT, Blacks and Whites : sporting clichés and racial clichés. The case of Pau in French professional basketball
Daniel GUIGNARD, The media: deciders in the sporting world?

ARGUMENTS
Gérard DEREZE, Thierry ZINTZ
, Médias et petits sports en Belgique francophone
Guillaume CARAYRE, Les images plurielles de la capoeira confrontées au projet de fédération sportive délégataire
Claudette PEYRUSSE, Le rugby du Midi toulousain au cinéma. Absence, stéréotypie et folklorisation d'un sport identitaire
Jean-Pascal FONTORBES, Le rugby et la mise en scène des corps. Le rugby dans le cuir (1985), un parti pris documentaire

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Guy LOCHARD, Modes of visualizing sport competitions

Abstract
This article rejects the pessimistic view of the media changing the nature of sport, and it alternatively recommends a methodical analysis of their processes, mainly on television. Based on numerous studies published over the past twenty years about the visualization of sports, the article proposes a typology of observable modes of visualization around the world (display, narrative, demonstrative, energetic, aesthetic modes). As a conclusion it calls for reflection on the diverse and complex skills that each of these modes require.

Key words: sport, television, televised account, display,  device, visualization.

 




 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Jean-François DIANA
, Sports slow motion on TV. Between apparent and real modernity

Abstract
« The central figure of filmed sport », according to the expression used by Charles Tesson (1998), slow motion is, on its own, the epitome of the modernity of these media events, which have become one of the most attractive phenomena of our era. As an aesthetic and experimental process, slow motion is first and foremost the imaginary link that the public creates with sports events. Indeed, the global presence of a sport or a competition relies on its ability to conform with the limits of the media language of TV, and on the ambiguous representation of its complexity. Slow motion is used by the media more to create a plausible representation of sport than to show its true reality.

Key words: Image, media, slow motion, modernity, sport, audio-visual writing.


 

 

 








 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Daniel JACOBI, Joël JACOBI
, A sports show yet to be invented : live bullfighting on television

Abstract
Could bullfighting be broadcast just like any other sporting event in France ? It's not sure that bullfighting could compare with prime sports events on television even if filmed live with sufficient technical means. There is no suspense linked to the outcome, no goals or tries to wait for and no fans shouting their support to their team. Bullfighting is a subtle and complicated show targeted at a restricted audience of « connoisseurs ». This is not because it is seen as barbaric by some Europeans but because imaginary signifiers remain to be invented to reach a larger audience.

Key words : sports shows, bullfighting, television, connoisseurs, France.



 


 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Valérie BONNET, Robert BOURE, Jean-Michel CASSAGNE
, The values of rugby in the media commentaries

Abstract
The world of rugby is highly attached to its values, shared in the field, as well as in everyday life. It's a well-known fact that the « metalanguage » of the members of this microcosm is filled with references to the values, but the question is to know if this statement is valid for the media devoted to this sport. This question amounts to analysing the statements devoted to the values by socially located figures in very specific situations of communication, observed in a delimited corpus (France 2 and Midi Olympique).

Key words : sport, rugby, media, values, terms, statements, commentators.




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Iouri BERNACHE-ASSOLANT, Patrick BOUCHET
, Fanzines: an identity media of Ultra soccer fan groups

Abstract
In a media panorama of sport, football (soccer) appears omnipresent because of its worldwide success, its stars and its cultural impact on society. In this context, this article seeks to differentiate the methods of identity construction of two groups of soccer Ultras fans from the city of Marseille while associating an ethno-sociological analysis of their cultural and organisational context, a psychosocial approach of their own media called fanzine. It appears that The Ultra Commando group develops a conservative posture in that its national culture becomes a criteria of reference for ethnocentric fans. The South Winners group develops a syncretistic posture defending the multicultural identity of Marseille. It seems that the analysis of the identification media called fanzine, on the increase in professional soccer, enriches our knowledge of Ultra soccer groups, because it represents a means of communication and expression corresponding to their culturally and socially built identity.

Key words: fanzine, identity, Ultra sport fans, social sciences.




 

 


 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Christine MENESSON, Pierre-Emmanuel SORIGNET
, Images of « immigrants » in regional press sports articles

Abstract
This article analyses the images of sportsmen who are « immigrant or stemming from immigration » in the regional press. The data reveal the importance of sport, compared with other domains such as the arts and entertainment or politics, in the presentation of the category under study. The media coverage of sports immigrants is also characterized by a strong process of assimilation to the local area, which tends to dilute the signs of cultural membership. The portraits of sports champions show positive images of immigration, while nourishing a diffuse process of ethnicisation. These exemplary heroes indeed symbolize a very stereotypical model of success.

Key words: sport, regional press, immigrants, assimilation, ethnicisation.




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Vincent CHARLOT, Jean-Paul CLEMENT
, Blacks and Whites : sporting clichés and racial clichés. The case of Pau in French professional basketball

Abstract
Professional basketball represents one of the sports fields with the largest number of coloured athletes. Its media coverage highlights constant links between different skills and styles of playing and racial characteristics. In fact, it maintains some racial « clichés », particularly widespread in the usa. Because of its important number of black players (Afro Americans, French players of African origin or from the French overseas territories), top level basketball represents a privileged ground of investigation into the relationship between ethnic membership and the sports field. Based on the results of a multiple scale survey carried out on a French professional basketball club based in Pau (through questionnaires, interviews and analysis of specialized media) the purpose of this study is to examine the impact on the supporters of the club of this specific media coverage related to the ethnicity of players.

Key words: media coverage, racial distinction, stereotypes, basketball, ideal type.





 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Didier GUIGNARD
, The media: deciders in the sporting world?

Abstract
In 2006 the worldwide television rights market could be estimated at sixty billion euros; the rights linked directly to televised sport alone went up 993% between 1991 and 2001. Behind these statistics lies the unbalanced relationship between sport and television. If sport is important for television companies the latter are vital for sport. Television makes and breaks different sports. The promotion of sport through the media takes place in different ways but there is no real diversity of sport on television. While the most popular sports sell their rights to the highest bidder, many others depend on the goodwill of television companies and are willing to make any regulatory modifications necessary to gain the favour of broadcasters. These abrupt changes in sport rules make us wonder if certain sport federations haven't lost their soul and they cast doubt on the very essence of their sport by excessively formatting it to fit television standards. Television seeks above all to entertain and give its viewers a show; it is difficult to reduce sport to the level of a simple show.

Key words : television, sports show, broadcasting rights, programmes, sports rules.