Penn State Scandal

The Penn State scandal has brought to light the extremes of having a blind eye towards athletic departments. Mainly we have been talking about education and how athletes seem to skate by without actually having to learn anything and it is fairly underreported. This is a further extreme.

There were three main themes that emerged on Twitter. All three were emotional themes seemingly stemming from the the fact that the allegations are fairly recent and people are posting their initial reactions. The first theme is disgust. Many tweeters are disgusted by the allegations against Penn State, whether it be disgust towards Sandusky or the football program in general. The second theme is sadness. People generally seem to be posting messages of sadness related directly to the incident itself. Lastly, there is also a theme of anger. People are angry at the program, those that allowed this to happen, those committing these actions, and those trying to show support for the program.

Social media has taken sontrol of the scandal. When people post online, they are free from the consequences of their words. They can say whatever they want without be held responsible for it. This can be very dangerous. First of all, social media posts are not required to be accurate so missinformation can easily get passed around. Second of all, social media can create a type of mob mentality. If a group on Twitter has a certain opinion on the situtation and voice their opinions, others may conform to their way of thinking after see several posts. For example, many people seem to be making judgements that coincide with other judgements on Twitter without backing it with facts.

Social media is just one small example of the power of the media conglomerate and its effect on deviance in sport. As we have discussed in class, the media tends to give more play time to scandals and other deviant topics then it does to other sport sectors. It is also important to note that the media is not free of bias and is in a position of such that it can sway the public towards its side. That being said, it is impossible to ignore the power of the media and the influence it has on public opinion.

Because of the power of the media, it is an important tool in sport management. I believe that it is a positive tool because it gives a manager a way to connect directly to the public. It is just important to monitor and keep it positive because it can easily be made into something negative.

Kristin Kelly

KIN 577