James Muggeridge Uncategorized

EP2 EPL VS A-LEAGUE SOCIAL MEDIA

WHY IS SOCIAL MEDIA SO IMPORTANT IN THE EPL

Social media accounts such as Instagram, Twitter and YouTube have the ability to maintain relationships between fans and their chosen team or idols. As technology continues to develop, fans have been given the allowance to discuss any news or latest gossip with the touch of a button.

EPL has formed a huge fan base online through the distribution of content allowing for discussion on any highlights, news or transfer talk. Teams in the EPL have been able to personalise their social media base to home in on creating an identity for fans to believe in and follow.

In a ethnographic study done by Geoff Pearson called, ‘An ethnography of English football fans Cans, cops and carnivals’, crowds are compared to carnivals. The similarity shared is the gathering aspect. Crowds gather together singing and drinking while watching the game and most of the time what happens off the field is more important than what is actually happening on the field.

Fans sometimes only really want to look at the news and gossip which happens off the field. This is why the social media accounts are so important. They welcome the carnival connotation portrayed in Pearson’s ethnographic study as fans sometimes draw a blind eye to the scores and what’s happening on the field.

Examples of this sort of content include FIFA posts and the fan art. The younger audiences may not watch the live games, however, play with their favourite players and teams on the Xbox, Playstation or the PC. Some audiences may enjoy the visual pieces uploaded more so than the actual game. These sort of fans have developed through the rise of social media in sport.

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE EPL AS A PLATFORM FOR CHANGE

“Racism came in the form of letters, chanting from the crowds, banana throwing, monkey chants, songs, and not just one or two but thousands singing racial abuse, chants, that kind of stuff, and letters through the post” –  

Cyrille Regis- former West Bromich Albion player and England Striker,1998 

Racism still places a dim and ignorant shadow of the world of football. Other leagues and countries more than the other, even though how vile and immoral it has become in the 21st century, it still remains.  

In the 1990’s, the fight against racism in Britain developed. A ‘let’s kick racism out of Football’ campaign begun at the start of the 1993/94 football season. This kickstarted the conversation and also acted as a catalyst for change in many other aspects. 

Stadiums begun to fill with female fans and ‘english hooliganism’ drew to a close. Crowd attendances increased through all four divisions, the EPL had started a renaissance which other leagues wished to follow. 

Key components of an instagram platform is the ability to inform, distribute and persuade. Videos shown above have been posted as a way to inform their audience on the experiences famous players have had with racism. These videos are distributed and acted as a way to persuade people who have been racist or have heard racism in public that it is not ok. 

REFERENCES

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1094996813000650?casa_token=LEeIO_bbNuEAAAAA:JNdlyvxsqELEqbD0dE9IIW2h7ustwTuihumQAjoP76CYBjiNu-TT7izYNfciTSC1x8E6W8kA9FY

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JOE-12-2014-0042/full/html?casa_token=9gB7EtVDsfEAAAAA:A-dDq88ubWlKPRtHrm0IfM1eQMBGQLbZ7JDjtL_7-tUTfzErHU9Nu-Pyhue6oeqK36nsJngKDI67PuSFUAXYziNkoLXKM31jTfcHn9acXII7kwf9zAY

https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=O7WDDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=racism+in+football&ots=1nvKORhUTl&sig=7cjQqRrpfHU39sZljkHySxMsK7o#v=onepage&q&f=false
James Muggeridge BCM 241

MAPPING OUT MY NICHE

Since a field site refers to a ‘stage on which the social processes under study take place’ (Burrell, 2009), it would only be fair to look at the social processes undertaken both on and offline.  

Online focuses on the social media platforms and publications both distributing and creating content targeting an audience interested in EPL. My media niche, the English Premier League, is one of the top football competitions watched around the world. However, with COVID19 recently taken its toll on a global scale, the fan culture has been diminished with no fans allowed inside stadiums. Fan culture in the UK is what makes EPL so entertaining with the help of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube allowing for commenting through the curation and reframing of EPL games (Lawson, 2020). Publications such as ESPN, FOXSPORTS and BBC, just to name a few, write articles analysing games and reviewing any headlines.   

An offline field site homes in on the raw connection between team and fans. Supporter clubs act as public spheres allowing fans to connect and communicate their opinions. Sponsors and ambassadors including the big names of Nike, EA Sports and Barclays, are what keep the game running. The scale of these sponsors and ambassadors shows the popularity for the competition and the significant monetary value attached to it.  

I would be able to problematise my niche by researching the impact the EPL has on an Australian audience. With fans unable to watch games live, OPTUS SPORT allows coverage of full games, highlights, press conferences and historic games and is the only streaming service available in Australia. This as well as supporter clubs around big cities such as Sydney in Town Hall which allows for live viewing and connection between fans. I believe much like any other country, EPL is received in Australia to a high regard and it would be interesting to investigate the Australian fan culture in the A-League compared to the UK fan culture and what can be done to improve the Australian fan culture.  

In terms of an Australian fan, personally I believe we have a lot of catching up to do with other competitions. The talent is nowhere near the level we should be at and I don’t know whether we will ever get to the level of the EPL. However, with the ability to stream the EPL and support it with other fans, the fan culture is still significantly strong. I stem from a family of English born people and have been over there to watch games and do know the lengths that some fans will go for their local team.  

As said in my 1st blog I would love for my ethnographic research to display to my viewers the impact a sport can have on people’s lives and relationships. In doing this investigation I would love to update my journalistic skills by referring to ethnology and how important the concept is when truly understanding a topic. By mapping out my field site I can now identify the flows of communication and the social processes which occur within the EPL.  

James M

James Muggeridge BCM 241

MY MEDIA NICHE – SPORTS CONTENT (EPL)

To start BCM241, we must write a blog introducing a media niche which we are interested or experienced in. A media niche focuses on a specific text, platform or practice within the broad media landscape.

My career aspiration is to write and be a journalist. Therefore, it’s only fair that I look at sports media as my media outlet. I want to talk about the EPL (English premier league) in particular as it’s something I am into. My niche will be sports related news and or journalism and how it’s received, especially in the UK where football is like a religion.

I have enjoyed watching and participating in sports my whole life and in a sense, it has become my life. Even at a young age I would always like to collate and record data from games whether it was player statistics or game reviews.  As I’ve grown up, I still found myself indulged into everyday sport, yet it’s now something I would like to make a career out of.  

I have started to curate content in the form of journalism. I have written for a collective group, RANSACK media, and focused solely on sports journalism. Writing about the EPL is something which I would like to start doing and undergoing an ethnographical investigation into the EPL will only better the content which I will plan to produce.

It’s clear to see how important ecology is within sports and leisure. Whether you’re playing a game and your team loses or you’re watching a game and your team wins, it will influence your emotions and opinions. Sport can also affect relationships within your peer group. It can allow opinion whether it’s over verbal communication or over social media. 

Sports journalism or any type of journalism will always come with feedback in the form of positive and negative communication. Ethnography is key in the profession which is journalism. Journalists must infatuate or immerse themselves within the culture and community of the topic chosen to write about.

In terms of reporting and writing about the EPL, there are many outlets which coincide with EPL content. There is ‘The Athletic’, ‘Premier League news’ and podcasts on YouTube such as ‘Football Daily”. The podcast by ‘Football Daily’ delves into the latest news and topics based on the EPL. To take an ethnographic look when studying this podcast we would have to focus on the communication between the speakers and the receiver or consumer. Furthermore it would be important to note the feedback it gets from the consumers.

As I said above, in the UK football is basically a religion. When your team loses it’s personal. When your team wins you must celebrate. In comparison to Australian football, in the UK teams and the cities are more collective. Football is the number one sport in the UK, so when a team plays the whole city will have their eyes on the game. For this obvious reason, the EPL league is popular around the world but would there be any significant cultural aspects which draw consumers into watching the league? I believe so and undergoing an ethnographic investigation would uncover this idea as well as other concepts to do with fan experience and actions.

Studying a sport will not be everyone’s taste, however looking at the EPL and the ability to bring people together, no matter what culture or beliefs, is something which will interest many.

By collecting, analysing and interpreting data, incorporating an ethnographical insight into EPL-based content will only better my understanding of the competition as a whole. This investigation will also better my journalistic skills by providing an in-depth look at my target market and content produced.

James M