2009. - 2010. aasta ETV spordiuudiste sisu ja vormi analüüs
Date
2011
Authors
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Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
The present Bachelor’s thesis attempts at analysing the content and form of the sports
news presented in the Estonian television channel ETV in 2009 and 2010. The sports
news of the Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) is one of a kind among other similar
programs in Estonia. No other Estonian television channel has regular sports news in
their programme. It is the role of the ERR to ensure that people are informed in every
possible way and to provide something enjoyable to watch for as large audience as
possible. Estonians like sports and, thus, the relevance of sports in a television
programme should not be underestimated. The achievements of the Estonian athletes
unite our nation in unprecedented ways. Estonian sports fans have become used to
watching the summary of the daily sports news at the same time every night. One can
only wish for the tradition not to break and for the sports news to be an integral part
of the programme of ETV for a long time.
In the first part, theoretical and empirical principles, the author attempts at
constructing the relationship between the media and sport and vice versa. The part
related to methodics gives an overview of the video footage sample. In the results, the
author attempts at analysing the functions of the sports news in ETV, and the part
dedicated to discussion reflects the conclusions.
In order to analyse empirical material, the method of content analysis was used. The
author analysed all 12 months of 2009 and 2010 on the basis of the sport.err.ee web
environment archives. The research did not include weekends and less than minute
long news. The final sample included altogether 272 video footages from 2009 and
2010.
The author of the thesis brought up several questions. Among others, the discipline
most reflected in the sports news was found – basketball. In addition to that it became
obvious that every sports reporter of ETV tends to specialise in specific areas.
Although the number of areas varied by reporters, it was still obvious in most cases.
Also, it was found that men’s top sport gains much more reflection than all other
sports categories. Women get significantly less air time, which is caused by some
subjective and objective factors. The sports news department includes only one
woman, all other reporters are men. Thus, it is impossible to talk about generic
neutrality. In addition to that, the circle of female top athletes in Estonia is rather
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small and the athletic level generally somewhat poorer. However, the activities of the
next generations and amateur athletes are even less represented.
In the part dedicated to discussion, the author points out that the success of a
discipline is determined by several factors. First of all, there is a saying “Every man is
the architect of his own fortune.” This means that the athletic level has to be high.
When a discipline is successful, it generally gets more reflection. In Estonia,
volleyball proves this point vividly. In 2010, the national volleyball team was
successful and made it to the top 16 volleyball teams in Europe. Due to this splendid
achievement, volleyball gained much more reflection in the sports news. The rate of
reflection, on the other hand, is essential for the supporters in order to advertise
themselves.
Secondly, traditions and habits play an important role. Some disciplines are popular
due to their glorious past. People are used to follow the discipline and do not give up
doing so even in the less fortunate periods. Still, it is rather difficult to continue being
popular only with the help of the past. In the author’s rather subjective opinion such
observation is most obvious in terms of Estonian basketball, where the athletic level
has decreased over the years. On the other hand, one should not underestimate the
intrigue that captures people and hots up emotions in the national basketball.
Thirdly, it is also important whether a discipline is telegenic or not. People enjoy
watching disciplines that are exciting and provide passionate struggles. This,
however, means that all disciplines cannot be equally exciting. Being visible is vital
for a discipline as sponsors’ interest depends on it to a large extent. It is no use
supporting a discipline which is unsuccessful and boring to watch. Some disciplines
have come up with somewhat more radical measures and made the events more TVfriendly.
Generally, patriotism also plays an important part in several countries. This
involves disciplines important from the local point of view. Somewhere else in the
world the specific discipline may not be so popular at all. In Estonia, such disciplines
include cross-country skiing, discus, and decathlon. Estonian skiiers, discus-throwers
and decathlon competitors have achieved good results in the international level. On
the result of that, the abovementioned disciplines are very popular in Estonia but they
may not be as popular in some other part of the world.
It would be very intriguing to follow the reflection of cross-country skiing events in
the next years and compare it to the top period of the discipline. In the author’s
opinion there will be some changes in this area. First, three most successful Estonian
top-skiiers have finished their careers. Also, during the compilation of this paper, the
Estonian sport was shaken by the largest doping-related scandal ever with Andrus
Veerpalu, the most popular male skiier in Estonia, as the main character. If a
discipline has been through a scandal of such dimension, it can obviously affect the
search for sponsors and even the reflection of the discipline on television.
The objective of analysing the sports news on ETV lay in finding proof to certain
developed practices. The research also served personal interest as the author is a
fanatic sports viewer. Last but not least, works on similar topic have not been
conducted in the Institute of Journalism and Communication before.