Chapter 8: The Mediatization Of Sport And Athletes

The developed societies are in a mediatization process or mediatization processes, depending on the interpretation. Sport is in a mediatization process. One of the parts in the mediatization process are the “actors.” The actors can be the athletes, the coaches, organizers, and more. It can also be the persons involved in the media like photographers and journalists. The mediatization process can affect athletes’ performances and the development of the sport. Athletes do not have the possibility to decide if they are part of a mediatization process. They are. The question is how they take part in the process. Athletes of today need to learn about the mediatization process and the perquisites of the media to be able to work in the process in the best way for the athlete and maybe also the sport if we look at the bigger picture. In an even bigger picture, the athletes can have an impact on the media through the mediatization process. This chapter focuses on the first two parts though. It is important that trainers and the entourage around athletes have knowledge about the perquisites of media to be able to both help and support the athlete and maybe most of all, not letting the athlete get into problems because of the lack of knowledge in the area. In the chapter the mediatization process is problematized and explained and different examples of athletes being part of the process are presented.