It Hurts the Team Even More: Differences in Coverage by Sports Journalists of White and African-American Athletes Who Engage in Contract Holdouts

Abstract

A textual analysis was conducted of newspaper articles written in the late summer of 2004 about the contract holdouts of quarterback Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers, who is white, and Kellen Winslow II, a tight end who plays for the Cleveland Browns. Winslow is African-American. Articles were written by sports journalists assigned to regularly cover the teams, as well as columnists for those news organizations. Journalists writing for Cleveland news organizations emasculated Winslow, treating him like a moody adolescent incapable of making significant decisions on his own. Any athlete takes a risk by confronting management, but this research suggests the risk is heightened for African-American athletes.

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