Marcus Free, Seán Crosson, Katie Liston, Neil O’Boyle, and Niamh Kitching, eds.

Cork University Press, 2020. 400 pages.

ISBN: 9781782053927

The special issue of Sport in Society entitled “Sport, the Media and Ireland: Intersections of Gender, Class and Geography” places its focus on Irish sports media, particularly journalism and film. The papers all offer worthwhile insights into specific elements of sports media, although the through-line of gender and class is not always maintained.

The first paper is entitled “Public Service Broadcasting and Gender Equal Coverage: Reflections on Research and Practice in Ireland and Sweden”, co-written by academic Kate Liston and sports media professionals Linn Hellstrand and Clíona O’Leary. They compare the Irish public service broadcaster RTÉ and its Swedish equivalent SVT’s implementation of gender equal coverage in their sports journalism. While RTÉ does not have a permanent plan to further implement gender equal coverage, SVT is consistently improving in its journalistic output due to their adoption of an equal gender coverage policy in 2015. The paper calls for wider acknowledgement and support of women working in sports journalism and the emotional labour they perform to advocate for the inclusion of women’s sports. They call for a formalised protocol regarding gender equal broadcasting and additional funding. An element that could have been emphasised further is the public aspect of the PSBs, and its importance regarding accessibility.

Moving from the broadcasting industry on a programming level, the next paper focuses on the individuals onscreen in sports journalism. “‘Is she married, single or available?’ Standing Out and Blending in as a Woman Working in Sports Media” by Aoife Sheehan and Niamh Kitching, applies a framework of popular feminism and the economies of visibility to the underrepresented, yet over-scrutinised, women in sports journalism. They argue that while women are not only undervalued in their expertise and trustworthiness regarding sports knowledge, but they are also under additional pressure due to their femininity; the female journalist’s appearance, voice and dress are judged far more severely than their male counterparts. Sheehan and Kitching conducted semi-structured interviews with women working in the sports broadcasting and journalism field, the results of which support their hypothesis. Women report being faced with higher visibility, resulting in unwanted attention and the need to create personal branding as a public figure, while also being confronted with the need to blend in with normative conventions of appearance and behaviour due to their status as women in this field. It is to be noted that the interviewed group consisted of only white women, and that the inclusion of women of colour would likely severely impact the severity of unwanted attention, particularly in the form of micro-aggressions and harassment. However, the data collected still shows a distinct disadvantage of women in the sports journalism field, which requires further attention.

A case study of one particular woman on screen is presented in “World Wrestling Entertainment, Becky Lynch and the Irish Media” by Conor Heffernan and Joseph Taylor, focusing on the professional wrestler’s media portrayal from 2013 to her maternity leave in 2020. The tradition of performativity in Wrestling¹ is essential to the construction of the figure of Becky Lynch, nicknamed “The Man”, whose public persona does not emphasise her femininity. However, the space allocated to wrestling in Irish media is a liminal one, causing Lynch to be discussed in both the sports and entertainment genres. This results in sports reporting overlapping with speculations typically afforded to female celebrities in entertainment media. resulting in Lynch being discussed in both sports and entertainment categories. Resulting in a sports reporting overlapping with speculations typically reported about female celebrities. The person behind the character, Rebecca Quin, is rarely or poorly differentiated from the figure of Becky Lynch in Irish reporting, leading to a public perceptionwhich mixes the character and the individual. While the case study does successfully illustrate the duality of Lynch’s portrayal in Irish media, an increase in concrete examples would have been greatly supportive of the argument.

Matthew Nesbitt’s “Media Interpretation of Sports-Related Concussion in Irish Rugby Union: Reinforcing or Reshaping the Sport Ethic?” is a departure from the previously female-centred articles, discussing the discord between growing concerns regarding serious injuries and the culture of risk and pain in sports. Utilising the “Sport Ethic” as a point for understanding cultural norms, Nesbitt examines the reporting in two particular cases of SRC in the Irish Rugby Union. The results thereof are categorised into two themes: Caution and Risk. Caution addresses the increasingly prevalent perception of a “concussion crisis” among professional athletes, in addition to the relevance of professional opinions and concerns over the accumulation of multiple SRCs and the potential future risk posed by them. Risk, however, emphasises professionalism and the return to play, potential missed opportunities due to injury, and the “warrior narrative”, which portrays athletes as inherently brave. Caution includes the upcoming concept of a “concussion crisis” among professional athletes, as well as the relevance of professional opinions, as well as concerns over the accumulation of multiple SRCs and potential future risk; Risk, however, emphasises professionalism and the return to play, potential missed opportunities due to injury, and the “warrior narrative”, which portrays athletes as inherently brave. To tie this into the discussion on gender, an expansion of the topic to include the concept of “bravery” in connection to the injury of female athletes may have been a worthwhile addition, as well as further exploration of the connection between masculinity and sport ethic.

First to focus on class as an essential aspect in sports and the reporting thereof, Marcus Free writes on “Rugby Union, Class and ‘Middle Ireland’ in Irish Media”, highlighting the otherwise unrecognised prevalence of elite schooling and other social advantages in the backgrounds of professional rugby players. This is contrasted with the angle taken by the media, which tends to represent the players as “ordinary”. Free particularly discusses the children’s book series Gordon’s Game – a fictionalised version of player Gordon D’Arcy’s career – echoing what had previously been discussed by Nesbitt in terms of “Sport Ethic”. The text does not acknowledge the privilege that elite schooling plays in the development of his career, but instead highlights the school and team’s social engagement. With this, it acts comparably to the media coverage of Irish rugby personalities, forgoing the discussion of privilege for praise. Finally, Free notes the inequality and friction present between Irish rugby clubs, precipitated by the lack of funding in some areas, to the tension of the Ulster, British and Irish identities as they collide in rugby. Free particularly discusses the children’s book series Gordon’s Game, a fictionalised version of player Gordon D’Arcy’s career, which echoes what had previously been discussed by Nesbitt in terms of “Sport Ethic”. The text downplays the presence of elite schooling by highlighting the school and team’s social engagement, acting comparably to the media coverage of Irish rugby personalities. Finally, Free notes the inequality and friction present between Irish rugby clubs, precipitated by the lack of funding in some areas, to the tension of the Ulster, British and Irish identities as they collide in rugby.

Stephen Boyd’s paper moves away from sports journalism to focus on two films, “Beyond the Noise: The Cultural (or Subcultural) Politics of Irish Surf Films”. He discusses Beyond the Noise (Kaineder, 2017) and Dark Side of the Lens (Smith, 2010), particularly highlighting the conflict between the presentation of surfing as a spiritual, countercultural practice and its rise as a lifestyle sport of significant financial interest to Irish tourism. While surfing is not typically associated with the Irish coast, the “tourist gaze” created by these films impacts the appeal of Ireland as a surfing destination, contrary to the films’ anti-consumerist “soul surfer” values, a clash of commercial appeal and subculture. While Boyd thoroughly addresses this conflict, the discussion is not primarily on class, a focus which would have allowed it to dialogue more effectively with the other articles in this special issue. the discussion is not necessarily one of class, which may have allowed it to flow more effectively with the other articles in this journal.

Ciarán Ryan addresses a different niche sporting community in “Mud, Sweat and Cameras – Irish Trail and Mountain Running Vlogging”, following the rise in popularity of online running vlogs. Ryan categorisesthis sport as one of “serious leisure”, in which amateurs are confronted with challenges to their perseverance. Due to the limited interest in the sport in professional sports journalism, content creators are driving the interest and coverage of off-road running, which infuses it with a certain amount of storytelling and interpersonal relationships. The viewer becomes a participant in the activity, turning an otherwise isolated sport into an organised, group one, despite the runner’s physical isolation. The unpredictability of amateur solo sports becomes part of its appeal as the viewer is taken on an adventure with the runner, on a journey which may or may not be completed, featuring the active participant as the reporter. A further expansion examining the viewer of this sports genre may be worthwhile, especially regarding class, given the relative financial accessibility of running. Gender may also be an additional point of interest, as many women feel unsafe running on their own in certain circumstances.

While these articles vary in their applicability to the categories of “Gender, Class and Geography”, they each provide valuable insight into Irish sports media, particularly when they do discuss gender and class. The social and cultural importance of sports in Ireland is undoubtedly immense, and thus, it is a field which should continue to be examined closely, particularly in its intersectional areas.