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Without access, favor or discretion:
The gatekeeping practices of Deadspin
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Abstract
Deadspin.com, a part of the online Gawker network, is one of the most popular
sports blogs. The site promotes itself as an alternative outlet to mainstream sources of
sports news and information, and carries stories about the off-field exploits of athletes as
well as their on-field achievements. This study examines the gatekeeping effect of
Deadspin by examining the types of sources editors draw stories from, the types of
stories posted as well as the valence and the frame of each post. The study found that an
overwhelming number of stories selected from non-mainstream sources were about off-
field events, illustrating the sites gatekeeping influence of bringing new types of stories
from alternative sources into the marketplace of ideas.
Keywords: Blogs, sports media, gatekeeping, framing
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Without access, favor or discretion:
The gatekeeping practices of Deadspin
For years, each morning a post appeared onDeadspin.com, a popular blog for
sports news. The post, which generally appeared around 9 a.m., included a collection of
links to sports stories. It began the same way every day, with the following text in italics
beneath the headline and before the first link:
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky
for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and
internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day.
(Deadspin.com, May 1, 2010)
This text did more than just suggest a strong gatekeeping influence. With itsreference to daily newspapers and to ESPNs ubiquitous highlight show, it outright
acknowledged the gatekeeping role the site hopes to play and believes it does play in the
sports media landscape. (The site reformatted its morning round-up post in 2011 as part
of a larger site redesign.)
Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, blogs emerged as an importantnew communications medium. Theyve been called a new, post-modern form of
journalism (Robinson, 2006). One of the most popular blogs to emerge in the 2000s is
Deadpsin, one that is dedicated to sports news (Deitsch, 2008).
The purpose of this study is to examine the gatekeeping role Deadspin plays in thesports media world. The study seeks to identify the types of stories that appear on
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Deadspin and how the editors and contributors of the site frame those stories. Stories will
be defined as the subject material of the posts onDeadspin.
Gatekeeping and framing are important theoretical frameworks in the study ofnews. Gatekeeping has been conceptualized as the study of the processes by which news
organizations select the stories that are presented to the public (Shoemaker, 1991).
Framing is the study of how the stories are presented in the media, or how individual
elements within stories are presented to increase the salience of the topic (Entman, 1993).
Numerous studies have been conducted on the gatekeeping aspects of the massmedia, dating back to David Manning Whites famous study of Mr. Gates, the wire
editor and his selection of newspaper stories (1950). But the 2000s have brought an
upheaval to the traditional media power structure. Declining circulation and advertising
print revenues have had a devastating impact on print newspapers (Pew, 2010). Online
advertising revenues, while growing, have yet to yield profitability for media
organizations (Pew, 2010), but the growth of online circulation and the proliferation of
laptop computers, mobile devices such as iPhones and other smart phones and tablets
clearly show that the future of news is, in at least in some form, online.
Deadspin is one of the most popular sports blogs, receiving at least 15 millionpage views each month from May 2009 to May 2010 (Deadspin.com). Founded in 2005,
the blog promotes itself as an alternative to mainstream sports media outlets like ESPN,
Sports Illustratedand The New York Times. Its slogan, which is a part of its masthead,
reads Sports news without access, favor or discretion (Deadspin.com, May 1, 2010).
Despite promoting itself as an alternative to those mainstream, traditional publications,
Deadspin is owned and operated under the umbrella of a highly successful online media
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network, Gawker. Like other blogs in the Gawker network, the content on the site is
typically written in a humorous, biting, sarcastic style and often pokes fun at (or directly
insults) prominent sports figures. The site is known best for posting pictures of
professional athletes partying with fans (typically young, attractive women) and focusing
on the salacious side of sports. It received widespread attention in the fall of 2010 by
publishing lewd text messages allegedly sent by then-New York Jets quarterback Brett
Favre to a team employee (Deadspin.com, Oct. 7, 2010). The site is widely read by
sports fans and sports media professionals, and it is perceived as being influential in the
growth and direction of online sports news. As noted earlier, the header on the sites
morning round-up suggests a strong gatekeeping affect thatDeadspin seeks to play.
Media have derived much of their influence due to their gatekeeping abilities.However, the emergence of internet communications in the 1990s and throughout the
2000s has created a transition era for news producers. More and more people are going
online to read their news - whether it is original online content or news that is repurposed
from traditional print or broadcast formats. The emergence of online news has led to a
new generation of gatekeepers outside the traditional mass media - including blogs like
Deadspin. In order to better understand the extent of the power sites like Deadspin can
have on the marketplace of ideas, it's important to study what stories "pass through their
gate," so to speak.
Sports media represents an ideal area to study. Mass communications research,particularly research surrounding journalism blogs, has shown that sports are one of the
most popular subjects for newspapers to cover via blogs. Blogs have been shown to be an
extension of talk radio because sports often elicit strong opinions from fans. This makes
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sports a natural subject for blogs, and makes sports blogs worthy of study. This study
would add to that literature.
For the purpose of this study, mainstream media sources will be defined asnetwork sports coverage (ESPN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, etc.), newspapers (both print and
online editions) as well as nationally recognized websites (i.e. Yahoo.com). Non-
mainstream news sources will be defined as any news source outside of the mainstream
definition (i.e. blogs, message boards, etc.).
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Theory
Several theories are drawn on in this study. The primary theoretical lens is
gatekeeping. Framing is also important, as are the studies of journalists roles. However,
before delving into the scholarly literature and theory, it is important to provide some
background intoDeadspin.
Deadspin
Deadspin is the brainchild of Will Leitch, who started the site in 2005 after
working as a freelance writer in New York City. The popular press dates the sites
beginning as September of 2005 (Mallozzi, 2006); however the first posts on the sites
archive are dated August 30, 2005. The first post is Chopping Wood at Baseball
Prospectus, detailing how one of the writers at a popular baseball website became a
transsexual (Deadspin, August 30, 2005).Deadspin is owned and operated by Gawker
Media, an online media corporation that runs, among other blogs, Gawker.com,
Jezebel.com and Gizmodo.com (Hollingshead, 2008). Leitch leftDeadspin in 2008 and
was replaced as editor by AJ Daulerio, also a former sports writer and blogger. In 2010,
the site had a staff of seven editors and contributors.
In less than five years,Deadspin became one of the most popular sports-related
blogs, recording 150,000 page views per day (Perez-Pena, 2009). Sports Illustrated
ranked it as the top sports blog of the 2000s (Graham, 2009). One of the main reasons for
its popularity is its subject material and the blogs writing style.Deadspin blog entries are
typically funny, sarcastic, snarky and cynical and deal with off-the-field misdeeds of
athletes and sports casters (Gonzalez, 2009; Lemke, 2008; Mallozzi, 2006; Nolan, 2007).
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Its seen, both by itself and by fans, as an alternative to mainstream sports news sources
like ESPN and daily newspapers (Nolan, 2007).
Leitch has said in an interview that he wanted the site to be something different on
the sports landscape, something other than a typical fan site or one that is heavily into
statistics (Beer, 2006). One of the first stories the site pursed was that of then-Atlanta
Falcons quarterback Michael Vick being accused in a civil lawsuit of giving a woman a
sexually transmitted disease, and the fact that Vick used the alias Ron Mexico at a clinic
(this was before Vicks well publicized conviction for running a dog-righting ring). The
Ron Mexico portion of the story was not widely covered by mainstream sports media
outlets, but Leitch wrote about it onDeadpsin. On occasion,Deadspin has broken
typical sports news stories. In 2005, it was the first to report a baseball players pending
suspension for steroid use (Nolan, 2007). ButDeadspin also received attention for
running pictures of quarterbacks Matt Leinart, Ben Roethlisberger and Kyle Orton
partying and drinking. The site has also focused attention on ESPN anchors, posting
audio and video of anchors drunk in public or trying to pick up women in bars - including
a famous one of Chris Berman, the popular anchor, saying Youre with me, leather, to a
woman at a bar (Nolan, 2007, p. 8).
In an interview with the online edition ofSports Illustrated, Leitch summed up his
view of the site:
One of the exciting things aboutDeadspin is that kind of wall used to be there.
Now we (fans) decide what we want to know. We dont always need that wall
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anymore people react to sports as entertainment because thats what it is.
Whatever fans find entertaining is what counts. (Deitsch, 2008, p. 1).
Like the daily recap post quoted at the beginning of this study, that quote from
Leitch acknowledges the gatekeeping role he hopesDeadspin plays.
Gatekeeping
For 60 years, one of the primary areas of media research has examined medias
role as a gatekeeper of news and information. Broadly defined, gatekeeping is the
process used by media professionals select which news items will be written about or
covered in the newspaper, included in a broadcast or published on the internet
(Shoemaker, 1991; Shoemaker & Vos, 2009). The name comes from the selection of
stories to pass through the medias gates and get to the public.
The study of gatekeeping in a mass media context dates to David Manning
Whites famous study (1950) in which he asked a newspaper wire editor to keep notes on
why he chose specific stories and to write on the back of those stories he did not use why
he chose not to use them. Among Whites findings was the fact that almost 90 percent of
available stories were not chosen and that the decisions of the editor named for eternity
as Mr. Gates were highly subjective. Later studies argued that gatekeeping choices
were less about personal preferences and more reliant upon organizational roles and work
routines (Bass, 1969; Halloran, Elliott & Murdock, 1970; Gieber, 1956; Westley &
McLean, 1957). Chibnall (1977) and Tuchman (1978) argued that news is manufactured
by reporters, not simply reported, meaning that reporters themselves often act as
gatekeepers.
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This process has evolved over the past 10-15 years with the emergence of the
internet as a news source. Government agencies and sports teams alike can communicate
directly with the public through their own websites, eliminating the need for the media to
act as a gatekeeping conduit, leading some to argue that gatekeeping is dead (Poor, 2006;
Williams and Deli Carpini, 2000). An early example of this was the Bill Clinton-Monica
Lewinsky scandal, which first emerged not from the mainstream media but from internet
sources and blogs (Williams & Deli Carpini 2006). In the sports realm, this was studied
by Poor (2006) and his study of Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schillings use of the
internet and traditional media.
Blogs have also become a growing news source. Originally, weblogs were
personal, opinionated sites the online equivalent of a diary (Deuze, 2003). But through
the late-1990s and the early 2000s, blogs emerged as a sort of new journalism (Robinson,
2006). Deuze (2003) found that blogs fit into his second category of online journalism,
index and category sites. One of the primary aspects of a blog is its ability to act as a sort-
of second-level gatekeeper for instance, stories that dont appear in mainstream sources
(or are downplayed in those sources) can be given significant attention on a blog. Hewes
and Graham (1989) illustrated an early version of this with their second-guessing
theoretical perspective, in which individuals interpret and reinterpret messages based on
their personal memories and doubts they may harbor. But blogs are still reliant on
mainstream news sources for most of their material. One study showed that 99 percent of
stories linked to on blogs come from so-called traditional, mainstream media outlets
(Pew, 2010).
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An important element to the study of gatekeeping is how newsworthiness is
defined. Shoemaker, Chang and Bredlinger (1987) found that deviance that is,
something outside the accepted, normal boundaries of every day life is an indicator of
newsworthiness. A story headlined Plane lands safely after routine flight would hardly
qualify as news. A story headlined Plane crashes; hundreds feared dead would
definitely be news. A primary reason forDeadspins creation and popularity is the fact
that they pick stories to pass through its gates that arent typically covered by traditional,
mainstream news sources. One of those story categories is the behavior of media figures,
including ESPN anchors and sports writers. Leitch has said in interviews that he believes
the traditional belief that sports media figures are there to report the games and not be
covered themselves is hypocritical, because the media figures are as well known than
many athletes (Sandomir, 2008). Stories that do not focus on the well-covered realms of
game results and player moves are also a perfect fit forDeadspin. Leitch explained in an
interview:
If ESPN gets a story that they dont consider news or might not be in their best
interest to run, well, its no longer a story and we never hear about it. But if I get a
really good scoop from one of my sources or something really interesting from a
fan, I have the freedom to post it without having to deal with any political
pressure. (Mallozzi, 2006, p. 11)
Framing
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Framing is related to gatekeeping. If gatekeeping is loosely and simplistically
defined as the study of what gets covered, framing can be loosely and simplistically
defined as the study of how those news items are covered.
Broadly put, frames supplied by the media allow audience members to organize
and understand information (Tewksbury et al, 2000). Entman (1993) defined framing as
selecting some aspects of a perceived reality and mak(ing) them more salient in a
communicating text (p. 52). By highlighting word, phrases, or other bits of information,
Entman said those particular pieces of information are elevated in salience. Salience can
also be influenced, Entman wrote, by the placement and/or repetition of texts or by their
association with familiar symbols.
One type of framing involves word choices or phrases used, such as event-
oriented coverage or conflict-oriented coverage, which presents two sides of an issue
(Tewksbury et al, 2000). Other types of framing include the placement of information
within a story. Journalistic norms and practices dictate that the most relevant information
is placed closer to the beginning of the story (this is known as the inverted pyramid style
of writing), with the lead paragraph serving as an important location for framing devices
(Tewksbury et al, 2000; Pan & Kosicki, 1993).
As noted earlier,Deadspin is well known for the way it portrays athletes and
sportscasters, often taking a negative, sarcastic and humorous light to their stories (Beer,
2006; Gonzalez, 2009; Nolan, 2007). The goal is to be funny, even if that requires
occasionally being scatological, Leitch said in an interview with the online edition of
Sports Illustrated(Deitsch, 2008, p. 4). In the same interview he said, in reference to
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running photos of drunk athletes: I dont want to over intellectualize it. The photos are
fun (Deitsch, 2008, p. 5).
Journalists roles
The way in which journalists view their on-the-job duties and responsibilities has
been widely studied and debates within the profession. Johnstone, Slawski & Bowman
(1972) found two primary roles reporters play within a newsroom culture: One being a
neutral, impartial observer and the other being an active participant whose point of view
drives the reporting. Weaver & Wilhoit (1992), in a survey of American journalists at the
end of the in the 1990s, found three different roles for journalists: disseminators of
information; interpreters of events; and adversaries of business and government. A study
10 years later found a fourth role a mobilizer of audience members (Beam, Weaver &
Brownlee, 2008). In some circles, objectivity is considered the most important
professional norm in journalism (Soloski 1989). Soloski (1989) defined journalistic
objectivity as the ability to seek and report themes fairly and in as balanced a way as
possible.
The rise of online news has raised questions about the place of traditional
journalism roles in newer media. Concerns have been raised that the speed of online news
could hurt journalists accuracy (Berkman & Shumway, 2003). The increased amount of
raw information available on the internet has lessened the publics reliance on the typical
media outlets - in the sports world, teams are providing game statistics, quotes from
players and coaches and video on their official websites (Weintraub, 2007). Blogs, with
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their highly personal writing, are not typically bound by notions of objectivity (Deuze,
2003; Singer, 2006).
Mainstream journalists have been critical ofDeadspin, saying that editors and
contributors spread rumors without subjecting them to traditional journalistic fact
checking (Cowlinshaw, 2010). Deadspin editors have been quoted in the popular press as
saying that they view what they do as being rooted in traditional journalism practices but
that, as a blog, there is a different standard they should and do work by (Deitsch, 2008;
Fitzpatrick, 2009). Were still a blog at the end of the day, current editor Daulerio said
in 2009 (Perez-Pena, p. B-6).
Hypotheses
With the theoretical background in mind, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H1:Posts to Deadspin drawn from non-mainstream media sources are more likely
to consist of off -field news items than posts drawn from mainstream media sources.
H2:Posts to Deadspin drawn from non-mainstream media sources are more likely
to be negative in valance than posts drawn from mainstream media sources.
H3:Posts to Deadspin drawn from non-mainstream media sources are more likely
to be representative of a critical frame and a celebrity frame than posts drawn from
mainstream sources.
For the purpose of this study, a posts source will be the independent variable,
coded as either a mainstream or non-mainstream outlet as defined earlier in this
paper. The topic of the post is one of the dependent variables and will be coded as either
on-field or off-field. On-field news items is defined for this study as any event or story
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dealing with a game, a team, or a coach or athletes performance specifically related to
their sport. For example, a story about Kobe Bryants play on the court for the Los
Angeles Lakers would be an on-field news item. Off-field news items would be any story
relating to a team, athlete or fan outside of the actual sport. For example, a story about
Kobe Bryants legal or marital troubles would be an off-field item. Since Deadspin has
positioned itself as an alternative source of information, its logical that the sites posts
will not repeat widely available sports news but instead focus on off-field activities, and
that those posts are more likely to come from non-mainstream news sources than
mainstream ones.
Valence is another dependent variable and is defined as either negative, neutral or
positive. Negative valence is defined as a story that casts the subject/story in a
predominately negative light. Neutral valence is defined as a story that does not cast the
subject/story in either a positive or negative manner. Positive valence is defined as a story
that casts the subject/story in a predominately positive light. As interviews with Deadspin
editors have shown, posts on the site are often written from a funny and critical
perspective.
Frame is the third dependent variable in this study and is being defined as either
critical, celebrity, supportive or straightforward/statistical. A critical frame will be defined
for this study as story primarily critical of an athlete (related to, but not necessarily the
same as, negative valence). A celebrity fame will be defined as story that focuses
primarily on the athlete or subject as an object of fame. A supportive frame will be
defined as a story that focuses primarily on the positive aspects of an athlete (related to,
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but not necessarily the same as, positive valence). A statistical frame will be defined as a
story focused primarily on statistical elements of sports (i.e. game results, contract
negotiations). This finding would verify the anecdotal evidence provided in the literature
and in interviews ofDeadspin editors.
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Method
Deadspin posts appearing over a one-month time frame were analyzed.
Neuendorf (2002) defined content analysis as the systematic, objective, quantitative
analysis of message characteristics (p. 1). Babbie (2009) defined a manifest content
analysis as the study of the content itself, rather than any interpreted meaning.
Sample
The unit of analysis for this study was a post toDeadspin, and the recording unit
was a sentence. The posts being analyzed were written during the month of May, 2010.
That month was selected because of its placement in the sports calendar. Three of the four
major sports in the United States are active (Major League Baseball, the National
Basketball Association, the National Hockey League) during that month, with the NBA
and NHL playoffs underway. The month was selected in part because there are no major
events during the month that could skew the sample toward one sport. The Kentucky
Derby and Indianapolis 500 do take place in May, but those events are far less popular
than, say, the World Series, the Super Bowl or the NCAA mens basketball tournament.
A total of 493 stories were posted toDeadspin in the month, and 200 were selected at
random using a systematic sampling design, in which a post was randomly selected as the
starting point (using the random number generator at http://www.random.org), and every
third post was selected for study. This allowed every post an equal chance of being
selected.
Analysis
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Posts were coded for source, topic, valence and frame, all of which were coded as
nominal variables. The first is source, which was measured as defined above where as
1=mainstream source and 2=non-mainstream source. The second is item type, as defined
earlier where 1=on-field and 2=off-field. The number of sentences in each post will be
counted as part of the measure of item type. Valence is the third variable, which is being
measured as defined above where 1=negative, 2=neutral and 3=positive. The fourth and
final variable is frame, which is being measured as defined earlier where 1=critical,
2=supportive, 3=statistical and 4=celebrity.
Reliability tests were run on all variables to show the dependability of the coding
scheme. Krippendorfs Alpha was recorded at greater than the 0.8 level for all variables,
indicating an acceptable level of reliability. Reliability measured at 1 for source; 0.896
for topic; 0.832 for valance and 0.928 for frame.
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Results
A total of 200 blog posts were studied for four variables (see Table 1). Of the 200,
102 came from mainstream sources and 98 came from non-mainstream sources. Off-field
stories resulted in 129 of the posts, compared to 71 on-field stories. In terms of valence,
78 posts were negative, 82 were neutral and 40 were positive. With regard to framing, 72
posts were found to represent a critical frame, 65 were found to have a straightforward/
statistical frame, 32 were found to have a supportive frame and 31 were found to have a
celebrity frame (see Table 2).
Examples of mainstream news sources include stories from ESPN.com, The New
York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Non-mainstream sources include videos from
YouTube either posted by or found by readers, fan blogs, original writing byDeadspin
contributors that did not include links to an outside story, or e-mails from readers (several
posts were mailbags that consisted of emails from readers that a contributor answered).
On-field news stories included references to games, including, but not limited to,
the NBA and NHL playoffs or early season Major League Baseball games. Off-field news
stories ranged from posts about fan behavior, including the tasing of a Philadelphia
Phillies fan who ran on the field during a game at Citizens Bank Field, to several high-
profile arrests, including that of NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor on rape charges and
of a University of Virginia lacrosse player for the murder of his girlfriend, also a lacrosse
player.
Examples of posts with a negative valence include one about the Ohio State pep
band that compared the group to the TV show Glee in a derogatory fashion, and one
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describing of a fans bad experience at the New York Jets draft party. Neutral valence
posts included several daily round-ups, which featured one-line references to games and
news items from the night before. These references, while sometimes humorous, were
neither positive nor negative. Examples of positive valence posts include one about
ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons decision to return to the network and one describing
the Argentina National Soccer Team doctor saying that players would be allowed to have
sex during the up-coming World Cup.
In terms of frame, examples of a critical frame include one criticizing sports
writers who wrote stories complaining about the NFLs decision to hold the 2012 Super
Bowl in New Jersey and one mocking a Philadelphia Flyers fan for cursing during the
live call-in portion of a post-game television show. Examples of a supportive frame
include a description of Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortizs long home-run trot and a
post about the career of professional wrestler Junkyard Dog. The celebrity fame could be
seen in posts about New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez dating a model, one of
Tiger Woods alleged mistresses and several posts about ESPNs Chris Berman getting a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The straightforward/statistical frame was seen in
posts about the death of Jose Lima and in cyclist Floyd Landis accusations that former
teammate Lance Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs.
With regard to post topic, 80 of the posts from non-mainstream sources dealt with
off-field news items (40 percent of the total), while only 49 posts drawn from mainstream
sources dealt with off-field news items (24.5 percent of the total). This finding was
statistically significant (p
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For valence (Hypothesis 2), posts drawn from non-mainstream sources had a
negative valence 33 times (16.5 percent of the total), compared with 45 posts with
negative valance from mainstream sources (22.5 percent of the total). This finding
approached statistical significance but did not meet the appropriate level (p
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Discussion
Like many blogs,Deadspin is often portrayed as the snarky, critical outsider
poking traditional sports figures and sports coverage in the eye. This is often the case in
both the sites self-promotion and in the way it is written about in the popular press
(Cowlinshaw, 2010). This study shows that while there is some truth to that depiction,
Deadspin is in many ways a well-rounded blog. Posts come from a balance of
mainstream and non-mainstream sources (nearly a 50-50 split). The valence and frames
were split between negative and neutral (for valence, accounting for 80 percent of the
posts between them) and critical and straightforward statistical (68.5 percent of the
posts). This suggests thatDeadspin is not the overtly negative blog that it is often
perceived as being but is instead fairly well-balanced.
In terms of topic, posts toDeadspin are more likely to involve off-field stories
than on-field ones. Of the 200 posts studied, nearly two-thirds of them (129) involved
off-field stories. The most telling finding is the overwhelming number of off-field stories
that came from non-mainstream sources. A total of 81.6 percent of the non-mainstream
stories were about off-field topics. This finding suggests a strong, second-level
gatekeeping influence the site has. Much like the second-guessing theory of Hewes and
Graham (1989), Deadspin editors (and sometimes, the readers themselves) are
reinterpreting the messages from mainstream media sources or, in some instances, find
new stories not covered by the more traditional media outlets.
One of the more surprising findings is that the celebrity frame which was
hypothesized to be would be one of the most dominant frames in posts toDeadspin was
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in fact the least prevalent of the four frames studied, with only 31 of the 200 stories
reflecting this frame. While this could possibly be explained away by sheer luck (there
were no high-profile, off-field scandals during the sample period), it indicates that the
celebrity aspect ofDeadspin is not as prevalent as often suggested. Mainstream media
stories aboutDeadspin have focused on this celebrity frame, but this study shows that
posts reflecting this frame are the rarest kind on the site.
Overall, this study suggests thatDeadspin is not the overall purveyor of sex,
sleaze and gossip that it is sometimes perceived as being. Nor is it completely an
alternative source of sports news as it promotes itself. Rather, it acts as a kind of second-
guesser, taking stories that are already in the marketplace of ideas and reinterpreting them
in an entertaining way. The second-guessing model is an interesting one to use in
studying blogs and their relationship to both mainstream media and to readers.
There were some limitations to this study. One of the challenges is the fact that
not all posts toDeadspin are about sports news. Some of them deal with celebrity news
(one post in the sample dealt with the death of actor Gary Coleman). The lengthy reader
mailbags referenced earlier did not deal at all with sports. This made coding a challenge,
since the codes were developed in reference to sports news. However, these posts are a
part of the site and so needed to be studied.
Another limitation is the fact that humor was not coded for. In interviews,
Deadspin editors have said that a main reason for the site is to have fun and to poke fun
at sports news and sports figures (Deitsch, 2008). However, the author believes that
trying to code for humor is too difficult to accomplish with any reliability. Humor is
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subjective, as is determining whether or not writing is intended to be humorous. What
one person sees as a clear joke may go over the head of another reader. Certainly, an area
for future research would include codingDeadspin posts for humor, to determine how
important that is to the site.
Future research could include coding for different variables than this study did,
such as expanding the study of topic to include individual sports. Then, it could be
examined whether or not a sport is covered onDeadspin more or less during its regular
season. It would be interesting to compare stories covered onDeadspin with the stories
covered in mainstream sources like ESPN or the New York Times, to see if the blog has
any agenda setting influence over the more traditional outlets. Additionally, it would be
interesting to study other sports blogs and see what, if any, agenda-setting power
Deadspin holds over these sites.
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Table 1 Means and standard deviations for source, topic, valence and frame
variables
Variables Mean SD N
Source* 1.49 .501 200
Topic** 1.65 .480 200
Valence*** 1.81 .746 200
Frame**** 2.44 1.275 200
* Responses coded 1 = mainstream media, 2 = non-mainstream media
** Responses coded 1 = on-the-field story, 2 = off-the-field story
*** Responses coded 1 = negative, 2 = neutral, 3 = positive
**** Responses coded 1 = critical, 2 = supportive, 3 = celebrity,4 = straightforward/statistical
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Table 2 Percentages for source, topic, valence and frame variables
Variables %
Source
Mainstream 51.00Non-mainstream 49.00
100.00%
(N=200)
Topic
On-the-field 35.50
Off-the-field 64.50
100.00%
(N=200)
Valence
Negative 39.00
Neutral 41.00
Positive 20.00
100.00%
(N=200)
Frame
Critical 36.00
Supportive 16.00Celebrity 15.50
Straightforward/statistical 32.50
100.00%
(N=200)
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Table 3 Cross-tabulation of topic by posts source.
Post deals with on-the-field news Source
or off-the-field news? Mainstream Non-Mainstream
On-the-field 52.0 % 18.4%Off-the-field 48.0 81.6
100.0% 100.0%
(N=102) (N=98)
X2 =24.663, df=1, p
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Table 4 Cross-tabulation of valence by posts source.
Post has a valence that is negative, Source
neutral or positive? Mainstream Non-Mainstream
Negative 44.1% 33.7%
Neutral 42.2 39.8
Positive 13.7 26.5
100% 100%
(N=102) (N=98)
X2 =5.564, df=2, p
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Table 5 Cross-tabulation of frame by posts source.
Post reflects a critical, supportive, Source
celebrity or straightforward/statistical frame Mainstream Non-Mainstream
Critical 38.2% 33.7%
Supportive 8.8 23.5
Celebrity 15.7 15.3
Straightforward/statistical 37.3 27.5
100% 100%
(N=102) (N=98)
X2 =8.442, df=3, p