S P O R T E V E N T S A N D N E W M E D I A : C R I T I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S

PROF DAVID MCGILL IVRAY, CHAIR IN EVENT AND DIGITAL CULTURES, UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF

SCOTLAND

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC CONFERENCE ON SPORT AND TOURISM

@dgmcgillivray

david.mcgillivray@uws.ac.uk

Sport event and the media landscape

New ‘media’ transformations: from production to prosumption

Sport events and (destination) brand activation

Two Participatory Case Studies: #citizenrelay & Digital Commonwealth

Concluding thoughts

COVERAGE

SPORT EVENTS DOMINATED BY RIGHTS-OWNING MEDIA

ESTABLISHED NARRATIVES

CORPORATE-MEDIA NEXUS

MEDIA LANDSCAPE OF MAJOR EVENTS

Accredited media Sponsors

Strict media guidelines

Unaccredited media

Independent media

Citizen/community media

Narrative control

Alternative narratives

CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE

ubiquitous mobile devices, shareable web platforms and DIY ethos deployed to create as much as passively consume media flattened hierarchies, enabling citizens to subvert corporate-media narratives and have voices heard exploiting networked publics (boyd, 2014) restructured by networked technologies

S O W H A T I S I T ?

“I use the term social media to refer to the sites and services that emerged during the early 2000s, including social network sites, video sharing sites, blogging and microblogging platforms, and related tools that allow participants to create and share their own content. In addition to referring to various communication tools and platforms, social media also hints at a cultural mindset that emerged in the mid-2000s as part of the technical and business phenomenon referred to as “Web2.0” (Boyd, 2014: 6)

THE RISE OF THE SOCIAL WEB

Social media empowers people as ‘creators’ rather than just ‘consumers’ – the prosumer (Ritzer & Jurgenson, 2010) (e.g. citizen journalists)

Social media liberates people living in ‘closed’ societies: gives voice without the need for financial power or influence

Social media can decentralize, empower, mobil(e)ise (Hands, 2011) and organize (Rheingold, 2002)

Social media enables challenge to established sources of knowledge & authority (e.g. sport media)

Social media encourages greater accountability and transparency in public life (e.g. bid committees, OCs)

SOCIAL MEDIA: THE OPPORTUNITIES

Boundaries blurring between ‘new’ and mainstream media as each extends reach into others’ territory Web sites, online content, and social media are acting as ‘‘second screens’’ to the primary broadcast via television, and are being used simultaneously by fans (Hutchins & Rowe, 2012, p. 4 Evidence of (successful) appropriation of new media by the corporate sport-media nexus Sponsors, destination marketers, and broadcasters utilise the ‘massive media attention and cultural space occupation of major sport events’ to pursue commercial imperatives (Rowe, 2014)

SPORT EVENTS & CORPORATE MEDIA COMPLEX

‘accelerated availability of devices and ways of connecting them’ (Rowe, 2014) intensifies competition for ‘eyeballs’ – whether sports org or tourism agencies Sport spectators (in various mediated spaces) now ‘make their own media texts’ for Twitter, Facebook to communicate their experiences in real time Contrived, easily ‘mediated’ public viewing spaces designed to animate and showcase destination assets (Frew & McGillivray, 2014) Enhanced connectivity facilitates a ‘citizen witnessing’ (Allan 2013) which dilutes the role of media organisations ‘describing the world to those that inhabit it’ (Rowe, 2014: 755)

SPORT EVENT ‘PROSUMERS’

NEW MEDIA AS BRAND ACTIVATION TOOL

Social media used as just another vehicle to broadcast, ‘message’ & activate brand propositions

Social media enables tourism agencies to speak directly to its target audiences, bypassing traditional media outlets, conveying messages without the input of journalists

But, it can also be a space open to dissent, protest, opposition and negative sentiment

Controlling the sport event message is increasingly difficult as established media strategies collide with the networking capacity of web 2.0 and the popularity of social software to communicate alternative readings of events quickly

(SOCIAL) MEDIA AND RISK NARRATIVES

Sport events viewed as image enhancers but risk narratives often emphasised by MSM (e.g. crime, security, overcrowding)

Reputational risk also possible as oppositional voices more easily shared to a wider ranging network public

Cultural Programmes provide real opportunity to ‘project’ positive destination images

“The media coverage, and the Cultural Programme’s web and social media audience, multiplied the opportunities to see Glasgow and Scotland in a positive light many times over. Media coverage across all platforms was almost wholly positive, as was social media sentiment” (Cultural Evaluation, 2015)

Social Media ambushing u s e d e f f e c t i v e l y b y ‘unofficial’ brands to reach World Cup audience

SPORT EVENTS AS CATALYST FOR MEDIA DEMOCRATISATION

Adoption of decentralized & distributed structure, where heterogeneous

actors could network and amplify their messages

through a shared communication platform

#citizenrelay used a hybrid media environment,

including blogs and social media, to mobilise,

organise and discuss issues pertaining the Olympic

Torch Relay

collaboration

MSM working with broadcast media to ensure

‘coverage’

(hyper) locality

A commitment to a more bottom-up, place-specific & rooted agenda to support

citizen media makers in each locality

Creating space for the local and regional

place identities to be promoted

Empowerment & participation

mass media and institutional

gatekeepers circumvented by those providing first-hand, real-time coverage and non-hegemonic

interpretations (Bakardjieva, et al, 2012)

digital infrastructures offer citizens new channels for

speaking and acting together and thus lower the threshold for involvement (Bakardjieva et al, 2012: i)

Visualising place through everyday image production

– authenticity key

Digital Common

Wealth

Creative response to the Commonwealth (Games) from across Scotland, involving diverse range of individuals/communities

Community media clusters - community media cafes and digital storytelling workshops Schools programme -  in-school digital storytelling workshops with primary and secondary learners in Scotland’s 32 local authorities

Creative voices -  documentary film, creative writing and community songwriting around UWS campuses Queen’s Baton Relay – tell your community stories

O P E N R E S O U R C E S

Provided a ‘framework’ for expert practitioners to work w/ people to produce stories via:

• Blogging

• Audio

•  Video

•  Social media

C R E A T I V E V O I C E S

Difficult to assess ‘impact’ of new media efforts Need for more developed techniques to understand the Big Data being generated and its ‘meaning’ long term Need more research into power of new media narratives in sharping the story of major events Less focus on volume (eyeballs) and more on sentiment and influence

THE CHALLENGE OF ‘KNOWING’

Participatory media practices around mega/major events can help establish new productive/creative/sustainable networked collectives formed for, or as an outcome, of the Games

The social web provides tourism agencies, sponsors and other actors with huge opportunities to engage with new audiences, but they need to understand the cultural mindset of users to maximise benefit Social media is about cultivating conversations, making connections, generating commitment and (co) creating content Sport events continue to be a testing ground for new tools and technologies – but narrative control is no longer one-way and uncontested

CONCLUDING COMMENTS

Thanks and Questions