Playing Internet Curveball with Traditional Media Gatekeepers

Abstract

Prior to the 2004 season, pitcher Curt Schilling was traded to the Boston Red Sox baseball team. During trade negotiations, Schilling visited a web-based fan site of the team, and chatted with Red Sox fans. His visit was covered by sports radio and newspaper. Schilling discussed his visit with a sports radio show, where the hosts were not happy that he used the Internet instead of radio. Schilling's actions make for an interesting real-world case involving media gatekeeping, where different media are intertwined, and where theory can be built from the observation of practice. Schilling used different media depending on his task, and chose media best suited to his purpose. Fans were delighted he chose the web, giving them direct access, but radio hosts felt threatened. Gatekeeping was found to be still useful for identity verification and access control.

The Blog is Serving Its Purpose: Self-Presentation Strategies on 38pitches.com.

“…Schilling, in contrast to most athletes, directly engages fans and sports reporters. For instance, he has posted messages on Red Sox and New York Yankee electronic discussion boards and frequently calls into sports radio stations to lambaste sports journalists (Beggy & Shanahan, 2006; Poor, 2006). Thus, it was not surprising when in March 2007, Schilling launched a blog named after the number he wears – www.38pitches.com.…”

“…First, several of Schilling’s blog entries have drawn the ire of Red Sox management (Brewer, 2007b; Madden, 2007), and it seems plausible that if Schilling’s blog was operated under the auspices of the Red Sox or a public‐relations firm, his comments could be censored before reaching the public. Additionally, given Schilling’s history of directly engaging fans, establishing a blog independent of other parties, wherein he can post topics at his discretion, and in a manner of his choosing, seems to fit with his personality (Beggy & Shanahan, 2006; Poor, 2006).…”

From Broadcast Scarcity to Digital Plenitude

“…Personal web sites, blogs, and social networking site profiles promoting and maintaining an athlete's image, deployed to speak directly to fans without the mediating influence and potentially critical insights of journalists and selling personal and signed merchandise, are a logical extension of the prevailing commercial and cultural order. examples from the United States, the United Kingdom, and europe (Poor 2006;Boyle and Haynes 2004) demonstrate the disruptive consequences resulting from the developments discussed here. Boyle and Haynes (2004) detail several disputes, including one involving an english Premier League footballer who attempted to limit the use of his image by a television news outlet because it allegedly encroached on his image rights.…”

Staying Above the Fray: Framing and Conflict in the Coverage of Education Policy Debates

“…The rise of a 24-hour news cycle and the development of new internet-dependent political communication tools may allow actors to bypass traditional news organizations and appeal directly to a broader public while simultaneously trivializing the coverage of policy making by blurring the line between policy coverage and entertainment (Williams and Delli Carpini 2004). Celebrities can use new media arenas to partially bypass traditional media organizations (Poor 2006), and bloggers connected to political elites can challenge traditional media reporting (Maratea 2008), but it remains to be seen whether actors with less symbolic capital, like teacher educators, can reshape educational policy by using new media tools to change framing and conflict patterns in their favor. tonomous, in New Jersey the commissioner of education is hired by the governor to carry out the governor's education agenda.…”