%0 Journal Article
%T The role of newspapers in the formation of gendered national identity: Polish coverage of womenĄŻs and menĄŻs basketball championships
%A Honorata Jakubowska
%A Simon LiŁżen
%J International Review for the Sociology of Sport
%@ 1461-7218
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1012690217719566
%X This study examines how newspapers in post-communist Poland nurture a gendered national identity through their disparate coverage of menĄŻs and womenĄŻs European basketball championships. Agenda-setting, framing and social identity theories were used to analyse 502 articles published between 2009¨C2013. Results show that menĄŻs tournaments received 3.5 times more coverage than womenĄŻs events; the gap further widened when Poland hosted the championships. Articles about menĄŻs championships were also longer (314 words on average versus 161). The discourse surrounding womenĄŻs competitions was factual whereas the menĄŻs national teamĄŻs performances were framed as challenges, matters of national pride, and involved combat and military terminology. Peculiarly, the most frequently mentioned member of the womenĄŻs team was its male coach. Findings indicate a significant departure from the communist-era promotion of gender equality and womenĄŻs empowerment as a source of pride. National identity is nurtured through newspaper coverage of the menĄŻs national team (when team colours and the first person plural are mentioned) but not of the womenĄŻs national team
%K EuroBasket
%K European championship
%K gender
%K mass media
%K media coverage
%K nationality
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1012690217719566