Watchdogs of the Fourth Estate or Homer Journalists? Newspaper Coverage of Local BCS College Football Programs

Sport newspaper departments are regularly mocked for employing hometown journalism deemed too partial in favor of local teams. However, national media are increasingly criticizing affluent, major college football programs for scheduling games against smaller schools from the Football Championship Subdivision, most of which end in lopsided blowouts. Whereas media and sport teams have long formed a symbiotic relationship, major college athletics programs need local media less now due to the ability to post content on their own Web sites. A textual analysis was used to examine hometown media framing of these mismatches by community newspapers that cover football programs in the Big 12 Conference. Results showed newspapers rarely criticized near-by, powerhouse college football teams, but framed FCS teams as inferior. The larger the newspaper examined and the further they were away from the team covered in distance, the more likely they were to criticize hometown coaches and athletic directors. This topic has practical applications for sport mangers who face potential media criticism for scheduling contests against inferior opponents, especially in major college football.