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Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

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Re: Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

#21

Post by awillen »

The job of the news is to inform people (or more cynically, keep them watching to show ads). Sports are a major topic that a huge number of people want to be informed about. Why wouldn't they be in the news?

There are lots of things in the news that some people don't care about - they report on traffic (or at least they used to) even though many people don't commute. They report on the stock market even though many people aren't invested. These days they sometimes report on Bitcoin and other crypto, even though the vast majority of the world has no interest. Speaking of the world, they report on world news that most people don't care about, because they're only interested in their own country.

The news reports on things that people care about. A lot of people care greatly about sports. Just because you're not one of them doesn't mean it's strange to report on them.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

#22

Post by giantg2 »

I think you're pretty much right about the bread and games comment. I think sports can be a big distraction from politics. I believe the White House invites championship teams to visit. So I think political manipulation is still a big part. You can find more evidence in the post-9/11 deals between the NFL and the government.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

#23

Post by drewcoo »

giantg2 wrote: post #22

I think you're pretty much right about the bread and games comment. I think sports can be a big distraction from politics. I believe the White House invites championship teams to visit. So I think political manipulation is still a big part. You can find more evidence in the post-9/11 deals between the NFL and the government.

Just like politics can be a big distraction from the policies and governance that those pesky proles would demand otherwise?

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

#24

Post by greenbit »

Yes, I agree. Why is 30% to 40% of the time slot allocated to matters that are as ephemeral as the weather and of no long term consequence whatsoever? (For that matter, the weather segment has become much longer than it needs to be, but I digress). Afaict it's only bc it's cheap filler. Certainly most sports fans can either watch things as they happen, or can find out the results any time they want on the internet. Insofar as broadcast news makes any sense at all these days, more emphasis on information you might not otherwise seek, and that might matter beyond next weekend would be desirable

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

#25

Post by jbullock35 »

It would be stranger if TV news or newspapers led with sports coverage. But they almost never do.

What is stranger by far, and more alarming, is the creep of soft news -- celebrity news and other "lifestyle" news -- from the end of the newspaper to the front page. Here is an example: "Trump Attacks Warriors’ Curry. LeBron James’s Retort: ‘U Bum’" [1]. In 2017, that article was front–page news in the New York Times [2].

It shouldn't have been. Tweets and celebrity news should almost never be prominently featured by a news organization. And this article was both: it was about a tweet by a celebrity, LeBron James. It was a story that might be suitable on the cover of People or a tabloid, but not for a serious news organization.

Which makes you wonder what has been happening to the Times.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/23/sports/football/trump-nfl...

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/images/2017/09/24/nytfrontpage/scan....

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

#27

Post by jb510 »

You’re not alone. I think it’s strange too. There are a lot of strange things other folks find entertaining though.

Also for the record, I love playing sports. I’ve just never really understood sports spectators, nor those fans that rabidly follow sports stats. The caveat being I can understand parents watching their kids play, just not this whole watching strangers called “professional athletes” play sports.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

#28

Post by darkwater »

NiceWayToDoIT wrote: post #11
gus_massa wrote: post #7

"Bread and games" was an worked as a political tool 2000 years ago, it works today, and it will be still work 2000 years in the future. Anyway, from the top of NYT page: > World / U.S. / Politics / N.Y. / Business / Opinion / Tech / Science / Health / Sports / Arts / Books / Style / Food / Travel / Magazine / T Magazine / Real Estate / Video Cooking news is inside Food. Music news are inside Arts. Science has it's ow…

I meant TV news.

TV news (at least in the European countries where I've lived) usually have some art/music (small, not regular) section.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

#29

Post by username90 »

awillen wrote: post #21

The job of the news is to inform people (or more cynically, keep them watching to show ads). Sports are a major topic that a huge number of people want to be informed about. Why wouldn't they be in the news? There are lots of things in the news that some people don't care about - they report on traffic (or at least they used to) even though many people don't commute. They report on the stock market even though many p…

They would be valuable news providers if that was all they did, but as is we can be sure that they only give you the news that attracts readers. Doesn't matter if it is important or not, the dumbest shit will get covered as long as it sells. And important news that doesn't sell doesn't get covered for the same reason.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone find it strange that sport is part of daily news?

#30

Post by marstall »

In the US, national TV news is on around 6 or 7, before prime time, and doesn't cover sports. That's left to the local news broadcasts, which devote 5 minutes to it at the end of their early and late 30 minute broadcasts.

Local TV news in the US is fixated on weather, fires, car accidents, gruesome crime stories and so-called "human interest" stories, rarely covers local government. Now that's something I don't understand. Are we that shallow? The iconic local news image is that of a young cub reporter doing a video "standup" late at night in front of, say, a suburban home where a murder took place several hours previously. Why is it so important for everyone within 50 miles to hear about it?

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