to think that sport should not be included in news reports?

[MardyBra]

I've thought this for a long time, but this post was prompted by seeing this football v archeology thing on Facebook, although for me it applies to all sport, rather than football:

www.tickld.com/x/how-football-sounds-to-people-that-just-dont-care-T

Why should sport get so much coverage on the media? Every TV news report has a good chunk of sport at the end. Not only do they have it on radio news, but people like Chris Evans on Radio 2 in the morning have a boring bloke special reporter who drones on about sports. I don't mind it at all in newspapers as I just stop reading when I get to that bit, but if you're watching telly or listening to the radio, you have to put up with it.

I know that there are a lot of people who like sport, but there are also a lot of people who don't give a shit. Maybe we could even things out a bit, replacing the sports news with "leisure" news, to include music, books, films, telly and a bit of sport too (if they must) - all on a more equal footing.

Also, with the increase of the internet, and other communication methods, it's much easier for fans to get results on-line, so they shouldn't have to rely on news reports.

Part of me wonders if this is a feminist issue also. After all, early news formats were largely devised by men, and men tend to be more interested in sports news than women. (I know this is a generalisation and there are plenty of women sports fans; I'm just saying it is skewed towards men). Are we perpetuating some male dominated status quo by mildly accepting this format.

Anyone else NOT looking forward to the world cup?

In answering this OP, I'd be interested to know if you are a sports fan or not. Ta!

YANBU! I agree! Though I am not much of a sports fan...at all in fact!

I don't really understand why we give so much air time to sport, what makes it so important that it can even be in the same programme as serious world news? I don't understand it! If you want to find out how well your football team is doing then watch the match or google it!

YANBU.
I don't think celebrity gossip should be part of the news either.

I don't mind the weather so much, as it's usually shorter. But I agree it could be hived off elsewhere. If I actually need to know what the weather is going to be like, I'll look it up my local BBC website.

If I want to know what the weather will be like, I'll look out of the window or ask a passing toddler - it's as likely to be as accurate as the weather forecast

I don't watch soaps Corus. That would make me just as .

But it demonstrates the point. Why should one activity get all the coverage.

A weather report while getting ready in the morning is quite useful. Or it would be if I ever managed to concentrate on it long enough to catch the relevant bit rather than glaze over a few seconds in and come to when they've moved onto the next day's prediction.

I agree. I especially hate that they give airtime to what's going on in football (as part of the normal news, not sport news) while ignoring actualy important things like what's happening to the NHS.

YADNBU. I couldn't agree more. Why is sport so special that major events can't be covered in the main news and everything else reserved for specialist programmes and on the Internet etc? We don't (generally) have news & politics or news & music or news & celebrity gossip... So why news & sport?!
(I know some programmes do have those types of classification, but it isn't the norm like news & sport).

A few weeks back there was a lead story on all news bulletins about Man Utd sacking their manager. It was ridiculous to consider it the most important news of the day. I tweeted something about it, along the lines of "it's as bad as the murder of Lucy On EastEnders being the top story." Got loads of RTs.

I think YABU.

Entertainment news is included in news broadcasts -think JK Rowling releases, Angelina Jolie film premieres, Tina from Corrie being bumped off etc.

Sport contributes massively to the UK economy.

People are very fond of saying the country is facing an obesity crisis - well let's show some fit and active.

I'm a fan of some sports. Like football, athletics, boxing. No like F1, golf, horse racing.

YANBU. Boring boring boring. I heard on the news that a Manchester City player is leaving because the team didn't send him a birthday card. Now did I want to know that. Not really. But it has stayed in my mind.

YANBU I totally agree, and also agree with it having been designed originally by men for men. The archeology FB thing is funny and so weird when you think about it.

Other things that are in the news are mostly either: of general/wide appeal/interest (NHS still got no money/sugar is Bad For You/strawberries awesome this year); important on a national/global stage (most political news as well as international news, conflicts and disaster type events); somehow shocking or unusual (Tidal wave reaches Paris via the Seine/Talking frog discovered, etc.).

Sport is none of these things. It is not important, really, it is not actually of that wide appeal (particularly when 'and now for the sport' is usually followed by 10 minutes of spiel about football and nothing else, and not even the actual game but who is buying who and who is managing who). And it's not really shocking either. Sport is not news. It's just sport.

I would keep weather as it is of general/wide interest and particularly for people who travel for work etc.

I am interested in about 5 sports which hardly ever feature on TV let alone in the news itself, so I am one of the many who switch off the news when it comes to sport.

D

letsfacethemusic I like it when they start a weather forecast with what the weather was like earlier in the day. I know what it was like, I was there!

on classic FM in place of the sport they often have classical music stories or stories designed to interest people who also like classical music, I love it.

That said, (and please don't flame me for this) in my experience men seem to be far more preoccupied with the news than women. Me and my mum will generally flick through a newspaper or have a look on the BBC news site at the headlines but my dad, stepdad and various men that I've dated (not a huge sample) seem to make a point of having to watch the news. If that's a general thing that more men will sit down and watch a news bulletin than women maybe that's why they continue to put sport at the end?

yerwha

"Entertainment news is included in news broadcasts -think JK Rowling releases, Angelina Jolie film premieres, Tina from Corrie being bumped off etc."
I think that sport is disproportionately reported in the main news broadcast. I remember a lot of fuss about the Harry Potter books admittedly, but I don't remember seeing Angelina Jolie in the 10 o'clock news. And I don't even know who Tina from Corrie is. But I am aware about the Man U manager issues.

"Sport contributes massively to the UK economy."
And other leisure activities - TV, film, books, etc don't?

People are very fond of saying the country is facing an obesity crisis - well let's show some fit and active.
I'll admit that the Olympics probably had a positive effect on some people, but that was a bit of a one-off. Surely the majority of sports-viewers are just that - viewers.

"men seem to be far more preoccupied with the news than women"

I'm not sure this is always the case. I watch the news more than my DH, for example.

yerwha

Entertainment news is included in news broadcasts -think JK Rowling releases, Angelina Jolie film premieres, Tina from Corrie being bumped off etc.

Does it? I think it depends where you get your news. I mostly listen to radio 4 and have never heard entertainment news unless someone famous has done something actually newsworthy, and certainly never head any soap news. However, even they still insist on including sport which drives me mad, because it's not even interesting in a 'world view' kind of way.

YANBU.

particularly when all the coverage is on one or two sports....

I saw I brilliant take on this which suggested people consider how they would feel if every spot on the news currently used for football was switched to talking about archeology. How random and annoying it would be to keep hearing snippets of the latest news from a dig in Cairo that you didn't care whatsoever about.....well that's what the actual news is like for people who aren't interested in football!

at Ice Have a look at the link in the OP.

YABVU

I love hearing all the sports news. And it is 'news' so should be included.

It's a huge industry in this country, and not only are many many people employed because of sport in this country, many millions are hugely interested in it. It covers an enormous spectrum from motor racing to popular sports, football, rugby, cricket, to darts. It's enormous - you can't just dismiss it a swathe generalisation.

Oh, YABsosoU!

I really can't see the issue. I would probably describe myself as a sports fan and it is handy to have a quick round up of the main events of the day.

They do have things about books, TV and film that generate the same level of interest as tennis/cricket etc.

If it bothers you that much then just pick a different radio station?