Panel presentation from the 70th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference (May 2020). Also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRoTTRUJplQ&feature=youtu.be

This panel of scholars from Australia and New Zealand uses the sport-nation-region nexus to identify the contested meanings and politics of sport and media in Oceania, and discusses why sporting cultures and media work, in different ways, to connect, include and exclude citizens in this part of the world. 

Features David Rowe (Western Sydney University), Toni Bruce (University of Auckland), Bevan Erueti (Massey University), Holly Thorpe and Nida Ahmad (University of Waikato) and Brett Hutchins (Monash University).

Recorded in the wonderful city of Madrid, this episode features sports media and journalism scholar, José Luis Rojas Torrijos. We discuss ‘footballisation’ and sports media scholarship in Spain and among Spanish language researchers more broadly. Our conversation also covers ethics and accountability in journalism, the blurring of news and entertainment, and the gamification of sports news.

This episode returns to the enduring relationship between sport, politics and media. It features Michael J. Socolow, a media historian and author of the award-winning 'Six Minutes in Berlin: Broadcast Spectacle and Rowing Gold at the Nazi Olympics'. We discuss the significance of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games as a sport and media event, the role of the Games in commentary and technological innovation, and the unique power of radio to address national audiences.

Adele Pavlidis from Griffith University in Brisbane discusses roller derby and why it matters as a site for both feminist politics and the politics of sport. In a discussion that travels from Australia to China, Lebanon and then back again, we also discuss the body, affect, and the significance of women's contact sports.   

This episode sees feminist media scholar, Jennifer McClearen, share her research insights into gender, mixed martial arts, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Our conversation outlines the complex intersections between fighting, skill, violence and the body, the UFC's operation as a transmedia sport empire, and the significance of Ronda Rousey’s celebrity. Other topics discussed include the function of branded difference, labour relations in the UFC, and the queering of loss by trans athletes.

Younghan Cho from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul reflects on the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Pyeongchang. We discuss relations between South and North Korea, the combined Olympic women’s ice hockey team that represented Korea, the role of sport in Korean history, and baseball. Younghan also outlines the importance of ‘inter-Asian emotions’ given that the 2018, 2020 and 2022 Games are hosted by cities across the East Asian region. 

Episode 28 of the Media Sport Podcast Series features sports sociologist and cultural studies scholar, Ben Carrington. In a particularly rich conversation, we discuss race, class, Marx and the resurgence of activism in US sport. We also chat about the experience of living on both sides of the Atlantic, the legacy of Stuart Hall, and his must-read essay, 'Living the Crisis Through Ten Moments'.

Episode 27 of the Media Sport Podcast Series sees leading media and cultural studies scholar, Toby Miller, discuss his latest book, Greenwashing Sport. In explaining the relationship between sport and the environment, he highlights the ways in which professional sports are complicit in global environmental crises and climate change. Particular attention is paid to the examples of motor-racing, football and the Olympics, as well as environmental activism, the notion of a social licence to operate, and the catch-cry of sustainability.

Episode 26 of the Media Sport Podcast Series features feminist media and sociology scholar, Kim Toffoletti, discussing the crucial intersections between sport, transnational feminism and female fan practices. She also shares her insights on violence against women by sportsmen, differing notions of living a feminist life and the pride of throwing like a girl.

This episode features a leading international figure in the sociology of sport, John Horne. We discuss his efforts to globalise sport studies, football in East Asia, and the contested legacies of mega-events such as the London 2012 Olympics. Our chat finishes with a fascinating reflection on the importance of disappointment in sport.