Mainstream media outlets in the United States struggle with their portrayal of soccer. Many of these outlets suffer from what I call Palinitis, a chronic sickness characterized by a lack of curiosity, an unwillingness to read, and an eagerness to succumb to humanity’s baser instincts to sell something. This should worry soccer fans.
Luckily, fans of the major American sports are beneficiaries of robust online coverage. Countless full-time journalists, commentators, academics, and bloggers dissect the day’s NFL, NBA, and MLB news. Although new voices covering these leagues are always welcome, the online market for major U.S. sports is arguably already saturated.
The world of online soccer coverage, however, faces a different reality. When it comes to soccer coverage in the United States, every voice matters, largely because there are few outlets dedicated to soccer coverage, and even fewer resources to support these ventures. That is why the Huffington Post’s soccer coverage matters.
The Huffington Post, a left-leaning online newspaper, prides itself on being socially aware, targeting what it perceives as gaps in responsible media coverage. But take a look at the Huffington Post Sports page. The coverage is as tabloid as it gets. This might not matter for the major U.S. sports, but it does matter for soccer, especially if soccer fans care about changing how the average American views soccer. Ultimately, professional soccer in the United States will need more support from average Americans to succeed.
On March 7, 2010, the following 15 headlines (out of 31) on Huffington Sports were important enough to have prominent photos:
Chad Ochocino: Why Wouldn’t I Jog Naked?
Roethlisberger Accused of Sexual Assault AGAIN
Cavaliers Try For Snuggie World Record
WATCH: Extreme Sport Combines Skydiving and Kayaking
Tiger Woods Caddie Angry About Scandal
Tiger Woods’ Wife Reportedly Moving BACK IN With Golfer
PHOTOS: Porn Star Gets Tickets From Assistant Coach
Chuck Liddel Talks Nude Exercise Tape
WATCH: Baylor Center SLUGS Opponent
Lamar Odom’s Chocolate Cravings Enter Bedroom
Jaime Grubbs Allegedly Slept With UFC Fighter
REPORT: Tiger Mistress Backs Out of Beauty Pageant
WATCH: Jay Leno Asks Lindsay Vonn About Bedroom Chemistry
For Sale: Giant Inflatable Olympics Beavers
Infuriated John Daly Urges Fans to Call ‘Jerk’ Reporter
Moving stuff. The headlines I omitted were not much better.
I thought that the Huffington Post wanted to a responsible place for news coverage, but apparently when it comes to sport, responsibility doesn’t apply. On Nutmeg Radio’s five point rating system for responsible journalistic coverage, the Huffington Post Sports page gets a horrible, which is below zero.
The diversity of sporting outlets covering major American sports means that vacuous coverage has little impact on how these sports are perceived. But for sports like soccer, the Huffington Post’s tabloid sports coverage provides a disingenuous view of the beautiful game to an audience positioned to digest the finer points of the game.
Here are a few soccer-related articles that were featured on the Huffington Post Sports front page a while back:
American Soccer Player’s Car Firebombed in Scotland
Salvador Cabanas SHOT IN HEAD
ANOTHER Mexican Soccer Shooting
U.S. World Cup Coach: I Dropped Captain Because He Slept With Teammate’s Wife
These headlines reinforce the simplistic notion that soccer is a game dominated by violence and scandal. Don’t get me wrong, I love violence and scandal as much as the next man. But for an online newspaper that seems to pride itself on being nuanced and culturally curious, the HuffingtonPost’s focus on dramatic, tabloid-esque soccer reporting is sad and an opportunity lost, much like Ryan Babel’s use of Twitter. As soccer fans, we need to begin holding the media accountable for willfully choosing to ignore the wonderful aspects of the game. Spades need to be called spades. So … spade.
What the media decides to publish shapes how readers understand issues. Ask around and you’ll probably find that the average American’s opinion of soccer mirrors the coverage the sport gets in the mainstream media. Political coverage is no different. Over the past few years, we’ve seen the mainstream media choose to highlight political candidates’ platforms while ignoring their personal failures, creating a disingenuous narrative that ultimately sets the public up to be disappointed when the National Enquirer breaks the story (which will be followed by 24/7 crisis coverage in the mainstream media). I don’t particularly care too much about what people think of John Edwards, but I really don’t want to have many more conversations with people who have developed opinions on soccer based on mainstream media coverage.
A small group of journalists and bloggers are working furiously to counteract the mainstream media’s skewed soccer coverage. However, the problem is that many of these conversations are taking place under the radar. Until major outlets start to appreciate soccer for what it is, a wonderfully dynamic sport, it will be hard to fight back against mainstream soccer ignorance. While I sometimes partake in ignorant endeavors, soccer can do without it, but it needs some help to overcome this obstacle.
If the Huffington Post’s editorial staff believes that soccer is disproportionately chaotic and scandalous, then focusing on chaos and scandal is appropriate. But as soccer fans, we all know that this characterization is a disservice to the sport. I imagine that they are smart enough to know this as well.
Periodically, the Huffington Post does provides interesting soccer commentary. For instance, Dave Zirin’s recent article on Fatima Meer is a wonderful piece. But the occasional piece is not enough. The Huffington Post should start reconsidering its soccer coverage. It’s time to show the beautiful game for what it is. It can do whatever it wants with the other sports.
