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The Precariat. The New Dangerous Class

Understanding Celebrity is a thorough introduction to the process of creating and sustaining celebrity as a market commodity. Turner successfully separates his work from previous evaluations of celebrity by clarifying the differences between types of celebrity and thoroughly identifying distinct areas of production. In a split from the central paradigms surrounding the study of celebrity, that is, the “celebrity culture,” Turner instead offers a clear evaluation of the agents of production, with the intent to highlight their contribution to the construction and consumption of celebrity. The chapters are divided into three sections. In Part One “Introduction,” Turner looks at the field of celebrity study, describes the rise of celebrity, and provides a clear account of the function of celebrity in current society. Providing a substantial review of the work on the construction of celebrity and fame, he focuses on the social functions of celebrity and on the culture of the media industry itself. Critical of the so-called globalization of celebrity production, Turner argues that the power of a few dozen transnational corporations contribute greatly to the construction and subsequent consumption of the range of celebrity figures. And, although not overtly critical of the nature of such corporations, Turner segues into a careful and concise set of assertions concerning the control of the media image and the production of celebrity in Part Two. Part Two “Production” contains a summary of the celebrity as commodity and logically follows in Turner’s theory of the phenomenon. In this section, Turner provides a concise description of those involved in the celebrity industry, from agent to publicist. The description of the impact of public relations and news media is detailed and understandable, not an easy task given the multiple issues involved in creating and maintaining celebrity in today’s market. This text is strongest in Part Three “Consumption,” which identifies the ways celebrity is consumed and provides a clear exploration of how and why we are so fascinated with celebrities, particularly those with whom we identify with on a personal level, that is, those we feel we know through information about their personal lives. Turner argues that it is even more powerful when the consumer identifies with similar traits or circumstances in the celebrity’s life or person. In the example of Diana, Princess of Wales, Turner offers a view of the celebrity as authentically loved and mourned. Turner argues that Princess Diana was valued for her position, but also for her ability to be seen as real, vulnerable, and “one of us.” Turner successfully places the celebrity in the world of social meaning and influence in today’s often fragmented society. He explains that celebrity is, in part, about making parasocial, or imagined, connections with celebrity, but it is also about making personal connections based on perceived similarities. The connection to celebrity is not only between the consumer and the image, but across consumers as well; the celebrity forges a common bond across members of a social group who share common consumption. Finally, Understanding Celebrity offers a succinct evaluation of the historical changes within the media industry as they apply to celebrity, and Turner’s discussion of fame for fame’s sake is appropriate, given the popularity of current reality television, where “real people” are famous merely because they are on a television program. The downside of Understanding Celebrity is its less than enthusiastic discussion of celebrity in the first two sections, with rather dry examples of celebrity used to illuminate points about consumerism, the process of production, and the general market. The third section is the most valuable and stimu-

Understanding CelebrityUnderstanding Celebrity, by TurnerGraeme. London, UK; Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2004. 148 pp. $115.00 cloth. ISBN: 0-7619-4167-3. $36.95 paper. ISBN: 0-7619-4168-1.

Hawaiian Sumo wrestlers Akebono and Konishiki had taken the top two rankings in a sport that had never seen a non-Japanese champion. Akebono was the first to reach Yokozuna, the highest rank. Konishiki, nicknamed “The Dump Truck,” is Ozeki, the second-highest rank. Both men wrestled their titles from the status quo. While the hierarchy of Sumo wrestling may not have broad in fluence in a global sense, the namesakes of these two champions would change the world .

The Future of Journalism

Sport Stars: The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrity. David L. Andrews and Steven J. Jackson, eds. London: Routledge, 2001.280 pp. $75 hbk. $22.95 pbk. What do Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Andre Agassi, Tiger Woods, Venus Williams, Ian Wright, Paul "Gazza" Gascoigne, David Beckham, Diego Maradona, Wayne Gretzky, Hideo Nomo, Martina Hingis, Nyandika Maiyoro and Kipchoge Keino, Imran Khan, Brian Lara, and Cathy Freeman have in common? They are all athletes, they are all sport stars, and they are the subjects of the sixteen chapters in this excellent collection of case studies. Given the ubiquity of sporting celebrity worldwide, it was inevitable that someone would come out with a volume like this one. It is our good fortune that Andrews and Jackson answered the call, for they have taken advantage of their academic connections to amass a collection of unusually strong essays from contributors around the globe. Andrews, associate professor of sport and cultural studies at the University of Maryland at College Park and a senior visiting research fellow at De Montfort University, Bedford, United Kingdom, is an associate editor of the Journal of Sport and Social Issues. Jackson, senior lecturer in sport and leisure studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand, serves on the editorial board of Sociology of Sport. In a comprehensive introduction to the volume, they elaborate a view of celebrity that draws on the work of P. David Marshall, Leo Brandy, and Daniel Boorstin. The anthology, they state, "is underpinned by the notion of the sport celebrity as a product of commercial culture, imbued with symbolic values, which seek to stimulate desire and identification among the consuming populace." Celebrity is broadly defined as comprising various forms of public individuality within popular culture. The role of the mass media is, in Braudy's phrase, to act as the "arbiters of celebrity." The mass media feature prominently throughout the book, beginning with the first newspaper sports section in William Randolph Hearst's the New York Journal in 1895. That innovation and its imitators are credited with providing a mechanism "for the transformation of notable athletes into nationally celebrated figures," while at the same time increasing newspaper circulation. But it is television, of course, that draws the most attention. The relationship between sport and television is seen as "ever more collusive," and the editors, at least, seem to accept Charles P. Pierce's 1995 pronouncement that sport has become "basically media-driven celebrity entertainment." We've come a long way since Babe Ruth. Or maybe not, since the editors identify him as the "prototypical sport celebrity endorser," someone who served as spokesperson for a myriad of commercial entities. …

Sport Stars: The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrity

Recent shifts in education and labour market policy have resulted in universities being placed under increasing pressure to produce employable graduates. However, contention exists regarding exactly what constitutes employability and which graduate attributes are required to foster employability in tertiary students. This paper argues that in the context of a rapidly changing information- and knowledge-intensive economy, employability involves far more than possession of the generic skills listed by graduate employers as attractive. Rather, for optimal economic and social outcomes, graduates must be able to proactively navigate the world of work and self-manage the career building process. A model of desirable graduate attributes that acknowledges the importance of self-management and career building skills to lifelong career management and enhanced employability is presented. Some important considerations for the implementation of effective university career management programs are then outlined.

The graduate attributes we've overlooked : enhancing graduate employability through career management skills

The roles of sports journalists have been affected considerably by the influence of Twitter, but what is not known is how the social media application has been adopted across a range of sports newsrooms in different countries. Employing Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory, this study examines how Twitter has been accepted or rejected on the sports desks of six broadsheet/quality news organisations in Australia, India and the United Kingdom. A mixed methods approach is employed, combining 36 in-depth interviews with a content analysis of 4103 print and online articles. This allows a comprehensive analysis of issues such as when and why sports journalists adopt this innovation, and how much Twitter-related content appears in the sports pages. Twitter adoption contains many benefits for individuals and their organisations, and the results from this study have implications for sports journalism in other nations at various stages of diffusion.

Twitter’s diffusion in sports journalism: Role models, laggards and followers of the social media innovation:

Sports journalism is an important part of contemporary media, but it is a sector that has not received the detailed analysis of other areas of the industry. Utilising Bourdieu’s field theory, this study locates sports journalism in the journalistic field before mapping the sports journalism field in the context of broadsheet/quality news organisations. It achieves this by examining the sports departments of six media outlets in Australia, India and the United Kingdom. In-depth interviews with 36 sports journalists and a content analysis of 4541 web and print articles are employed to focus on issues such as content, publishing applications and approaches, workloads, and commercial factors. This allows an investigation of sports journalism at national, organisational and individual levels. The results show economic capital is a dominant factor in sports journalism.

Mapping the sports journalism field: Bourdieu and broadsheet newsrooms:

Sports journalists have often been criticised for their casual approach to work and cheerleading content in stories. This style of journalism contrasts with the traditional norms of objectivity employed in other areas of newsrooms. It is also opposed to the critical watchdog role considered essential to objective reporting. To examine how sports journalists operate in relation to being cheerleaders or critical watchdogs, this study utilises the Australia–India Test cricket series of 2014–15 as a platform to investigate sports journalists’ views, and the content they produce. It employs in-depth interviews with 18 sports journalists from Australian and Indian newspaper organisations in conjunction with a content analysis of 1265 articles from eight Australian and Indian publications. This allows a comparison of the perceptions of the sports journalists with what they are producing in their stories. Selecting a major international event with historical importance, such as the Australia–India Test series, is...

Cheerleaders or Critics?: Australian and Indian sports journalists in the contemporary age

A number of studies have examined why students choose to study journalism at university, but overall, this area is still relatively underexplored. Yet, understanding why students choose journalism,...

Peter English

Papers

Twitter’s diffusion in sports journalism: Role models, laggards and followers of the social media innovation:

Mapping the sports journalism field: Bourdieu and broadsheet newsrooms:

Cheerleaders or Critics?: Australian and Indian sports journalists in the contemporary age

For the lifestyle and a love of creativity: Australian students' motivations for studying journalism

New laws, road wars, courtesy and animosity: cycling safety in Queensland newspapers