Coverage of the Gay Games from 1980-2012 in U.S. Newspapers: An Analysis of Newspaper Article Framing

Abstract

Many members of the LGBT community have viewed the Gay Games as an opportunity to challenge dominant ideologies concerning sexuality and sport participation. Members of the mass media, however, play a potentially important role in how the event is perceived by the general public. Therefore, the primary purpose of the current study was to examine how the Gay Games have been framed in newspaper coverage. A total of 646 articles published in the United States covering the eight Gay Games events held during the 32-year period of 1980–2012 were analyzed in terms of three aspects of framing: (a) the types of issues highlighted, (b) the sources of information cited, and (c) the manner in which either episodic or thematic narratives were employed. The results of the current study revealed that issues of identity and optimism were most commonly highlighted, LGBT participants were most frequently cited as sources of information, and thematic framing was most commonly employed in newspaper coverage of the Gay Games.