Yair Galily

When the Medium Becomes “Well Done” Sport, Television, and Technology in the Twenty-First Century

One of the fundamental issues in the relation between television and sports has been the transference from watching a game or a sport in the field (the stadium) to the viewing experience through a proxy (the medium). The present article argues that sport broadcasts on television in the twenty-first century do not merely provide a sophisticated view of what takes place at the stadium but a new creation with unique characteristics. By using the latest technology-driven examples and assuming that other ones are already being used such as the “second screen” combination of watching TV and simultaneously using a smartphone or tablet for better statistics or social interaction, it is asserted that “being there” has become less imperative, as alternatives to watching matches live and in person at many sporting events have become in many cases better options.

A Match Made in Heaven?! Sport, Television, and New Media in the Beginning of the Third Millennia

Over the last five decades, the symbiotic relationship between sport and the media in general, and television in particular, has been described as a “match made in heaven.” This essay is a conceptual introduction to the special issue in Television & New Media on sport, television, and new media at the beginning of the third millennia.

“Here’s Hoping We Get Pummeled” Anti-Nationalist Trends Among Israeli Sports Fans

This study discusses changes in football fans’ perception of nationalism in recent years. A growing number of athletes, fans, and sports teams have been explicitly prioritizing their own particular individual interests over national ones. National football teams nowadays enjoy far less support from their fans, whose allegiances are often multiple and who, at times, even reject their own national team. Globalization and the rise of social networks, along with economic and individual agendas, have all been chipping away at national sports teams’ popularity. Using content analyses of online forums and Israeli football fans’ Facebook groups during times the national team was playing, this study aims to reveal a variety of vested interests on multiple levels, which serve to undermine national sports hegemony.

From Munich to Boston, and from Theater to Social Media: The Evolutionary Landscape of World Sporting Terror

Modern terrorist attacks are usually characterized by intentionally extreme public displays of massive violence to get wide propagation, courtesy of the media. This article uses large-scale, world sporting events, from the 1972 Munich massacre to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing to document and analyze how terror acts grew and acclimatized into a reality in which the symbiotic, massive linkage between two gigantic entities—sports and the media—allows terrorism to prosper.

Sports: Faster, Higher, Stronger, and Public Relations

Abstract Sport in the modern age is both politics and business. In a combined world of politics, business, hatred, jealousy and boastfulness, in which each person aims to achieve his objective while “disregarding all the rules,” as Orwell describes, public relations are a valuable strategic and tactical weapon. Success is not measured on the sports field alone, but in the newspaper headlines, on the television and the computer screens and in the bank account. The motto once proposed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin-“Citius, Altius, Fortius” (faster, higher, stronger)-is slowly clearing the way for a new, more updated motto: “Faster, higher, stronger, bigger (business) and especially-more PR.”

The Boston Game and the ISIS Match Terrorism, Media, and Sport

The world is becoming largely interconnected. This notion has thought-provoking implications due to the fact that this interdependence affords terrorist organizations opportunities to perpetrate attacks. It is inevitable that an increased risk of terrorism, especially on the forefront of megasporting events, is on the rise due to the global publicity such attacks receive. This article focuses on the Boston Marathon Bombing and the Islamic State and illustrates how high-profile news coverage and coverage on social media (through user-generated content or “terrorist organization”–generated content) advance terrorist groups’ attempts to use large-scale sporting events to leverage their agenda and ideology.

Promoting Terror or Sport? The Case of Qatar’s International Image

Qatar’s successful bid for hosting the 2022 soccer World Cup is regarded as one in a series of attempts to change Qatar’s image as a terror-sponsoring state. To understand the power of hosting megasport events to rebuild a country’s international image, the present study compares the coverage of Qatari sport affairs with concurrent terror-sponsoring allegations, via a sentiment analysis of coverage of Qatari affairs by three international networks (SKY, CNN, and ITV) between August 20, 2013 and December 31, 2014. Surprisingly, the analysis found that terror-related articles contained significantly more positive sentiment than articles on other issues, whereas the tone toward Qatar in sport-related articles was significantly less positive than other topics. The study illustrates the limits of using sport as a soft power strategy, and underscores the superiority of on-the-ground efforts to deflect terror allegations as a strategy for improving a country’s image.

Radio presence in online platforms in Israel

Abstract This article explores the ways in which the medium of radio is currently being used on Israel’s various online platforms. It shows how via their internet presence, radio stations have begun broadcasting live online, offering select segments of their programmes, and maintaining correspondence and dialogue with their listeners. Moreover, the traditional radio stations have also been staking their claim to social media with a growing number of them not only present on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, but also branching out to a variety of mobile apps in an attempt to engage with their listeners.

Barriers to women’s access to decision-making positions in sport organizations: the case of establishing a girls’ volleyball academy in Israel

Abstract The aim of this paper is to highlight the nature of the barriers facing women in terms of their participation in decision-making in Israeli sport, and to identify and evaluate some of the strategies and tactics adopted to overcome these barriers. This is done by making reference to a particular case study, the case of the process of establishing a major policy initiative in Israeli sport – the founding of the national Volleyball Academy for Young Talented Girls. The case is analyzed in order to identify how and why the goal of establishing the Academy was successful, and to consider what may be learned in terms of the implications for the tactics and strategies used that might be adopted by other women in similar circumstances.

Jewish-Israeli attitudes towards the Iranian football team during the 2014 World Cup tournament

To contribute to analysis of the interplay between sport and politics, this study examines Jewish-Israeli attitudes towards the Iranian football team during the 2014 World Cup tournament. A survey amongst a representative sample of the Jewish-Israeli population reveals that the Iranian team was the least favored team to win the games but, at the same time, young and secular respondents were more likely than other groups to believe that the Iranian team is not controlled by their government. An analysis of Israeli sportscasters’ comments during Iran’s games reveals that the sportscasters regularly referred to the Iranian team as representatives of a terror state. In contrast, an analysis of online mentions of the Iranian team reveals that many of the comments were positive and empathized with Iranian soccer fans. The findings strengthen the notion that sport and politics are fused, but also illuminate that the World Cup games promoted realms, albeit peripheral, of less dichotomist stereotyping.