Issues in Sport 2025: Media and Sport

Following and posting sport-related content on social media is wide-spread among young people. To date, little is known about the interdependence between sport-related social media use and the thereby perceived personal body image.

Using a contentious issue in sport – the athlete protests during the playing of the national anthem – this paper examined the relationship between media outlets' social media coverage of athlete protests and the social media user interest and sentiment. We analysed data sourced from the media outlets' official Instagram accounts, along with comments on these posts.