Sports journalism, fandom, and social cohesion : the framing of Springbok Eben Etzebeth's assault incident on the Facebook pages of selected news organisations

Abstract

South Africa is a proud sporting nation, and sport is seen as a cultural phenomenon that can contribute to social cohesion, which refers to the shared sense of solidarity and community within society. However, the sport has also been an area of conflict in South Africa due to aspects such as prescribed racial quotas for sports teams. It is in this context that sports journalists work and in which fans support athletes and teams –nowadays often through two-way communication about sport on social media platforms. In this study, the Facebook pages of three news organisations with a strong focus on sport, SA Rugby magazine, Sport24 and TimesLIVE, were studied following an alleged incident during which Springbok rugby player Eben Etzebeth was accused of assaulting and using racial slurs on men of mixed race outside the Langebaan Yacht Club in the Western Cape of South Africa. The alleged attack happened days before the 2019 Rugby World Cup team announcement, an international sporting event that Etzebeth was expected to play a key part in and in which South Africa hoped to perform – among other reasons to strengthen the nation’s cohesiveness. A literature study was employed to create a theoretical framework focusing on social cohesion, sports journalism, and fandom. Subsequently, a qualitative content analysis was used to analyse news reports about the Etzebeth incident posted by the news organisations on their Facebook pages and the comments of fans in which they responded to the news about the alleged incident. Framing and fandom as theories guided the interpretation of positive and negative frames that contributed to and undermined social cohesion. A total of 498 comments and 13 news reports were analysed. The results showed that Etzebeth was framed more negatively by the journalists of all three publications, and fans framed him more positively. The frames identified in the sports news reports were predominantly attributional framing, which means journalists accentuated certain aspects to make certain issues appeal more to the audience than others. Journalists focused on the orientation to the greater good and how a racial incident involving a rugby star undermined social cohesion. The dominant frame amongst fans was situational framing, as fans placed the incident in the context of the Rugby World Cup instead of social cohesion. Fans focused on inclusion and belonging by discussing Etzebeth’s inclusion in the Rugby World Cup and showed their affiliation with the Springboks by putting social injustice aside. However, despite being more positive, the fans' frames did not unequivocally contribute to or undermine social cohesion. In fact, in several instances, fans elevated social cohesion above sport. The study concludes that based on the empirical data and analysis sports journalism and fandom are elements that can inform social cohesion.