images and blind spots. More and more people see this politics as being defined by a dominant group that has its own reality as its base. This can lead to inequality and injustice. Monitoring this can be vital. But it can also be about trivial matters, like “the most important side issue.” sports.
About the author
Marisa Monsanto Independent consultant in the cultural sector and head of the Kiti Koti Theatre. Prior to that, she worked as a civil servant for twenty years. In November, Monsanto is a visiting columnist for de Volkskrant, which invites someone every month to publish a series of columns at volkskrant.nl/opinie.
These weeks, the FIFA World Cup is dominating our TV and radio world. In accordance with the media’s decision, the fixed programming is assigned to the live coverage of this sporting event. Just like with European Championships, International Matches, Champions League and Europa League. In the Super Cup and National Cup competitions.
in the Tour de France, the Road World Championships, the Dutch Cycling Classic, the World Cup, and the European Championships snowboarding. At the Summer and Winter Olympics, tennis finals, TT Assen and Formula 1. And at a series of sporting events dedicated to the “Partially Postponed Coverage”. Naturally, all of these broadcasts are steeped in previews, afterthoughts, analysis, interviews, and panel discussions from the broadcasters.
hysterical volume
Radio 1 Sports Summer He completes his dominance with soccer events, the Tour, the Giro, Wimbledon, and the Olympic Games once every four years. News listeners with little interest in sports are turned away from the channel by the hysterical, piercing volume that seems to accompany sports reporting. However, these listeners have nowhere to go for the hard news that NPO Radio 1 usually provides. With its focus on business, stocks and cars, BNR does not often provide an attractive haven for many.
The NOS has the legal task of reporting news and events (including ceremonies). In addition to this huge amount of sport, the Prinsengrachtfestival and the Eurovision Song Contest are two cultural elements of the NOS board. The question is whether this distribution is justified when there are so many sporting events in the year. And whether it is (almost) true that a quarter of our “staff” from NOS Radio and Television do exclusive sports reporting.
Are these ratios correct for world news and all the other things we want to be aware of? It seems that the state is promoting athletic dominance and sports fanaticism.
You Won’t See It Until You Realize It: Subliminal images and blind spots likely define this policy. For example, those who are interested in world news on radio and television, in newspapers and opinion magazines, are also automatically interested in intense sports consumption. And the rest of the media audience dragonfly is reading, Idiot Woman seems, or coffee time.
Watch the numbers
According to the Kijkwijzeronderzoek Foundation, 15 percent of NPO1’s airtime in 2021 went to live sports coverage, which has a 25 percent share among viewers aged 6 and over. But among people over 65, sports never appear in the top ten most-watched shows. I couldn’t find data on the share of sports on radio, or on all radio sports talk shows and late news. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to check out how much sport really eats us up, and which consumer needs what kind of information?
Then we can come up with alternatives based on knowledge and arguments. For example, a model where news seekers/non-sports enthusiasts can stay with “their” channel, while sports fans are catered broadly.
A separate sports channel.
With 24/7 sports, with previews and afterthoughts, analyses, interviews, talk shows and panels from broadcasters, rebroadcasts, obligatory attention to sports and women’s sports that are now hard to see: badminton, basketball, baseball, netball, gymnastics, etc. forth. Such a public channel, where real news is secondary, perhaps could be funded in cooperation with Flemish radio and television broadcasting, and perhaps supported by public-private constructions. New initiative fit perfectly For the recently announced extensive collaboration plans From NPO and VRT.
education
This way we keep other channels accessible to all other viewers and listeners. These channels offer news, research, background information, entertainment, drama, education, youth and youth programming. We bypass the limitations of viewer rating and replace them with criteria such as quality, accessibility, and representation. On talk shows like in 1 And Khaled and Sofia Sport is an exceptional subject.
In this way, the public broadcaster retains viewers and listeners who might otherwise flee from sports dominance. Sports fans are showered with an abundance of broadcasts. This is how we eliminate another blind spot. Certainly not a vital issue. From the fun of the media.
