Media coverage is a critical aspect shaping the image of any prominent figure and determining the public attitude. With the development of new technologies and communication means, such content has become significantly more diverse. Depending on the form of media, ranging from the traditional ones to the personal communication channels, stories may have different purposes and tonalities. For the athletes, such versatility is also supplemented by the attempts to build a strong brand and commercialize their popularity. A perfect example of a sportsman with comprehensive and diverse media coverage is Michael Phelps, a famous American swimmer and a long-term member of the invincible US Olympic Team. Having won the highest number of Olympic gold medals throughout the Games’ history, he was recognized as the most outstanding American athlete of all time. However, the scandals occurring during Michael Phelps’ career sometimes led to general condemnation and the need to repair his public image. Therefore, the review of several stories about him is a reasonable way of defining the particularities of athlete coverage by different media under various circumstances.
The image of Michael Phelps in the traditional media largely depended on the circumstances and the events under review. Two stories, one published in 2009 and the other is 2016, show the striking difference in the attitude of reports towards the athlete. The first one refers to the period when Michael Phelps was accused of smoking marijuana (Macur, 2009). It describes the applied punishments and conveys his message of regret and sorrow for improper behavior. It is noticeable that the story contains mostly facts and official statements without any author’s emotional assessments. The other article, published in the Washington Post, is dedicated to the last competitions of the world-famous swimmer (Svrluga, 2016). Depicting Phelps’ victory in the trials for participating in his last contest as part of the American Olympic Team, the author dwells into the history of the athlete’s glory and struggles. This is a substantially more emotional article aimed at developing empathy towards the character. Thus, the traditional media stories are mostly dedicated to current public interest areas and generally directed on repairing or enhancing the athlete’s image.
The in-house media, represented in this case by the USA Swimming Times, primarily covers important competitions or events in the athlete’s lives. An example of such a story is the one describing a moment when the United States Sports Academy granted Michael Phelps an Athlete of the Year award (USA Swimming, 2017). It addresses his primary career achievements, along with mentioning the key features of the prize itself. This is a factual career story intended to summarize the athlete’s accomplishments after his retirement without considering any personal aspects. Another story is a more profile one and defines Michael Phelps as a prominent teammate driving his fellows to the victory (McFadden, 2016). A distinctive feature is that the article includes many quotes by Michael himself, thereby applying to the reader’s compassion and feeling of involvement. The use of superlative terms additionally raises the emotional level of the publication. Thus, both articles are dedicated to presenting glorious moments and generating respect and admiration towards the athlete.
For determining the particularities of citizen media coverage, it is reasonable to refer to a local edition of the area where the sports performer lives. In the case of Michael Phelps, this can be the Baltimore Sun newspaper, containing several noticeable articles. One of them is a story describing the athlete’s contribution to mental health improvement and community services after his retirement (Ginsburg, 2019). It is devoted to his decoration with the Ruderman Award and depicts the sportsman’s personality. Another article spotlights the house owned by Michael Phelps in the local residential area (Britto, 2018). It describes all the facilities inside his house and gives some details about his family and their life. Such topics would not attract any attention from the principal federal editions, as they are mainly interesting for the locals. However, they supplement the primary stories and give additional insight into the person’s character and activities.
The final area, which is gaining additional popularity nowadays, is personal media coverage. Since such communication means are highly subjective and represent the point of view of a specific individual, the assessments there may vary significantly. This is evident in the collection of tweets about Michael Phelps (Tamarkin & Spelman, 2016). They range from complete admiration for the athlete’s career to obvious sarcasm, contemplating the role of weed in becoming a prominent sportsman. As with any personal messages, these tweets can be quickly forgotten, although some stories become viral. An excellent example of such unintentional but powerful coverage is a Facebook post of a Michael Phelps fan suffering from autism (Gould, 2016). He speaks about how the athlete provides inspiration and encourages him to move forward and overcome all the challenges. That defines the sportsman’s profile and emphasizes his role in the lives of people he might never know. Thus, social media is characterized by its emotional component and uncontrolled distribution, making it capable of both highlighting and ruining the reputation.
The review given above describes the coverage of Michael Phelps by various media types supplementing one another. The traditional media define a public figure’s overall image, contemplating the topics deserving universal attention. The in-house editions are partly similar to them, but tend to review only positive aspects and provide some additional details. The citizen and personal media refine the coverage by giving specific particularities and adding some ordinary people’s views. Thus, the combination of all the mentioned media types is essential for building the comprehensive image of an athlete.
References
Britto, B. (2018). New Arizona mansion linked to Michael Phelps. The Baltimore Sun. Web.
Ginsburg, D. (2019). Former Olympic swim star Michael Phelps receives Ruderman Award for honesty on mental health, helping others. The Baltimore Sun. Web.
Gould, A. (2016). Facebook post to Michael Phelps from fan with autism goes viral. Bleacher Report.
Macur, J. (2009). Phelps disciplined over marijuana pipe incident. The New York Times. Web.
McFadden, C. (2016). The moment: Michael Phelps cements his legacy – as a teammate. USA Swimming Times. Web.
Svrluga, B. (2016). In his signature event, Michael Phelps earns spot on his fifth Olympic team. The Washington Post. Web.
Tamarkin, S., & Spelman, G. (2016). Literally just 19 hilarious tweets about Michael Phelps. BuzzFeed.
USA Swimming. (2017). Phelps named United States Sports Academy male athlete of the year. USA Swimming Times.