Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 638

Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Public Art and

Human Development (ICPAHD 2021)

The Impact of Negative News on Athletes' Performance

on the Field
Bingkuan Zhang
Changde Foreign Language School
Zbk799043338@163.com

ABSTRACT
The negative reports of various media have increasingly become an important factor affecting athletes' competition
attention and performance. This study proposes to study the impact of negative news on the athletes' performance on
the field. Negative news can affect athletes' attention. This paper aims to explore how to eliminate the interference of
negative media reports and how to deal with it.

Keywords: mass media, news media, performance, sport, athlete

1. INTRODUCTION other celebrities. From online blogs, to newspaper posts,

and social sites, all of these information sources remain
The outcome of sports competition is determined by open to the public, upon which they base their opinions
many factors. The key to the competition lies in the concerning the person or issue in question. These not
competitive strength and mental state of athletes. only bring the convenience of competition and watching
Generally speaking, athletes with higher competitive the competition, but also bring a new test to the
level have more possibility to win. A lot of books, psychological quality of athletes. The on-site reports,
scholarly publications, and papers have been advanced off-site reports and post competition reports of various
regarding the mental state of an athlete and their media have gradually become an important factor that
performance. Athletes' mental state often plays a can not be ignored. In particular, negative news can
decisive role in the success or failure of the competition, cause athletes' depression, which intensifies the decline
and there are many factors affecting athletes' mental of athletes' energy and the deterioration of anger,
state. These sources have a common standpoint, holding confusion, fatigue and tension, and finally leads to the
that the efficiency of an athlete’s performance tends to abnormal play of the game. Top athletes nowadays are
reduce in the face of distraction, arguing that held to a level beyond their sport of choice within
distractions inhibit the ability of an athlete to focus. popular culture, including some local, national, and
Distractions were found to stimulate negative mood, global recognition. Michael Vick, the legendary Atlanta
detrimental arousal, as well as a spike in stress and Falcons' quarterback, became an example of the above.
anxiety levels, all of which consume mental energy. He was found guilty of being a party to an unlawful
Also known as adverse media, negative news is among dogfighting operation. An average person in society
the major causes of distraction in athlete’s performance. would be apprehended discreetly and spend a jail time
Negative news can be explored as any sort of in complete privacy, but owing to Vick's national
unfavorable or derogatory information about a subject visibility, the offense rapidly overshadowed any football
found on multiple news sources. In the case of athletes, accomplishments he had achieved. Vick needed a great
like other celebrities, negative news may mean a deal of time plus brand restoration initiatives to regain
message delivering news that the athlete or their credibility in professional sports. Such occurrences may
audience would dislike, which would certainly consume be found all through the diverse sectors of pro sports. In
a significant proportion of their mental energy and some cases, the negative news could be as a result of an
reduce their ability to focus, hence low performance. overload of data, incomplete or unconfirmed info, as
The onset of the digital era has resulted in well as fake news, implying that an athlete’s ability to
extraordinary access to multiple information pieces on focus would still be negatively affected by negative
individuals, brands, and public figures like athletes and news, whether or not the information is true. Negative
news sources include (a) traditional media and sources

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of news, (b) databases of multinational bodies, and (c) 3. APPLICATION OF BUSINESS MODELS
blogposts or web publications, inclusive of sites that
post on rackets, corruption, as well as other unlawful Top athletes, strangely enough, are regarded more
acts by prominent persons. seriously than politicians owing to the effect athletes
have on the decisions the publics take, particularly
The media mentioned in this paper refers to the among the youth. Celebrity sportsmen have a high and
entity that reports or comments on the performance of positive effect on teenagers' constructive word-of-mouth
athletes in the field to the public. The media can be as well as brand awareness[3]. As role models, athletes
newspaper reporters, photographers, TV commentators, are on more public scrutiny thanks to media reports. As
viewers or people who comment on the performance of such, instances of negative news on an athlete can be
athletes through public forums and online blogs. The compared to negative branding, in that the audience will
media's publicity and coverage of sports events can be feel disappointed in the celebrity they look up to, while
said to have covered all aspects. the athlete will feel shunned by the public for nor living
The general public, on the other hand, appears to up to their expectations [4]. Such occurrences will
believe that it is right and obligation to task these people effectively distract the athlete in question by reducing
to a higher level of morality and decency. Due to the their ability to focus, consequently hurting performance.
public's "need-to-know," it falls upon those managing It is at this point that the public relations expert has
professional athletes to regulate the idea that fans get. It to be meticulous in their client analysis. Whenever red
is sometimes insufficient to just utter the appropriate flags are found in the life of the sportsperson, a strategy
words in public. According to Edward Bernays, for tackling the situation must be instituted prior to
generally regarded as the "Godfather of Public becoming widely known. In so doing, any harm to the
Relations," one should demonstrate to the audience that reputation of the athlete may be handled and present or
the statements they are expressing are true. potential sponsorship arrangements are not jeopardized.
Consequently, actions are more essential than words in Nevertheless, it is clear from the drug and sex
gaining public acceptance [1]. controversies involved with several athletic figures'
personal lives that they are yet to come to terms with the
2. LITERATURE REVIEW fact that they have a new task in life: one of being the
best examples for the younger generation [5].
When it comes to the ability to concentrate and keep
a positive mental attitude, mental energy is an essential There are numerous ways to look at public relations.
element. Effective concentration and a positive attitude L. Roy Blumenthal described it as the "impact on the
are vital to conserving physical energy, which translates broader population... that may be referred to as mass
to sustained masterly technique and focus, proper skill indoctrination" [6]. According to the Handbook of
execution, as well as withstanding the barriers to fatigue Public Relations, "public relations may be described as
and pain. The time used to worry about distractions assisting an institution as well as its broader public in
drains the athlete’s mental energy, effectively impacting freely adapting to one another" [7]. The explanation by
performance [2]. As pointed out in an earlier study by Lesley is based on the premise that PR is about
Haverstraw, distractions can stem from anywhere establishing a relationship between the customer and the
inclusive of the presence of family or the people an general public. For the objectives of this study, it is
athlete would want to make a good impression upon, critical to establish an acceptable understanding of
relationship issues, trainers, unprecedented high public relations and also comprehend the significance of
performance, teammates, underperformance, a professional athlete's public image.
competitors, frustrations caused by blunders, unfair
criticism, and certainly the media. Likewise, Soroka and 4. ANALYSIS
others, argue that the coverage of current news is often
negative, a tendency predominantly accounted for by There are numerous aspects to making certain that a
journalistic bias. However, the scholars further posit that brand's value within the public is not fully lost when
media bias cannot account for all the instances of dealing with a crisis. As a procedure, c risis
negative news worldwide. Instead, they argue on the management is meant to minimize or mitigate the harm
possibility of negative news being a component of that a crisis may wreak on an entity plus its stakeholders
humanity that is more inclined to attend to negative [8]. Concerned citizens relations team are critical in
news content. Since the above study contends the such situations and should not be underestimated or
average person is more physiologically inclined to overlooked. Practitioners of public relations are
negative than positive news items, we can conclude that essential members of teams that manage crises [9]. In
negative news on athletes tends to be more impactful on the face of a profession-threatening crisis with the
the recipient than news of their positive deeds. potential to harm the reputation of both the sports team
and respective player, PR experts are essentially the first
layer of protection. Three connected hazards might arise

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as a result of a crisis, including (a) the safety of the or not their acts are tied to their preferred profession or
public the athlete is modelling, (b) economic damage, attributable to the nature of being human is
and (c) damaged reputations. The last two are the inconsequential. Famous personalities, on the other
central topic proposed for this study. hand, already are subjected to intense media attention
owing to how much they are worth and the very skills
Whereas safety of the public may be a worry in
they have. Such intense scrutiny makes top athletes
certain circumstances whenever one is addressing a pro
more susceptible to controversies because of excess
athlete's problem, that isn't always the case. Too often,
media attention. The media is realizing that no single
loss of revenue and reputational damage must be
individual can be polished through victimization[13],
weighed. The representative in charge of handling the
implying that making them villains might also
matter must be properly trained and comprehend all the
contributes to underperformance since too much
concerns involved. In essence, training as a
criticism can lower one's self-esteem. But it does not
spokesperson is a critical aspect of crises training
mean they'll stop looking for someone to blame for
sessions. That individual must understand that they are
everything.
the public's voice, and that if the concerned party in the
issue is unable to respond for some reason, the Pro sports are vital to the worldwide social culture
representative is directly talking on their behalf. It is and have long been regarded as a viable option to
common knowledge that a live broadcast on CNN isn't conflict. William James, an American philosopher,
the platform for a boss to launch their media training lobbied for about having a moral that could be
[10]. It explains why training amid non-crisis situations compared to war many decades ago[14]. That
is so important for customer management. When one is substitution concept is why individuals affiliated
ready for any probable crisis, the harm done by sporting activities get such intense scrutiny[15]. As a
whatever circumstance comes will be reduced. result, PR experts have the role of helping their bosses
(top athletes) navigate cases of negative publicity
Without someone informing the people what is
throughout their professional career[16].
going on, they will eventually fill in on their own with
no truth or reality to back up their beliefs. The answer This research is constrained by the best knowledge
has to be consistent no matter if it's limiting a bad of the researcher about controversial pro athletes,
impression of anything the individual has done or inclusive of the limited time to conduct this study.
condemning a gossip that has no foundation in fact [11]. More study is required to look for links between
Instant engagement with the broadcast media expresses unfavorable media on elite sportspersons. Other sports
the idea that is purely dependent on the veracity in the should be examined to expand on the results of how
words chosen by the athlete. Without doing this, the media influence’s ability. Debacles as well as the media
audience will make their own remarks against the surrounding them should also be scrutinized from as far
athlete, forcing him or her to reply [12]. The concept of as the inception of professional sporting activities to
message management stems out of the notion that it is date, to ensure it results into a comprehensive study.
preferable to issue a comment instead of responding to Furthermore, interviewing actual top athletes would go
questions. A coup would have happened if, within the a long way to aid in determining if the bad publicity had
sentence, the individual responds to the entirety of an effect on their performance.
questions before they are posed. The world will be told
precisely what they should be aware of in the way that REFERENCES
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