NCAA March Madness

An Investigation of Gender Coverage in USA Today During the NCAA Basketball Tournaments

Authors

  • Coyte G. Cooper University of North Carolina
  • Andrea Eagleman Indiana University
  • Pamela C. Laucella Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.2.2.299

Abstract

In today’s economic environment, the United States newspaper industry has realized a severe period of decline in terms of circulation and overall consumer interest (Sullivan-Getty, 2009). While several major newspapers ceased existence in 2008, the USA Today remained the most popular American newspaper with a daily circulation well over 2.2 million (Sutel, 2008). However, with recent changes in consumer travel, the newspaper is expected to lose its position as the top U.S. daily following a 17% drop in circulation from April to September (Vanacore, 2009). With this in mind, it is critical that the USA Today identifies business strategies that will allow it to increase its circulation in years to come. In particular, it is more important than ever that the newspaper is aware of the content being delivered to consumers to ensure that it is delivering a highly competitive product. Thus, the purpose of the study is to investigate the coverage during the men’s and women’s NCAA Basketball Championships to determine whether the newspaper is providing content to maximize its potential reach with sport consumers.

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Author Biographies

  • Coyte G. Cooper, University of North Carolina
    Cooper is with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Exercise and Sport Sciences (Sport Administration), Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Eagleman is with Indiana University, Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Bloomington, Indiana. Laucella is with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Sport Journalism, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  • Andrea Eagleman, Indiana University
    Cooper is with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Exercise and Sport Sciences (Sport Administration), Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Eagleman is with Indiana University, Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Bloomington, Indiana. Laucella is with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Sport Journalism, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  • Pamela C. Laucella, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
    Cooper is with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Exercise and Sport Sciences (Sport Administration), Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Eagleman is with Indiana University, Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Bloomington, Indiana. Laucella is with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Sport Journalism, Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Published

2009-12-01

How to Cite

Cooper, C. G., Eagleman, A., & Laucella, P. C. (2009). NCAA March Madness: An Investigation of Gender Coverage in USA Today During the NCAA Basketball Tournaments. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 2(2), 299-311. https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.2.2.299