Whether it’s the rioting fans in Marseille or the boycott by Halesowen Town FC supporters, sports protest stories have become familiar to most soccer fans. But do all those reports of violence and vandalism distort the story?
A recent study of newsrooms’ coverage of fan protests suggests that the way the protest is presented can make a difference in how credible the story appears. Researchers asked participants to view a news story about a teenager’s death that sparked a protest in either a way that humanized the teenager and legitimized the protest, or a way that criminalized the teenager and delegitimized the protest. Then the participants were asked questions about their attitudes toward the teenager whose death had spurred the protest, the protest itself and the protesters. The results showed that stories that humanized the teenager led Democrats and those with Democrat-leaning views to perceive the protest and the protesters as more credible, while stories that delegitimized the protest caused these groups to perceive the protest and the protesters as less credible.
The THST’s campaign to drive out the Glazer family from Manchester United may take longer than they anticipated. But it’s clear that fans remain angry at the club’s American owners, who bought the club for 790 million pounds and loaded it with debt. It’s also clear that fans have no intention of turning their back on the fight against inequality in football.