Brogley Webb 1 Concussions and Other Headaches: An Analysis of the Journalistic Coverage of the Concussion Crisis and Football-Related Brain Trauma _________________________________ A Thesis Presented to The Honors Tutorial College Ohio University ________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation from The Honors Tutorial College with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Journalism __________________________________ By Jordan Brogley Webb April 2014 Brogley Webb 2 This thesis has been approved by The Honors Tutorial College and the Department of Journalism Ohio University _________________________ Professor Thomas Hodson Thesis Advisor Professor, Journalism _________________________ Dr. Bernhard Debatin Honors Tutorial College Director of Studies, Journalism _________________________ Dr. Jeremy Webster Dean, Honors Tutorial College Brogley Webb 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible about the care and guidance of many individuals. First and foremost I would like to thank my parents, Douglas Webb and Joycelyn Brogley for all of their love and for giving me the opportunity to pursue my journalism degree in a world-renowned institution like Scripps and the Honors Tutorial College. Their pursuits and passions for careers and medicine and law have inspired a great deal of my thesis. Thank you to Dr. Michael Butterworth, Dr. Julia Keller, Dr. Brian Ragan, Dr. Craig Chappell, Dr. Aimee Edmondson, and Bill Reader, for their help in my research. To my fellow HTC journalism senior, roommate, and best friend, Maggie Krueger, I thank you for tremendous support of me throughout this entire process. I never would have seen this project through if it were not for her help on numerous aspects of it. Finally, the greatest amount of thanks to my advisor Tom Hodson and my director of studies, Dr. Bernhard Debatin. It has been a true pleasure and honor to work with the both of them on this thesis. Thank you so much for all of the advice you have given me over the past four years, I know it will serve me well as I move forward. Brogley Webb 4 ABSTRACT Black Sunday, the day when, for the first time on October 17, 2010, three NFL players were fined for vicious and illegal hits, was the starting point of what would then become a national debate about concussions and football-related brain trauma. Just three years later, brothers Mark and Steve Fainaru, reporters from ESPN would collaborate with PBS’s Frontline to expose how the NFL attempted to cover up its knowledge of the risks of brain damage in League of Denial. This thesis uses a variety of analytical tools, including metaphor, valence, framing, source, and descriptive statistical analysis to better understand how the mainstream sports media have covered what has been deemed the “concussion crisis” at the professional, collegiate, and youth levels of football. In 489 articles from both ESPN and Sports Illustrated, this study finds a distinctly negative slant to the reporting, and a prevalence of war, violence, death, and sickness metaphors. It additionally examines through what frames journalists have tried to make sense of this debate, finding frames of labor/management, race/gender, public perception, scientific debate, and opinion. Lastly it analyzes the implications of which sources these media organizations most frequently cite for medically based information. Brogley Webb 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction…………………………………………………………………………9 Part 1: Literature Review………………………………………………………..…11 Chapter I: College Athletics …………………………………………………..……11 Definition of a Student Athlete.……………………………………….…...…11 Ethical Transgression Made by Universities…………………………….…...13 NCAA as the Cause of the Corruption and a Moral Arbiter …………………14 Compensation of Athletes, Rules, and Impermissible Benefits………………16 Chapter II: Science Journalism and Sports Media….……………………….………18 Chapter III: The Development and Culture of Football ……………………………20 Masculinity and Homophobia……….…………………..……….………...…20 Aggression and Violence Within the Game, Militarization…..……….……...22 NFL Films and the Cultural Influence of Football……….……….……….....24 Chapter IV: The NFL……….. ……………………..………………………………25 Brief History of the Modern NFL……….…………….….……….………....25 Prominent Players Whose Deaths Have Been Associated with Football Induced Brain Trauma……….………………………………….………….………….26 NFL’s mTBI Committee and Player Safety Under Paul Tagliabue………......28 Heightened Awareness of Concussion Danger in the Roger Goodell Era........28 Rule Changes and NFL Player Safety Initiatives……….……….…...…….....29 Prominent Brain Injury Research Groups……….……………….……..….....30 Health Benefits Under the New Collective Bargaining Agreement…....….....32 Brogley Webb 6 Lawsuit Filed by NFL Players Against the League and Settlement…….........32 Chapter V: Concussions, CTE, and Brain Science. ..………………………...……..33 Definitions of Concussions, mTBI, and CTE…...……………….……..….....33 Injuries Among High School, College, and NFL Football Players ……….....35 Injury Prevention………………………………...……………….……..….....37 Diagnosis of mTBI in athletes……………….….……………….……..….....38 Treatment of mTBI in athletes………………….……………….……..….....39 Part II: Research and Conclusions…….………………………………………..…42 Chapter VI: Methodology…………………………………………………………..42 Metaphor Theory………………..…….…………….….……….……….....…42 Research Questions…………..……..….…………….….……….………...…43 Sample……………………..………….….…………….….……….………...46 Descriptive Statistics……..….………………...……….….……….………...50 Source Analysis………...……………………………….….……….………...51 Metaphor Theory………………………….…………….….……….………...52 Valence Analysis……….………………….………….….……….…………..54 Topic Valence…….………………….….…………….….……….……….....55 Tone Valence………….…………….….…………………...…….………….56 Framing Analysis…………………….….…………….….……….………….57 Chapter VII: Discussion of Findings and Results…………………..…………..…59 Metaphor Analysis……….…………………...….…………….….………….59 Valence Analysis……….………………….………….….……….……….....69 Brogley Webb 7 Topic Valence……….……………….….…………….….……….……….....70 Tone Valence………….…………….….…………………...…….………….75 Framing Analysis…………………….….…………….….……….………….80 Source Analysis……….……………………………….….……….………….92 Descriptive Statistics…………………….…………….….……….………….99 Chapter VIII: Conclusions and Further Questions……………………...………114 Metaphor Analysis……….…………………...….…………….….………...114 Topic Valence……………………….….…………….….……….………...116 Tone Valence………….…………….….…………………...…….………...117 Framing Analysis…………………….….…………….….……….………...118 Source Analysis……….……………………………….….……….………...121 Descriptive Statistics…………………….…………….….……….………...123 Summary of Major Findings…………………….….…….……….………...125 Limitations……….……………………………….….……………………...127 Questions for Further Research…………………….….….……….………...128 Bibliography……..………………….….…………….….……….………………...130 Appendix A: Bibliography of Articles from Sample………….…….…...............136 Appendix B: Tables and Charts………….……...….….……………….………...167 Table 1: Major Trends for Each Subtopic………………..………................167 Table 2: Stories by Year…………………...….….……………….………...169 Table 3: Stories by Level of Football………………….....………................169 Table 4: Stories by Publication….………...….….……………….………...170 Brogley Webb 8 Table 5: Topic by Publication…………………..………..………................170 Table 6: Topic by Level of Football ……...….….……………….………...170 Table 7: Breakdown by Topic……………..……………..………................171 Table 8: Topic Breakdown By Number of Stories Per Year….….………...171 Item 9: Timeline for Each Subtopic……………..…….....………................172 Appendix C: Metaphor Tables….………………...….…...…………….………...188 Appendix D: Source Tables………………..……………………….…..................200 Appendix E: Valence Ratings…………………...…….……………….……….....205 Brogley Webb 9 INTRODUCTION In September of 2002, Mike Webster, a Hall of Fame center, who played in the National Football League from 1974-1990, died of a heart attack at age 50. Webster, who was beloved by fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, notably suffered from depression, dementia, chronic pain, and memory loss in the later years of his life. Getting divorced a mere six months prior to his death, Webster had been living out of his pickup truck in between Wisconsin and Pittsburgh. Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian pathologist, conducted the autopsy, and found distinct accumulations of a substance called tau protein, present in Webster’s brain. Omalu went on to call the disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition once believed to only affect boxers, providing an explicit connection between the brain trauma Webster suffered as a football player to the dementia he developed after he retired. Upon his attempted publication of his findings, Dr. Omalu encountered staunch opposition from the NFL’s medical experts, who tried to discredit him and destroy his reputation within the scientific community. Omalu began to understand that he had inadvertently poked a wasp’s nest, as he found himself at the dangerous intersection of political motives, business interests, and scientific research. The issues of brain trauma, concussions, and CTE in football players did not become widely covered by the mainstream sports media until 2010, when the NFL began a concerted campaign to improved player safety by instituting a number of rule changes. The effects were immediate and dramatic, with the NFL singling out a number of defensive players and in effect, publically shaming them by handing out Brogley Webb 10 five-figure fines for what it deemed illegal and dangerous hits. Over the past several years the mainstream sports media, for the purposes