The Thematic Evolution of Sports Journalism's Narrative of Mental Illness: A Little Less Conversation contends that the conversation developed and sustained by sports journalists about professional athletes' experience with mental illness has evolved through three slightly overlapping stages, each marked by a primary theme. During the first stage, from the end of the 19th Century to the middle of the 20th century, sports journalists sensationalized the experience and portrayed the athletes - breathlessly labeled insane - as tragic figures. During the roughly two-decade second stage, an athlete's experience with mental illness was portrayed as an inconvenience that flummoxed and infuriated team officials who had neither the ability nor the inclination to address the issue. The final stage, leading up to present day and beyond, is most notable for the development and widespread adoption of a coverage template that centers around an athlete's brave decision to reveal and discuss their experiences. Combining historical research and narrative analysis, Ronald Bishop interrogates whether sports journalists have finally begun to cover the experience of mental illness with sufficient depth. Scholars of media studies, journalism, celebrity studies, and sports psychology would find this book of particular interest.
Ronald Bishop is professor in the Department of Communication at Drexel University.
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: The Media and Mental Illness Chapter 2: Life in the "Toy Department" Chapter 3: "The Act of a Madman" Chapter 4: "Natural Sunshine" Chapter 5: "All Squared Around" Chapter 6: "Life's Third Strike" Chapter 7: "Quite a Stir" Chapter 8: "All Sunny Jim" Ronald Bishop and Maggie Fedorocsko Chapter 9: "Just a Touch of Rubberitis" Chapter 10: "Drop a Cheer-Up Card" Chapter 11: "With a Haughty Indifference" Chapter 12: "The Endless Mystery" Chapter 13: "A Psychiatrist's Dream" Chapter 14: "I'm Doing Fine" Chapter 15: Of Battles Won Ronald Bishop and Amanda Milo Chapter 16: On Their Terms Chapter 17: Becoming Fully Narratable Ronald Bishop and Amanda Milo Chapter 18: All Roads Lead to Elvis References About the Author
"Ron Bishop has written a very important and long overdue book about mental illness and professional athletes. Bishop points out that journalists and society have long denied the human tragedy of athletes who struggle with mental illness. As someone who has long suffered from mental illness, this book left me with the question, what if? If Bishop's book broadens our perspective about mental illness, it will have accomplished something so few books have done," -- Chris Lamb, Indiana University-Indianapolis, author of Conspiracy of Silence: Sportswriters and the Long Campaign to Desegregate Baseball
