Abstract:
This study examined the role of sports in agenda building and intermedia agenda setting in the case of the Iraqi soccer team at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Using a content analysis to examine the New York Times and USA Today, the study asked if coverage of the Iraqi soccer team positive and, if so, did that positive coverage influence non-sports articles related to Iraq to be positive as well? In this case, real-life events appeared to be responsible for agenda building. Although the sports stories were generally positive, they did not cause non-sports coverage to be positive as well. Intervening factors such as the war and political conflict made a greater impact on the tone and salience of the Iraq-related articles. Sports do not appear to have the power to create the major and lasting societal change that people often give them credit for.