Sport, media and migration: use of sports media by Turkish migrants and its potential for integration

Abstract

This essay takes a closer look at what meaning the use of sports media has for the integration of German residents with a Turkish migration background. In a first step, the integrative potentials of the broadcast sports are discussed through theoretical considerations. Then, the selected empirical results of a survey of people with Turkish migration backgrounds, being the largest immigration group in Germany, are presented. This data offers first indications concerning the question of the extent to which sports media content may be particularly appropriate as a way of contributing to the successful integration of people from migration backgrounds. The results attained show that sports media content must be taken seriously as a relevant phenomenon for integration processes.

Notes

¹ Boswell, ‘Migration in Europe’, 1; OECD, A Profile of Immigrant Populations.

² UZK, Bericht.

³ Statistisches Bundesamt, Leben in Deutschland, 75.

⁴ According to the Federal Statistical Office's criteria, immigrants, nationalized foreigners, Ethnic German repatriates (since 1.8.1999) and Germans without migration experience but with at least one parent being an Ethnic German repatriate, nationalized foreigners or foreigners are considered a part of this group. See Statistisches Bundesamt, Leben in Deutschland, 73.

⁵ Commission of the European Communities. ‘White Paper on Sport’, 7.

⁶ Amir, ‘Contact Hypotheses in Ethnic Relations’, 319–342.

⁷ See Bonfadelli et al., ‘Use of Old and New Media by Ethnic Minority Youth in Europe’; a detailed bibliography is offered in Geißler and Pöttker, Massenmedien und die Integration ethnischer Minderheiten in Deutschland, 409–524.

⁸ For an extensive bibliography, see Geißler and Pöttker, Massenmedien und die Integration ethnischer Minderheiten in Deutschland, 409–524.

⁹ Insofar as this is concerned GfK-television research's panel fails to provide any useable data, since the largest migrant group in Germany, Turkish migrants, is not represented.

¹⁰ Esser, Migration, Language and Integration, 7.

¹¹ See Lockwood, ‘Social Integration and System Integration’, 244–57; Esser, Migration, Language and Integration, 7.

¹² Berry and Kim, ‘Acculturation and Mental Health’, 211.

¹³ Berry, ‘Psychology of Acculturation’, 245.

¹⁴ Berry and Kim's grid has prevailed as a basic model. As a result, a number of variations and applications focussing on specific research problems can be found in the academic literature. See, for example, Esser, Migration, Language and Integration, 25.

¹⁵ Bonfadelli et al., ‘Use of Old and New Media by Ethnic Minority Youth in Europe’, 144.

¹⁶ In follow-up studies, the questions of integration potentials and processes would be key to expanding understanding of what communication follows such forms media use, the effect this has on identity formation and the exchange with other important integration parameters.

¹⁷ In the survey of people of Turkish migrant backgrounds, 67% of respondents had satellite reception in their household and 42% lived in a house with access to cable television (multiple responses were possible).

¹⁸ Simon and Kloppenburg, ‘Das Fernsehpublikum türkischer Herkunft’, 142.

¹⁹ The interviews were conducted by trained German interviewers. If the interviews could not be carried out due to language difficulties, translators were consulted.

²⁰ The sample is composed of 473 male and 255 female respondents with an average age of 28 (14–19-year olds: 166; 20–29-year olds: 305; 30–39-year olds: 145; 40–49-year olds: 71; 50–69-year olds: 41). The participants' educational levels are divided like this: no secondary school diploma (16), in school (127), trained vocationally (98), secondary school diploma (161), abitur (A-level equivalent) or higher education (211), secondary school diploma from outside Germany (98), no information (17).

²¹ Simon, ‘Migranten und Medien’, 429.

²² See Tomlinson and Young, National Identity and Global Sports Events.

²³ See Loosen, Die Medienrealität des Sports, 121–3.

²⁴ Schierl and Ludwig, ‘Visualisierung und Ästhetik des Sports in den Medien’.

²⁵ The indicated language knowledge is based on the respondents' self-assessment.

²⁶ Simon, ‘Migranten und Medien’, 434, offers similar results referring to general media use.

²⁷ Miller et al., Globalization and Sport.

²⁸ Lull, ‘Superculture for the Communication Age’, 132–64.

²⁹ The Brazilian athletes who were named were all football players.

³⁰ The assumption corresponds with the results in Melnick and Jackson, ‘Globalization American-Style and Reference idol Section’, 436; Stevens et al., ‘Who is Your Hero?’ who found that American sports stars were the biggest source of heroes for Canadian/New Zealand youngsters. Referring to the heroes of the British sports fan Parry, ‘Search for the Hero’, 219, suggests ‘that some sports fans identify with players for their qualities or performances for a team rather than on nationalistic grounds’.

³¹ Concerning the objective targets of the study ‘Migranten und Medien’ (‘Migrants and Media’), which was commissioned by the ARD/ZDF media commission, Simon, 426, states that: ‘One of the central aims is to represent cultural diversity, not only in specialised offerings, but a representative part of the social reality in all programmes. The “Mainstreaming diversity” approach is guided by the idea that the representation of cultural diversity and media discourse about integration are particularly effective when they occur in all programmes and broadcasting sections and in particularly in those that have mass appeal.’ (‘Ein zentrales Anliegen ist es dabei, kulturelle Vielfalt nicht allein in speziellen Angeboten, sondern in allen Programmen als Teil der gesellschaftlichen Wirklichkeit abzubilden. Hinter dem Ansatz der “Mainstreaming diversity” steht der Gedanke, dass die Darstellung von kultureller Vielfalt und der mediale Diskurs über Integration vor allem dann gesellschaftlich wirksam werden kann, wenn sie in allen und insbesondere auch in den massenattraktiven Programmen und Sendestrecken stattfindet.’)