Public service media, sports, and cultural citizenship in the age of social media: An analysis of BBC Sport agenda diversity on Twitter

Abstract

As a crucial part of their mandate, public service media (PSM) have historically used sports to construct and nurture cultural citizenship. In a landscape characterised by dwindling resources and growing competition from pay-TV channels and on-demand streaming services, concerns about how PSM will enhance cultural citizenship through new platforms, including social media, are all the greater. In the digital age, delivering diverse content should remain a foundation of PSM in their countless platforms: public media should not only concentrate on major sports but also provide exposure to traditionally underrepresented disciplines and individuals, including sportswomen and athletes with disabilities. Through content analysis, this research examines the agenda diversity offered by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) through its sports- centred Twitter account (@BBCSport). The analysis of 10,821 tweets indicates how the BBC’s content reinforces, rather than counteracts, the long-standing diversity imbalances in the analogue age. This case study facilitates an understanding of the nuanced relationship between PSM, social media, and sports, demonstrating that more content does not necessarily ensure diversity. The football-driven, male-centred, and able-bodied agenda displayed by @BBCSport signals that PSM should reframe their social media strategies to adequately contribute to fostering cultural citizenship.