Construction of Mediated National Identity Through Sports Journalists Twitter Feed

Abstract

This study analyzed how Pakistani and Indian national identity was portrayed in selected Pakistani and Indian journalists’ tweets about the 2017 International Cricket Council (ICC) champions trophy final. There is an extensive body of literature that has documented the triad between sports, media, and national identity. However, most of the sports communication literature related to mediated construction of national identity has focused on western countries. Through the lens of Elias’s habitus thesis and employing textual analysis, Pakistani and Indian journalists’ 641 tweets during the game were analyzed. Results suggest that there are potential national variations in sports journalism and the type of media platform used when it comes to mediated construction of national identity and that journalistic styles and practices across old and new media influence each other.