Fifteenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Australian rules football has long been regarded as a spectacular and popular sport but one that causes crippling injuries, most notably brain trauma. In a recent $1 billion landmark class action, more than 60 retired elite footballers sued the Australian Football League (AFL) for concussion-related injuries. Concussion management in the AFL has been vigorously criticised for its medical protocols and the allowance for “bumps” without player protection. After several footballers took their lives, later proven to be linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) or severe brain disease, the AFL has adopted coronial recommendations in an effort to prevent brain trauma at football training and during matches. This paper analyses the newspaper coverage of suicides of Australian rules footballers, which has played a critical role to improve AFL concussion protocols. This study compares the coverage of the AFL’s concussion-suicide link in Melbourne’s rival metropolitan newspapers, the Herald Sun and The Age. A print media analysis found the Murdoch-owned newspaper, the Herald Sun, had almost 50 per cent more coverage of the tragic AFL topic compared with its rival, The Age. The Herald Sun avoided using the word, “suicide” on AFL-related front-page reports, while The Age printed four front-page reports with reference to “suicide”. The Herald Sun ran several in-depth AFL suicide-related reports, while The Age proved more selective in its coverage. This studyl establishes that AFL concussion incidents, in the men’s and women’s leagues, have failed to significantly decrease due to the greater speed of game flow.