“CAPITALISM + CULTURE x MEDIA”

SPORTS AND THE VALORIZATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. AN INTERVIEW WITH BRETT HUTCHINS

Abstract

Sports history is inseparable from media history. This holds true across all kinds of different media: From the era of television to the advent of streaming, and from telegraphy to the era of mobile media and social media platforms, sports has developed in tandem with the evolution of various media forms. Few scholars have delved into this relationship as comprehensively and as consistently as Brett Hutchins who is Professor of Media and Communications in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Together with an extensive network of collaborators he critically examines how the capitalist media system harnesses, shapes and is shaped by sports – and who wins and who loses in this process. Next to a rich variety of compelling case studies, Hutchins’ work provides important conceptual insights for understanding the dynamics and characteristics of technological change in conjunction with sports.