First Name:
Jillian
Last Name:
Swords
Major Department:
Communication Studies
Thesis Director:
Neva Specht
Date of Thesis:
May 2009
This paper examines specific examples of American racehorses who have been elevated to hero status in the societies in which they lived by the press and the general public. First examined are different media theories that have evolved over time to explain the relationship between the press and public opinion of a topic. Then inspected are the stories of the horses that best fit this theme—Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Barbaro, Smarty Jones and John Henry— to explain what role the underdog theme of their stories played in their becoming superstars in their own right. Lastly, the described media theories will be applied to these horses’ stories to understand what role both the press and the media played in this transformation, and how theorists’ understanding of the relationship between the press and the media has changed over time. The shift in comprehension about the extent to which the public sustains the legends built by the media will be the underlying core element of this argument.