The media in sports has been an extremely controversial topic in today's society. As an avid sports fan, this is an issue that I have been taking note of for many years, especially considering how much of an impact media has in our society. This topic does not particularly affect me personally, however, it may have an impact on the players for the sports teams that I watch all the time. The media could end up having an impact on a huge game, which is not the most important thing in the world, however it still plays an important role in my life. Growing up as an athlete, I know how much stress can change the way a player will perform based on personal experience. This is a much more serious problem for professional athletes who have to deal with much more media than any high school athlete ever has. I am qualified to write about this topic because I have a lot of knowledge about sports since I have been watching and playing for so many years. Being a diehard New York sports fan, I have seen many players falter because of the media. New York has always been said to be one of the toughest places to play because of how quickly the media and the fans will attack you for your mistakes. I have seen many different players in my own city that have been drastically affected by this issue. 

One source that can be used is "Does The Media Impact Athletic Performance?" by Kyle Ott. One of the biggest reasons that an athlete may face failure or success is because of the media. Their failure may come from media-related stress, and their success may come from media-related motivation. The article uses many different athletes as examples to prove both points of view. This article has a high value because it makes arguments for both sides in this argument. There are many examples throughout the article that can back up both perspectives. There are also many reasons that are cited throughout the article that are used to support the arguments, so there is plenty of evidence that can be useful in my paper. The author is a writer for The Sports Journal, which writes many different articles about many different sports related topics. The authors for this journal are well informed about all areas related to sports. The author does not have a bias when explaining this topic. He gave a logical reasoning for both sides of the argument to prove his case that media impacted athletes, and did so without letting his own personal views impact his article. 

Another article that can be used for this argument is "Has Odell Beckham Jr. Hype Reached Tipping Point?" by Scott Neumyer. Odell Beckham Jr., the star wide receiver for the New York Giants, has been a phenomenon since entering the league in 2014. He is one of the most talked about athletes in the NFL, and the article goes into detail about how the media hype surrounding him after just two years has become so excessive that it is going to have a serious impact on him. This article has a great value for my paper because not only is Odell Beckham Jr. one of my favorite athletes, but I already have a lot of prior knowledge on the situation surrounding his media hype. There are a lot of things that I can write about regarding Beckham, and this article will be extremely useful to provide specific evidence and quotes. The author of the article is an extremely credible source. The author writes for Sports Illustrated, which is one of the most well known sports publishers in our society. Their focus is completely on sports so their writers are extremely knowledgeable. There is not much bias in this article since the author uses facts to prove his points rather than his personal feelings towards the athlete.     

Another article that will be useful for this paper is "How the Broncos' Defense Silenced the Hype and Sank the Panthers," by Chris Korman. This article was written after the heavily favored Carolina Panthers were upset in Super Bowl 50 by the Denver Broncos. Almost everyone in the media had predicted the Panthers to win, and in the end the game was not really close at all. The claim this article makes is that some of the star Panther players were distracted by all of the hype of the media, and that impacted their play.  This article has value because it discusses one of the biggest sports events of the year, and the media thrives in covering every single aspect of it. It's important to see how the team that had almost all of the media attention ended up putting up a small fight and their worst performance of the year. While the author of this article is credible, he does seem to have some bias in his writing. The article is posted by USA Today Sports, which is a reliable news source. However, the author uses a tone that makes it seem as though he was rooting for the Broncos in the Super Bowl. Despite being slightly biased, the information presented in the article is still true.  

This research question is arguable because many people feel that the media does not have a major impact on athletes. The support for this side of the argument is that by the time these athletes have reached a professional level, they are used to the media talking about all aspects of their lives so it should not be stressful to them. Athletes begin to learn how to handle the media once they start their college careers, so if they are going to be successful in the pros, they need to be able to handle this part of the job. However, some people just cannot handle the pressure that the media puts on them and that should not be the determining factor as to whether they will be a successful professional athlete or not. I could possibly revise this research question by discussing the negative impact of the media rather than the positives and negatives.  

