Andrew C. Billings

Dr. Andrew C. Billings

Andrew C. Billings is a professor and the Ronald Reagan Chair of Broadcasting in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at The University of Alabama. He is the current co-director of the Alabama Beyond Sports Initiative. His research primarily focuses on the study of Sport Communication. Billings received his PhD in Communication & Culture from Indiana University Bloomington in 1999. He was the founding chair of both the Communication and Sport Division of the National Communication Association and the Sport Communication Interest Group of the International Communication Association. He has also chaired the Research Symposium for Broadcast Education Association and the Visiting Chair of Olympism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

His research often focuses on the intersection of sport, mass media, and how people interpret identity issues within sport when consuming sport content. He also focuses on elements surrounding spots contents, such as fantasy sport. Billings has won over 60 awards for his scholarship, including national and international awards from the National Communication Association, International Communication Association, Broadcast Education Association, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and many book awards, which provides academic perspective to journalists on matters related to sport communication.

Research interests

Much of Billings' research focuses on various aspects of how American sports media covers and affects issues of gender, race, and identity. Two of his books, Olympic Media: Inside the Biggest Show on Television and Olympic Television: Broadcasting the biggest show on Earth analyze the production, content, and the effects of NBC's broadcast of the Olympic Games. In particular, he focuses on the topics of ethnicity, gender, and nationality, and how that is communicated to the public via the telecast. In 2009, Billings co-authored with Heather L. Hundley Examining Identity in Sports Media, focusing on how identity issues are communicated and shaped by sports media. More recent books have focused on a wider range of identity issues including Native American representations in sports (in his 2018 book with Jason Edward Black, Mascot Nation ) and the role of media in gay athlete coming out stories (in his 2018 book with Leigh Moscowitz, Media and the Coming Out of Gay Male Athletes in American Team Sports). His most recent book with William Benoit, The Rise and Fall of Mass Communication, tackles sports along with all other forms of news and entertainment to advance axioms of media balkanization theory.

Selected publications

Books

Billings has authored 26 books. Notable texts include:

• Billings, A.C. (2008). Olympic media: Inside the biggest show on television. London: Routledge
• Billings, A.C., & Hundley H. L. (2009). Examining identity in sports media. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
• Billings, A.C, Angelini, J.R., & MacArthur, P.J. (2018). Olympic television: Broadcasting the biggest show on Earth.  London: Routledge.
• Billings, A.C., & Black, J.E. (2018). Mascot nation: The controversy over Native American representations in sports. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
• Billings, A.C., & Moscowitz, L.M. (2018). Media and the coming out of gay male athletes in American team sports. New York: Peter Lang.
• Benoit, W.L., & Billings, A.C. (2020). The rise and fall of mass communication. New York: Peter Lang.

Journal articles

Billings has approximately 250 published journal articles and book chapters. Notable early papers include:

• Eastman, S.T., & Billings, A.C. (1999). "Gender parity in the Olympics: Hyping women athletes, favoring men athletes." Journal of Sport and Social Issues. 23(2): pages 140–170.
• Eastman, S.T., & Billings, A.C. (2000). "Sportscasting and sports reporting: The Power of Gender Bias." Journal of Sport & Social Issues. 24(2): pages 192–213.
• Eastman, S.T., & Billings, A.C. (2001). "Biased voices of sports: Racial and gender stereotyping in college basketball announcing." Howard Journal of Communications. 12(4): pages 183–201.
• Billings, A.C., & Eastman, S.T. (2003). "Framing identities: Gender, ethnic, and national parity in network announcing of the 2002 Winter Olympics." Journal of Communication. 53(4): pages 569–586.