PR Campaign Targets Boxing Ban

PR Theory and Publics II

Case Study: Knockout Boxing

by Selwyn Jerry Boston
MA Public Relations,
London College of Communication (UAL)

December 2010

Selwyn Jerry Boston 1

Selwyn Jerry Boston
PR Theory and Publics II: Knockout Boxing
December 2010

Abstract
This paper will briefly analyse the public opinion on women in boxing, the sport in
the United Kingdom in general, assess the role the British media plays on the
debate and using Gregory’s ten point planning model, devise a strategic
method to implement a successful campaign for the ban against boxing in the
UK. To conclude, the paper will draw on the persuasion ethics of three models
that could be used for this PR campaign, and make a recommendation on
which one of the strategies could be of definite use for any future PR activity.

Introduction
Best practice in public relations calls for “input research” (Singh & Glenny, 2004,
p.142) when a public relations campaign is being planned. Without it, PR
practitioners can be “reduced to taking, at best, educated guesses regarding
the problem and potential intervention programs” (Stacks, 2002, p.4). The input
research results guide programme planning decisions as to which model of
persuasion could be used to change public opinion on views that are already
firmly established. Many authors have promoted consensual dialogue as the
good towards which public relations ought to aim. This includes proponents of
two-way symmetric communication (Grunig & Hunt, 1984), those who see public
relations as the ‘ethical guardian’ of the firms they work for (L’Etang, 2003), and
those who promote Habermas’s communicative ethics (Leeper, 1996). Engaging
in consensual dialogue is oriented towards reaching understanding, rather than
winning an argument. The success does not depend on the presence of
coercion, but on opportunities for all involved to participate in the conversation
and raise issues of concern. Discussion and exploration of multiple perspectives
to reach understanding and consensus can result in creative
reconceptualisations that would produce win-win outcomes. The debate in this
paper looks at a case study to ban professional boxing, and also raises the


question of whether amateur boxing should also be put in the firing line,

Boxing in Britain
Many responses to the articles written about the inclusion of women boxing in
the Olympics appear to be for than against. Some supporters of the sport call it
progress claim that if it were outlawed there would be more injuries caused by
illegal boxing, undertaken without strict medical controls.

Steve Smith from Norfolk, UK replied to an article in Journal of Neuroscience
Nursing by Peter Hagell (2000) that “people should be allowed to make their own
choice whether to participate in contact sports such as boxing, but in order to
do so, they need to be fully informed and aware of what the risks are--even
before they begin training. There is a need for levels of awareness about
neurologic disability, its effects, and the expectations for recovery to be raised
within the general public, who often shrug their shoulders and say "it won't
happen to me."

Boxing promoter Frank Malloney does not believe there is a future for women in
boxing looking at it from a commercial point of view. He does not think that
people will want to pay to see women get hurt in the boxing ring compared to
their male counterparts.

The role of the media on the debate
The British media is both for and against boxing. Their debate lies on the freedom
of choice for individuals to participate in whether it is non- or contact sports. This
shows cognitive dissonance especially with the media’s knowledge of the
dangers in participating in contact sports like boxing. The incidents of Michael
Watson and Paul Ingle are just samples in the long list of horrific injuries suffered
by professional boxers that are reported by the British media. There is a cognitive
dissonance in the role the media plays in its report on boxing. Fatalities and
progressive changes in the sport - whether it is regarding women’s boxing being
included into the Olympic games or the BBC’s first broadcast of competitive


women’s boxing - both have received extensive coverage in the mass media.

Gareth Davies wrote in an article for The Telegraph (2009) that if the answer is
‘no’ to women boxing, “we simply suppress the right of those individuals in
society who can, and do want to take part in the sport.”

A recent article by Rachel Dixon at The Guardian (2010) clearly endorses the
BBC’s announcement to broadcast women participating the sport almost as
feminist analyst focusing on the imbalance of the activity. Even professional
boxers like Amir Khan show a slight disapproval of women boxing, yet he happy
with the social progress of the sport.

Knockout Boxing PR plan


Analysis
Although boxing is seen as a blood sport with long-term fatalities reported
between male professional boxers, a number of women are becoming more
interested in taking it up either as a hobby or a profession. A recent survey by
Sport England revealed that 40% of boxing clubs run classes specifically for
women. Out of the 149,000 people who participate in boxing once a month, one
quarter are women. About 20,500 women box every week, compared with
156,300 who play football.

Objectives:
- To initiate a four year campaign to raise awareness of the fatal dangers of
boxing
- To challenge the public and media’s proponent view of women in boxing by
bringing in tighter restrictions on amateur boxing
- To lobby with the Government to bring in a complete on professional boxing
- To persuade the Department of Culture and Sport to overturn it’s funding and
decision of including a women’s boxing squad at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio
- To campaign for the national and local provision communal centres for young
people

Publics (primary and secondary):
Primary - Boxers (registered professionals and hobbyists)
Gyms and boxing clubs (boxing trainers)
Academics and health opinion formers (neurosurgeons)
MPs
Medical (doctors, nurses)
Parents and Schools
Media

Secondary: British Medical Association (BMA)
World Medical Association (WMA)


Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
Schools Amateur Boxing Association (SAMA)

Message:
Knockout Boxing accepts that on the positive side boxing is good exercise and it
fulfils the dreams of many youngsters. In a negative context, people get hurt
while participating in the sport, and these injured people sometimes have to live
with long-term fatalities or die. At least 140 boxers, including two women, have
died worldwide due to injuries sustained in training or in bouts since 1990. One
should ask the question: “Is it ethical for the Government to allow the
continuation of such a brutal, combative sport that puts the athlete at risk?”

Case Study: Muhammad Ali
When Muhammad Ali was first diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, he had to
go through a series of tests at the renowned Mayo Clinic, and then at a number
of other highly respected institutions. The results indicated an astonishing amount
of abnormalities, all of which seemed to be boxing related. It was found that Ali
had a hole in the membrane separating the two sides of his brain. While this type
of abnormality is often congenital, being punched in the head repeatedly, if not
causing such a condition, can certainly exacerbate and worsen it. Further
complicating matters, Ali was shown to have a series of degenerative changes
in his brain stem; a part of the brain that is linked with dopamine production, a
neurotransmitter that is lacking in those afflicted with Parkinson's-like afflictions.
Ali's brain stem was shown to be significantly damaged, and his attending
physicians, in a statement released at Muhammad Ali's request, stated that they
believed Ali's brain damage to be boxing-induced.

Excerpt from: “Muhammad Ali's Battle Against Parkinson's Syndrome: Is Boxing to
Blame?” by Jason Medina (2007)

Case Study: Lonnie Ali
Lonnie married Muhammad Ali in 1976 at the time he had just been diagnosed


with Parkinson's disease. As the condition progressed, it caused tremors, muscle
stiffness, slowed body movements, unstable posture, and difficulty walking. A
former heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Muhammad didn't take
easily to the idea that his body could fail him. The job of convincing Muhammad
that he needed to listen to doctors fell largely to his wife, who immediately
slipped into the role of caregiver.

Lonnie Ali: “Your day never begins or ends, because it's a 24-hour thing, seven
days a week. [The person you're caring for] never leaves your mental
consciousness even when you are away getting some respite. You're always
thinking, is he okay?”
Everyday Health (2007)

Strategy:
The Knockout Boxing group aims to use counter arguments with logical and
rational points, highlighting the benefits of boxing as an exercise and fatality as a
competitive sport, and a moral narrative in the bid to ban competitive boxing.

Tactics:
- Lobby with MPs in bringing in tighter regulations or a complete ban on boxing
- Television debates with sport professionals for and against boxing
- Radio interviews with leading health and academic opinion leaders
- Feature articles in opinion forming newspapers
- Provide counter arguments – for and against boxing

Stakeholders:
Internal: International Olympic Committee
Department of Health
Department of Culture, Media and Sport
British Medical Association (BMA)
World Medical Association (WMA)
UK Parliament


External: British Broadcast Corporation (BBC)
Michael Watson, former professional boxer
Working-class youth (male and female aged 15-21)

Political leaders: Hugh Robertson MP, Minister for Sport and the Olympics
MP, Department of Health
Paul Flynn, Labour MP

Opinion formers: Professor Vanessa Nathanson, BMA
Professor J Pearn
Peter McCabe, Chief Executive, The Brain Injury Association

Channels
The media can be used as a “magic bullet” to send out uniform and direct
message to everyone. This may not have an immediate effect but using mass
communication with the right message through the mainstream media and sport
organisations could influence people to do just about anything. Here are a few
channels the group intends to use:

Newspapers: Claire Stocks, Olympic Sports Editor, BBC Sport
Rachel Dixon, The Guardian
The Daily Mail

Television: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Breakfast News
Sky News

Radio: BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 5 Live

Magazines: British Medical Journal


Sport organisations: Sports Council
Sport England
UK Sport, funding agency
International Boxing Association
Paul King CEO, Amateur Boxing Association of England

Timescales:
Year 1 (2011): Campaign launch, employ PR agency, evaluate public opinion,
conduct factual research, speak with former professional boxers, engage with
other pressure groups against boxing, media briefings
Year 2 (2012):, Meet with sport organisations, media campaign, peaceful protest
at London 2012 Olympic boxing matches with pressure groups against the sport
Year 3 (2013): Start lobbying with MPs and PM, media campaign – press
breakfasts, briefings and reports
Year 4 (2014): Campaign review, present campaign results to Parliament, media
campaign

Resources:
Knockout Boxing has recently appointed Mr Dominic Palumbo as chief executive
and currently has a budget of £350,000 set aside for the assistance of a public
relations agency to execute the campaign.

Evaluation:
Depending on the progress of the campaign, Knockout Boxing will require
reports from the successful agency:
- evaluating the success of the use of theories to the campaign
- comparing the number of boxers (male and female) before and after the
campaign
- disseminating a report on the progress of the campaign to organisations
campaigning for the boxing ban
- a compilation report on the level of education, persuasion and acceptance of
young people about the pros and cons of professional boxing


- evaluation of short and long-term public opinion during the campaign and the
percentage of awareness before and after the campaign
- budget evaluation for stakeholders

Review:
This will be done in the year of the campaign. Using print, broadcast and online
media, the campaign will be reviewed and presented to the Department of
Media, Culture and Sport for reconsideration of a bill to ban boxing presented to
the House of Commons.

Persuasion theory recommendations
Putting the debate into perspective, boxing is a sport that seems to attract a
large number of working-class youth but what these youths often fail to note,
however, is that professional boxers are at risk of suffering high numbers of life-
altering non-fatal injuries.

There are a number of approaches to persuasion as suggested by Fawkes (2007)
that “Knockout Boxing” could use to achieve its key objectives in changing the
public’s attitude to the boxing.

Rhetorical Perspective: Aristotle’s Model of Communication


Fig. 1

Source: Ehninger, Gronbeck and Monroe

This is one of the earliest definitions of communication that derived from the
Greek philosopher-teacher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). Aristotle’s speaker-centered
model received perhaps its fullest development in the hands of Roman educator
Quintilian (ca. 35-95 A.D.), whose Institutio Oratoria was filled with advice on the
full training of a “good” speaker-statesman.

This model features few elements but the main concepts of rhetoric are skills that
can be utilised to achieve persuasive effects.
- Ethos: a trustworthy speaker
- Logos: the logic nature of the message
- Pathos: the emotional response of the audience from the speaker style
- Kairos: timing - knowing when to emphasise on the language

As cited by Toth (1992) to use Sproule's (1988) 'managerial rhetoric' clearly
connects to public relations, greatly focusing the use of the media to
communicate to mass audiences rather than persuading one individual.
Balance Theory


Fig. 2

Proposed by F. Heider (1958)

The group will use the example of married couple - Oliver and Pam. Pam (21) has
taken up boxing as a sport and hopes to be one of the young women
participate in the 2016 Rio Olympics. She is also a mother of two young children
and this puts a lot of pressure on her husband Oliver who wants her to give up
boxing. This causes a heavy strain on their marriage which resulted in separation.

Theory of Reasoned Action
Fig. 3

Source: Theory of Reasoned Action, Fishbein & Ajzen, (1980)


Aimed at professional boxers and hobbyists, the group will use this theory to
evaluate the beliefs through to changing the behavioural intentions. We first
want to find out why these people want to be involved in such a combative
sport, produce case studies, facts, and figures of fatalities in order to persuade
them to change their behavioural patterns. These people could then become
resourceful as campaigners against the sport. We could use five arguments for
and against the sport:

Arguments for boxing:
1. Professional and amateur boxers are not being forced into the ring. For
many of these young men, boxing is ‘their life’ and they know nothing
else. They know the risks involved and they accept that before stepping
into the ring.

2. According to Dr Whiteson, former chief medical officer for the British
Boxing Board of Control, injury is part and parcel of the sport. Chronic
injuries and tragic cases are rarely.

3. Banning the sport could send it underground where fewer controls and
restrictions would make injuries more acute.

4. Boxing is no more dangerous than some other sports, for example rugby,
ski jumping or even sailing.

5. Amateur boxing is good as an exercise for example boxercise classes for
are good for a aerobic and muscle-toning workout.

Arguments against boxing:
1. Cuts and bruises are the most common injuries that lead to stitches and
dental work being required. Body blows can lead to internal bleeding and
broken ribs, but the most serious risk comes from the possibility of either
catastrophic or gradual brain damage.


2. Boxing at any level is not safe. Doctors may be able to treat injuries and
prevent complication leading to death, but prevention is the best way to
avoid damage being done.

3. Countries like in Sweden (1970) and Norway (1981) have banned boxing
putting health concerns before individual choice. Surely the UK
government should consider putting the health concern of the population
first like such countries.

4. A number of tragic cases in which boxers have been fatally injured or
killed by blows to the head have been reported.

5. The state should not be seen to fund such a brutal and combative sport.
Duelling was banned, so should boxing.

Elaboration Likelihood Model
This model by Petty and Cacioppo (1981). suggests two ways to persuade
audiences: central and peripheral routes. Fig.4 (Source: Kenrick, Neuberg, &
Cialdini, 2002)

The central route can be used to provide the audience with arguments in the
message, using reason and evaluation – carefully scrutinise the message content


in debates using mainstream media for example television programmes, radio, or
complete debates published for print and online media. The next step would be
to evaluate both positive and negative sides to the debate, and change public
opinion.

The peripheral route is typically used when personal relevance is low and: i)
expert or emotional sources are used; ii) positive mood is created; iii)
premessage expectations are disconfirmed; iv) the mere exposure effect is used.
The peripheral route can be used to get health experts (neurosurgeons) and
families of former boxers that may have been fatally injured or died in the ring to
give their stories to the mainstream media – print broadcast and online media.

Conclusion
The Knockout Boxing public relations campaign plan is structured using
Gregory’s ten point planning model including persuasion theories from Aristotle
(4th century BC), Heider (1958), Fishbein and Ajzen (1980), and finally Petty and
Cacioppo (1981). The group will always have to analyse public opinion, timing to
see when it is right to launch a campaign, make sure the structure and content
of the message is clear, and use the right channels. Here are two more theory
suggestions that could be used for future PR activity:

High Involvement Learning Model
By supplying factual information and giving adults and children the opportunity
to be actively involved in the campaign, Knockout Boxing may improve the
public’s understanding and reaction to boxing as a competitive sport.

Social Judgement Theory
Knockout Boxing could use this for future public relations activity. The latitude of
the audience will have to be considered before trying to convince them with the
group’s ideas. According to Sherif, if the gap between the group’s ideas and
that of public opinion is too wide, then the desired assimilation effect will not


happen. Having a credible speaker who is well prepared, able to provide
arguments in favour and against the sport, clear in conveying the message and
has complete handle of the language can stretch the audience’s latitude of
acceptance.

Publics:
Adults and children, men and women
Political leaders, for example MPs against combative sports
Opinion leaders, for example neurosurgeons
Professional boxing and sport organisations
Celebrity endorsement for example former boxers

Message:
Boxing kills. It may not be sudden, but if fatally injured, the participant will be left
with gradual health deterioration.

Tactics:
- Use injured children, women and men who participate in boxing as part of our
media campaign

Channels:
Local and national media
Specialist medicine and health magazines based in the UK
Online media and social networking sites

Appendix 1
Opinion I: United Kingdom


This is an interesting question that raises all sorts of issues. In the United Kingdom,
opinion is divided between those who want the sport banned and those who
believe that it should be properly controlled and funded from boxing funds; i.e.,
the consequences of boxing should be funded from within the sport and not by
society at large. I favour the latter because I deplore the modern "nanny"
society--you cannot eat this, you cannot drink that and you must not do
anything that may harm you! Everest would never have been climbed and
airplanes would never have flown if someone had not taken a risk. Boxing is a
controlled sport and should be left alone. Drunken driving should be banned.
Encouraging the wearing of helmets and hard hats is a far more urgent
campaign as far as I can see. Let us keep the nanny police at bay!
Christine Eberhardie London, UK, The Telegraph (2009)

Appendix 2
Opinion II: United Kingdom
Boxing is definitely a risky business. You get knocked down, you stand up, and
down you go again. But sometimes you win. It's a bit like life. We've seen the joy
of London's Eastenders when Frank Bruno won their hearts, despite defeat by
Tyson. We saw the horror of Ivander Holyfield losing his ear to that same demon.
Of course, we've also witnessed great tragedy. We watched the creativity of
Muhammad Ali, inspiring so many to turn from war, and now we are appalled at
his sorrowful decline. So what's the answer? The BMA and the RCN have reached
stalemate. The BMA has a point: It isn't safe enough. Ali was allowed to compete
long after he was unfit; fights go on after injury is sustained; and medics can't get
to the ring when they're needed. The RCN has a good point too. What about
freedom of choice? But choices should be informed. Matilda Sequeira, nurse
practitioner at the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability, has this to say, "Brain injury
acquired through sport is (too) often seen by nurses at this hospital."
Steve Smith Norfolk, UK, The Telegraph (2009)

Appendix 3
Opinion 3: Barbaric Boxing Should Be Outlawed Like Dueling & Cockfighting


The great, mercury-like Muhammad Ali was famous for eluding punches. But he
didn't elude them all. Ali has been reduced to a Parkinsonian shuffle, his once
fast tongue slurred. Practically all the other, more mortal pugilists take a harsher
beating that Ali ever did in any of his fights. Over 360 boxers died since 1945.
Brain damage and other severe injuries are uncountable.

Boxing should go the way of dueling. Like dueling, the participants in boxing
agree to commit acts upon themselves that would be considered crimes in other
venues.

Virtually all professional boxers are born into poverty. Like drug dealing, crap
shooting, and prostitution, boxing seems like an easy route to quick money, but it
is bad choice. Laws protect people from themselves who make bad choices.
Because boxers pay a price themselves but so does society in healthcare for old
boxers. Other sports have deaths and severe injuries, but they are unfortunate
by-products not the intent.
Youdebateit.com (2010)

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