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When Intimacy Goes Public Gossip-Based Engagement in Audience Responses to Sports Documentary Break Point

Fang, Wenxuan LU (2025) MKVM13 20251
Media and Communication Studies
Department of Communication and Media
Abstract (Swedish)
This thesis examines how audiences engage with mediated intimacy in sports documentaries
through the lens of Break Point, a Netflix series offering backstage access to elite tennis players. The study develops the concept of gossip-based engagement which is a hybrid participatory mode in which affective responses and cognitive speculation are structurally fused. In online discussions, particularly on Reddit, audiences did not merely react to the affective structures or informational cues embedded in the series; they collaboratively reconstructed storylines, filled narrative gaps, and negotiated the moral and emotional legitimacy of celebrity identities. This participatory process functioned as a form of narrative co-authorship and moral... (More)
This thesis examines how audiences engage with mediated intimacy in sports documentaries
through the lens of Break Point, a Netflix series offering backstage access to elite tennis players. The study develops the concept of gossip-based engagement which is a hybrid participatory mode in which affective responses and cognitive speculation are structurally fused. In online discussions, particularly on Reddit, audiences did not merely react to the affective structures or informational cues embedded in the series; they collaboratively reconstructed storylines, filled narrative gaps, and negotiated the moral and emotional legitimacy of celebrity identities. This participatory process functioned as a form of narrative co-authorship and moral governance, often challenging producer-driven framings. The analysis reveals how gossip-based engagement operates beyond the discrete modalities theorised by Dahlgren and Hill, combining emotional
investment with interpretive labour in ways that reshape both the perceived authenticity of mediated subjects and the moral frameworks through which they are judged. While centred on a sports documentary, the findings extend to broader contexts, including reality television, influencer culture, and political scandal coverage, where narrative ambiguity and relational visibility invite audiences to act as “emotional detectives” and cultural co-authors. (Less)
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author
Fang, Wenxuan LU
supervisor
organization
course
MKVM13 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
gossip-based engagement, mediated intimacy, celebrity, sports documentary, audience participation, media engagement, Reddit discourse
language
English
id
9209847
date added to LUP
2025-09-15 15:30:00
date last changed
2025-09-15 15:30:00
@misc{9209847,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines how audiences engage with mediated intimacy in sports documentaries
through the lens of Break Point, a Netflix series offering backstage access to elite tennis players. The study develops the concept of gossip-based engagement which is a hybrid participatory mode in which affective responses and cognitive speculation are structurally fused. In online discussions, particularly on Reddit, audiences did not merely react to the affective structures or informational cues embedded in the series; they collaboratively reconstructed storylines, filled narrative gaps, and negotiated the moral and emotional legitimacy of celebrity identities. This participatory process functioned as a form of narrative co-authorship and moral governance, often challenging producer-driven framings. The analysis reveals how gossip-based engagement operates beyond the discrete modalities theorised by Dahlgren and Hill, combining emotional
investment with interpretive labour in ways that reshape both the perceived authenticity of mediated subjects and the moral frameworks through which they are judged. While centred on a sports documentary, the findings extend to broader contexts, including reality television, influencer culture, and political scandal coverage, where narrative ambiguity and relational visibility invite audiences to act as “emotional detectives” and cultural co-authors.}},
  author       = {{Fang, Wenxuan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{When Intimacy Goes Public Gossip-Based Engagement in Audience Responses to Sports Documentary Break Point}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}