Messner has conducted research in sports media for over twenty years, focusing on what it covers and ignores. On his website he breaks his research down into three main areas: "First, [he] has conducted a longitudinal content and textual analysis of gender in televised news and highlights programs. Second, [he] is interested in how the sports media handles a particular story, especially a "scandal." Third, [he] is interested in the dominant gendered messages that are pitched to boys and men as consumers through sport broadcasts". Overall, Messner believes that sports media is yet another institution that promotes patriarchal sexist ideology.
