A Keywords Corpus Analysis of ‘Taking the Knee’ and its Representation by the UK Press

In recent years, the violent treatment of black citizens by police officers in the United States has received global attention. This has led to various forms of protest, one of which is the ‘taking the knee’ gesture performed by professional athletes prior to sports events. This paper presents the findings of a small-scale, exploratory keywords corpus analysis of 35 UK newspaper articles on ‘taking the knee’ in European football between June 2020 and November 2021. The aim is to discover how the issue has been covered by the UK press and there is some evidence to show that, while it creates some controversy, the gesture has been presented in a mostly positive (or at least neutral) light. However, more forensic and detailed analysis is required in order to gain a greater understanding of the issue at hand