The Role of Sport Journalists During Crisis Events in Sport

Introduction Journalists have become an integral component of the sport system. At the same time, the role of the sport journalist has become an increasingly complex, particularly since sport entered a period of hyper-commercialisation, in which the interests of business, sport and the media have become fused in a web of mutual promotional benefit. It is now often unclear just what the sport journalist's primary responsibility is. On one hand they may be employed to objectively report the facts to the public, while on the other they may be asked to selectively promote those sports in which the media organisations and their sponsors have a financial and emotional stake. The general expectation that sport journalists should be impartial is brought into stark relief when sport clubs and officials have to confront a major problem or incident. During the regular season, in which sport journalists report on a range of typical information and events, the role of the sport journalist can be defined by the weekly training and playing cycle. During periods of crisis, turmoil, controversy and instability, however, this role can change markedly. The research shows that sport journalists have a vested interest in maintaining their relationships with their sources and the organisations and industry on which they rely for copy. However, in periods of turbulence this relationship often leads sport journalists to downplay the controversial elements of a story, or not report it at all. As a result they may lose their objectivity and submit stories that gloss over the more critical or unpleasant issues. There is also suggestive evidence that where the sport story becomes more commercial, political, and financial, the sport reporter's role is displaced by the more seriously trained news reporter. There has been very little research conducted on the role of the sport journalist during periods of sporting crisis and controversy. This article aims to test the propositions that first, sport journalists downplay controversial