As a profession that is constantly under scrutinize by the public,
it should come as no surprise that journalism field has its own set of concerns
for the landscape of the profession. Michael Salwen and Bruce Garrison, in “Finding
Their Place in Journalism: Newspaper Sports Journalists’ Professional ‘Problems,’”
examine these sets of problems from the perspectives of the journalist themselves.
As the article title describes, they do this from the perspective of sports
journalism, examining the relationship between the problems existing in sports
journalism and journalism as a whole.
The article begins by first distinguishing the field of
sports journalism as a separate entity of journalism. The study, as the results
will show later on, shows that the challenges and problems sports journalism
faces are not quite the same as those seen in the broader field of journalism.
Within their study, Salwen and Garrison interviewed several sports journalists
and editors. These same sports journalists and editors were asked to answer a
series of questions of what they believed to be an issue in sports journalism, what
issues journalism faces as a whole, and what similarities or differences might
exist between the two. As a follow-up to these questions, a sample of
responders was asked to provide an in-depth interview to explain their answers
in the initial survey.
Interestingly, the responses showed that the journalists
believed sports journalism faced several issues that other journalists might
not necessarily face. For example, Professionalism, Issues/content, Economic/resources
were the top three issues believed to be facing sports journalism, while those
same three ranked second, fifth, and fourth in the journalism in general poll.
However, there were some similarities found as well. Common issues between
sports journalism and journalism in general included professionalism, economic
concerns, and diversity (both in content and perspective).
As a whole, there were several topics that kept popping up
throughout the study. One of them was the distinction between broadcasting and
journalism. Sports journalists generally regarded broadcasting as a hindrance
to the sports journalism field, providing unnecessary competition between the
two fields, as well as “ruining” the reputation of sports journalism. Another
common topic was that of diversity. Though not seen as a major issue, it was
highlighted in several in-depth interviews. As the study points out, the sports
journalism field is a male-dominated field and offers little other perspective.
Even with regard to content, diversity is hard to come by as the major sports
(baseball, football, men’s basketball, etc.) dominate the field, while other
sports (women’s basketball, polo, etc.) go largely uncovered.
However, the issues of sports journalism are not limited to
these topics, as Drew Hancherick’s own study points out. Hancherick analyzed
the constantly changing landscape of journalism, specifically through the realm
of sports journalism. He examined the role technology has played in changing
the face of sports journalism throughout its history.
Although many believe that sports journalism has not changed
until fairly recently with the additions of Twitter and social media,
Hancherick points out that this is not necessarily the case. Technologies
dating back to the radio completely changed the face of sports journalism,
popularizing sports and bringing them into the mainstream media. Along with
radio, technology advancements such as television broadcasts also helped to
shape sports journalism, further popularizing sports as sports networks such as
ESPN and other programs began to flourish.
Of course, Hancherick then goes on to describe social media,
specifically Twitter, and how it is again revamping sports journalism. With
technology such as the internet and Twitter, sports journalism has become much
more demanding and instant, as people actively seek out sports news, even if
the news has not changed. People demand
news and updates because of the technological advances that allow for this. As
Hancherick points out, these advancements have also led to direct communication
between athletes and fans.
In all, both articles point out that there are several
issues facing sports journalism – and journalism as a whole – that have greatly
changed the field of sports journalism. These articles explain that they are
ongoing, and the field of sports journalism has not only changed immensely since
its inception, but continues to change at a rapid pace.
No comments:
Post a Comment