Making soufflé with metal: Effects of the coronavirus pandemic on sports journalism practices. (December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Velloso, Carolina
• Is Part Of: Journalism. Volume 23:Number 12(2022)
• Page Start: 2591
• Page End: 2607
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Subjects: Sports journalism -- coronavirus pandemic -- news practices -- beat reporting -- interviews; Journalism -- Periodicals; Journalism -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 070.405
• DOI: 10.1177/14648849221131725
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1464-8849

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic significantly – and perhaps permanently – altered the ways by which we lead our personal and professional lives. Sports journalism is no exception – with the seasons of all kinds of sports modified, reduced or cancelled entirely in 2020, reporters on the sports beat had to quickly adapt to ever-changing circumstances. This exploratory study investigates the impact of the pandemic on the practices of sports beat writers during the 2020 season. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 12 beat writers covering teams in all four major North American sports leagues, this study reveals that the journalists' experiences with the pandemic-imposed conditions underscored already-present trends within sports journalism: namely, a reduction of access to players and coaching due, in part, to increased team control through robust media relations divisions; journalists' overreliance on official team sources; and a move towards feature and data- and analytics-driven stories. This study contributes to literature on sports journalism beat reporting and offers an early insight into how the pandemic conditions might help shape the future of the industry.