The Relationship between Sports Journalists and Professional Athletes
- ksizzle00009
- Jan 26, 2021
- 2 min read
In this week’s readings, Primer A discussed the relationships between sports journalists and sports information directors. With college athletes, sports information directors have become very protective over what can be asked by journalists and how the athletes can answer them. This made me think about how the relationship is when professional athletes are involved.
After all professional athletes are adults and they are more open towards tough journalism then college athletes. What do I mean by tough journalism? For me this is when journalists go beyond performance questions, and venture into off field instances. A great example of this is with Tiger Woods. When his controversy was being revealed many journalists were asking him a plethora of questions regarding his side of this story. Tiger decided to stay quiet and not give personal information to the media. This was a huge disappointment for sports journalists because Tiger is known as one of the greatest golfers ever. It has been reported that 6% of the entire world news was dedicated to Tigers situation the week that the story broke. (Stop the Presses!, 2013, n.p.) I understand that details regarding this story would be extremely popular content, but instances like these contribute to the strained relationship between sports journalists and athletes. When collegiate sports information directors see things like this, they are likely to only make access to college athletes more limited. My question to all of you is where do we draw the line on increased accessibility and maintaining personal privacy for athletes?
This leads me to think about the ethical responsibilities of sports journalists. From looking at our Appendix B reading I can determine four major categories that journalists need to uphold to remain ethical. First, they must seek truth and report it. An important aspect of this is not putting things out of context. It can be tempting to come up with a catchy headline, but if it is out of context than you are not reporting in a truthful and ethical manner. Next you need to minimize harm. This means you must be careful and adjust your sensitivity towards the situation. This is an aspect that is represented with the Tiger Woods situation. When you are reporting on a story that is very personal you must act accordingly. Another key point is to act independently. You must not accept gifts, free travel, or have political involvement. This is another situation that can be tempting but to remain ethical you must uphold. I believe if you have a planned response to these offers you can respond without as much emotion. The final point is being accountable. You must be able to admit mistakes when you make them and correct them. If your ego is too big to do that then this is probably not the line of work for you. Another important aspect of this is reporting when there is unethical behavior in the news media. Although this may feel odd because they are in the same position as you, being able to report this is crucial for you to remain ethical with your journalism.
Work cited:
Stop the Presses! (2013, November 25). Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://thesportjournal.org/article/stop-the-presses/
Stofer, K. T. (2010). Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/blackboard.learn.xythos.prod/57fced8e8d3c5/26607596?X-Blackboard
Hello Kurt, I have thought similar ideas of just being honest and reporting the truth. It is important to establish a true base of blogs or posts with authentic information. It's interesting to see something like TMZ post and how their sources are credible half the time. I feel Barstool can be the same but I am a big fan of Spittin Chiclets and their affiliated with Barstool. I can use this different perspective to better my fact finding.
-Reed
Hi Kurt, it was interesting to read your thoughts in this week's blog. You bring up an interesting point when talking about sports journalism and athletes privacy. I think sports reporting should cover mostly events and information that are sports related. Sometimes the lines between professional and private get blurred, but generally I don't think they should. One may think that these people chose this life by choosing this profession, but I don't think that's right for most of them. They just do what they love and can do well.
Hey Kurt, this is a great post about the sports journalism and their ethics. the question that was asked is very tough and I don't think we will ever know when to draw that line if that is for sports or new or any other popular person. I also remember the Tiger Woods scandal with all of the reports asking him very personal questions. It wasn't the time or place for that and they knew that, but some reports want to push the famous peoples buttons. Its almost like its part of there job.
Hi Kurt - thank you for your post. I have often pondered a similar sentiment, but not necessarily about sports or athletes. Celebrities, politicians, etc., receive constant attention in the media because their lives have become interesting to the layman (layperson). This does come with a significant decrease in privacy. I guess my question in response - do they give up that right to privacy when they sign on to be a celebrity or athlete? Is it even possible to escape it? Looking forward to your thoughts. Best, Kyle