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The Challenges of Sports Television Reporting in the Contemporary The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Communications THE CHALLENGES OF SPORTS TELEVISION REPORTING IN THE CONTEMPORARY SPORTS-MEDIA COMPLEX A Dissertation in Mass Communications by Jason Genovese © 2010 Jason Genovese Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2010 The Dissertation of Jason Genovese was reviewed and approved* by the following: Marie Hardin Associate Professor of Communications Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research Associate Director for Research, John Curley Center for Sports Journalism Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Ford Risley Professor of Communications Russell Frank Associate Professor of Communications Mark S. Dyreson Associate Professor of Kinesiology *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii ABSTRACT As the Internet and its associated new technologies have expanded their reach, so too have their influence on our media; however, their effect on our contemporary sports media has not yet been adequately explored. Furthermore, while scholars have examined the work of sports journalists, particularly those in the print media, they have largely neglected those working in the television industry. This research considers how the work of television sports reporters is changing and evolving in the digital era. Through the ethnographic techniques of participant observation and interviews with both reporters and field producers at a regional sports channel in a major East Coast market, I provide an in- depth look at the work of reporters in the world of sports television. The study reveals a high level of complexity in the reporter’s day-to-day work as well as a view of the transformations the sports-media complex is undergoing in the digital age. Sports television reporters must negotiate and perform multiple professional identities, which are often in conflict with one another. They are also dealing with the destabilization of their position in the hierarchy of the sports media due largely to the Internet, which empowers athletes and sports fans and challenges the primacy of professional sports journalists. Participants have been forced to adapt to technological change and the increased workload that accompanies it. Corporate ownership adds yet another degree of difficulty as sports television reporters at this regional sports channel must navigate an organizational setting that exerts a significant influence on their daily work. Such issues and developments reveal the sports television workplace as increasingly complicated and iii problematic for those working in it. Recommendations for sports reporters as well as regional sports channels are provided along with suggestions for future research. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………1 CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE………………………………………………….11 The Sports-Media Complex……………………………………………………...12 The Reporter-Source Relationship…………………………………………….....41 The Reporter-Source Relationship in Sport……………………………………...56 Social Identity……………………………………………………………………67 CHAPTER THREE THE RESEARCH PROCESS……………………………………………………….88 The Research Sample…………………………………………………………….89 The Research Site……………………………………………………………......90 Methodology & Methods………………………………………………………..93 Data Collection Methods………………………………………………………...94 Methods for Data Analysis...………………...…………………………………100 Ethical Considerations………………………………………………………….103 Issues of Trustworthiness……………………………………………………….105 Limitations……………………………………………………………………...108 CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH FINDINGS ………….……………………………………………….111 Finding 1 – Increasingly Complex Relationships………………………………112 Finding 2 – Identity and Access………………………………………………..133 Finding 3 – The Effect of New Technology……………………………………142 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...150 CHAPTER FIVE ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS……………………………………………………….152 Interpretation 1 – Fragmented Professional Identity…………………………...153 Interpretation 2 – Adapting to Destabilized Hierarchies……………………….170 Interpretation 3 – Institutional Pressure…………………………………...…...174 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...177 Recommendations………………………………………………………………179 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………...185 APPENDIX A - PARTICIPANT INFORMATION LIST…………………………….205 APPENDIX B - CODING SCHEME DEVELOPMENT CHART……………………206 APPENDIX C - QUESTION GUIDE…………………………………………………207 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not be possible without the support, guidance and kindness of many people. Thank you first to my advisor Marie Hardin for offering such wonderful leadership and for imparting so much wisdom. I will forever appreciate my good fortune in landing one of the leading sport and media scholars and a genuinely great person as my advisor. Much appreciation also goes out to my committee members; Ford Risley, Russell Frank and Mark Dyreson, who have shown interest in my scholarly progress as well as this particular project. I must also thank Dr. John Nichols who was instrumental in my admission to the doctoral program and aided my pursuit of this degree in a variety of important ways. Of course this project would never have materialized without the permission and support of my former sports television colleagues at the regional sports channel in this study. I am incredibly grateful for their cooperation and support. Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts with me and for showing such genuine interest in this project. Finally, to my family, friends and loved ones I extend a heartfelt thank you. I am eternally grateful for your love, faith and encouragement. A special thank you goes out to my mom and dad, without whom I simply could not have achieved this. vi Chapter One Introduction This study seeks to examine how the job of sports television reporters has changed in the contemporary sports-media complex. The purpose of this research is to examine with a sample of newsgathering personnel at a sports television station their perceptions of their job and its difficulties including their relationships with key information sources. While this study began with the more narrow focus of examining the reporter-source relationship in sports journalism, it eventually and necessarily expanded to include a broader variety of issues and changes sports reporters are dealing with in their jobs. The knowledge generated from this research should provide a snapshot of the evolving sports media landscape in the digital age. Furthermore, it should also add new insights and understanding to this important aspect of sports media and may ultimately help to inform journalistic practices. This study employed ethnographic techniques, participant observation and interviews to investigate this particular facet of the sports- media complex. Participants in this study included a purposefully selected group of 14 reporters and field producers at a regional sports channel in a major East Coast television market. Background and Context “Ignoring sport today would be like ignoring the church in the Middle Ages or art during the Renaissance,” as Michael Real (1998) so fittingly stated over a decade ago (p. 15). This observation rings even truer today. An illustration of sport’s power in 1 contemporary society was especially evident when the Republican Party chose to delay John McCain’s acceptance speech for the party’s presidential nomination at the 2008 Republican National Convention until the season-opening game of the National Football League had ended. Sports have a tremendous economic impact in the United States. Estimates place the size of the entire sports industry at $410.6 billion (Plunkett Research, Ltd., 2009). The influence of sports in the consumer marketplace has been unparalleled for some time now; advertising executives have stated that by 1992 the psychological content of selling was often more sports-oriented than sexual (Katz, 1994). Today, annual corporate spending for sports advertising in the U.S. is $30 billion (Plunkett Research, Ltd., 2009). The cumulative global television audience for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was expected to reach 26 billion people (Gleeson, 2009). Moreover, the media attention that focused on Tiger Woods’ marital infidelities and LeBron James’ free agency decision provides further evidence of the power of sports and sporting celebrity in contemporary society. Indeed, sports occupy an enviable position in the United States and the world today and warrant scholarly attention. As Hesmondhalgh (2002) states, “It is not enough to dismiss the pleasures of entertainment as a distraction from ‘real’ politics. We need to rethink how the massive presence of entertainment in people’s everyday lives affects not only our notions of how democracy works, but also how we think about other aspects of human life, including ourselves as feeling, emotional beings” (p. 30). The rise of sports is inextricably intertwined with the mass media. The symbiotic relationship between the two has been termed the “sports-media complex” (Jhally, 1989, p. 77). The media provide sports with an abundance of two indispensable elements: streams of revenue and publicity. The multiple streams of revenue feed sports’ capitalist 2 sensibilities. Publicity plays a complementary role, helping sports to create and sustain fan interest. Sports provide the media with highly prized programming and content, enabling the media to attract a desirable audience and thus advertisers. This association has proved to be a fruitful one for both institutions since the late nineteenth century. The two have
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