Sports and journalism ethics: the coverage of 2012 London Olympics in the British, North- American and Spanish press Xavier Ramon Vegas [
[email protected]] Supervisor: Salvador Alsius Clavera Academic year: 2011-2012 Research projects of the Postgraduate Programs of Department of Communication Department of Communication Universitat Pompeu Fabra Master’s Thesis Sports and journalism ethics: the coverage of 2012 London Olympics Abstract Sports and journalism ethics: the coverage of 2012 London Olympics in the British, North-American and Spanish press is a research focused on analysing the treatment that the quality press of three countries (United Kingdom, United States of America and Spain) will carry out in the London Olympic Games. Through a solid methodological approach based on the combination of the qualitative content analysis and qualitative in- depth interviews, the investigation will study if the media provide a quality coverage, that is, if they adequate their pieces to the fundamental principles of journalistic deontology (truth, justice, freedom and social responsibility). Furthermore, the research will assess if the selected media comply with the prescriptions established in the ethical codes, stylebooks, newsroom statutes and national and international recommendations about journalism ethics, ranging from each media’s guidelines to key transnational codes established by the UNESCO, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) or the Council of Europe. Keywords: Olympic Games, London 2012, ethics, journalism, truth, justice, freedom, social responsibility, qualitative content analysis, qualitative in-depth interviews, United Kingdom, United States of America, Spain. Xavier Ramon (B.A. in Audiovisual Communication, 2009; B.A. in Journalism, 2011) is a Master’s degree candidate at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and a teaching assistant at UPF Department of Communication.