At the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000, Nelson Mandela gave a rousing speech, telling us that sport has the power to change the world. He stated: “Sport has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where there was only despair.”
It’s not just the youth that sport inspires. Today, especially in America, sport brings together people of all ages. The power of sport is that the joy it inspires doesn’t discriminate. It is for all, whether one is rich or poor, young or old, and it doesn’t matter what race you are or what country you are from. This is what makes it such a great advocacy tool.
When Colin Kaepernick took the knee in 2016, it was well reported and we all sat up and took notice. What was he talking about? Why would he risk such a good career over a social issue? We wanted to know what the issue was and why he felt so strongly about it.
Suddenly, he was transformed from a football great into a social advocate. Many Americans were keen to learn what was going on. Kaepernick had shone a powerful spotlight on the issues of racism and police brutality and he wasn’t backing down.
Soon, several of his colleagues joined him, and issues that had been ignored by segments of American society were being discussed.
Whether one supported him or not is immaterial; what matters is that he got us talking about one of the most critical problems facing America today. This is a perfect example of the power of sports advocacy.
It puts sports journalists in a unique position in society. The way that they report an event can help shape society and bring about change for the better. Sports journalists have a big responsibility because they have such a big audience.
In the Euro 2020 final, England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed critical penalties in the final moments of the match. What happened afterward sparked a global debate about the racial abuse that players have to endure and the power of social media in spreading the right message.
A lot of the abuse that the three players faced was through social media platforms. These platforms became accountable for not shutting it down, and it brought to the forefront the issue of how they could be used to divide rather than unite in sport.
The longer the hateful messages stayed up, the more the abuse spread. However, there was equal pushback. A large section of society wanted to hold Twitter and other platforms to account. It highlighted the need for responsible reporting and that companies must use social media platforms for good, to unite rather than divide people.
As you contemplate a career as a sports journalist, you should be aware of the unique position that you will hold. A course such as the MA in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University imparts all the skills you need to be a great sports reporter. You learn the art of the sports interview and the value of ethics in sports journalism.
By the time you finish the course, you will be able to understand and explain the nuances of sports as they relate to ethnicity, race and gender, as well as the role of the sports journalist in the media. You learn best practices and ethics and how to apply them in pursuit of truth, fairness, accuracy and diversity. By the time you graduate, you will be able to give great interviews, report on the world’s top sporting events, produce podcasts and other forms of media reports, and execute a big sports journalism project.
However, when you get out in the real world, you will be confronted with issues that are difficult to deal with. Many will touch you personally, but you must learn to put them aside and follow your training.
When an event happens, you must report it as objectively as possible. As a sports journalist, your personal opinions cannot color your reporting. You must always be fair and accurate, and you must be diligent at fact-checking, making sure that all the information you put out is double-checked for accuracy and truth.
As we examine the role of advocacy in sports journalism, it is worth looking at its role in journalism in general. The issues that apply in the field of journalism as a whole also apply to sports reporting.
How important is advocacy in journalism in general?
Journalism remains one of the most essential institutions not just in America but around the world. It is how we know what is happening near and far, and it is also how we hold people accountable.
In recent years, we have seen just how powerful the media is in spreading a message.
It doesn’t matter whether something is true or not; as long as it appears in mainstream media, most people assume that it is correct, and their actions, thoughts, reactions and personal views are greatly influenced by what they read, watch and listen to from the media.
When the media gets things wrong, it usually means that a significant part of the population gets those same things wrong. In America, transparency and open debate provide vital checks and balances for important issues, but we have seen countries where wars are started by media reports.
What appears in the news – regardless of the format, whether it is in a TV or radio broadcast, a podcast or even a social media post – is powerful.
Today, the internet allows news to spread at speeds never seen before, but the downside is that once something is out there, you cannot recall it. Retractions don’t work because people don’t pay attention to them.
It therefore makes it the responsibility of every journalist to ensure that whatever they report is accurate, factual and objective, and not meant to inflame any particular group or segment of society against another.
It is the same in sports journalism and even more so because so many more Americans pay attention to sports than they do to everyday news. Sports have the power to bring millions and often billions of people together.
Just look at what happens during the Super Bowl weekend. In almost every home in America, in every neighborhood, every town and city, there is a singular focus: what is happening at the Super Bowl arena.
If a sports journalist were to say something inflammatory or report something that isn’t accurate, they would have the attention of almost every American, and with that comes the potential to do great damage.
In the same way, if they were to use the Super Bowl as a platform to spread a message of unity and togetherness, to acknowledge everyone regardless of their race, country of origin, socioeconomic status or age, most Americans would hear it, and that would be one of the things they take with them afterward.
Why is professionalism important in sports journalism?
Honesty, integrity and balance are core values in sports journalism, but they are not so easy to practice. As you prepare to become a sports journalist, you must not think that it is an easy life.
It is just as complex as other types of journalism, but you have a bigger responsibility than the average journalist because your audience tends to be bigger and more attentive.
Every sports story you report on must be impartial and tempered by reason and logic and a careful evaluation of the potential ramifications.
If, for example, you come across a story that can cause great social friction, you must, together with your editor, ask whether it serves the greater good. What is more important, to report the story as you see it, or to think about its implications and what it might mean for society?
The core credo of journalism is to report on all the important issues because it is your job to keep the public informed. However, in the real world, stories are sometimes kept from the public because no good can come from publishing or airing them.
It is a fine line, and it may go against your training and beliefs, but if you want to be a good journalist, you must be aware that things aren’t always black and white. There are many gray areas, and they require careful thinking about.
If this sounds confusing, consider that there are useful guidelines for responsible journalism.
You must be well-versed in the media laws that govern sports journalism. Remember, you can be held liable for the stories you report if they are contrary to the law, so you must take this seriously.
It is not objective to report favorably toward a team or a sports personality just because they are your favorite. Your reporting must always be objective and your personal feelings should not come into it.
You must always report events and gameplay just as they are. There is no room for you to bend the facts to suit a narrative that you want to pass along. If you are not certain of something, stop and check your facts and make sure that you use objective, balanced sources.
Avoid confirmation bias. This ties in with the above point, but it is worth emphasizing because you will have to deal with it throughout your career. We are all human beings, and there are certain things that we like and others that we don’t. There are many things that we make assumptions about because of past encounters or what we think we know. You may hold a strong view about a team or a personality because of something you heard or read once. These things don’t matter when it comes to sports journalism. You cannot afford to skew your reporting to fit your beliefs.
You must always be professional with your sources. If you develop personal relationships with them, there is a danger that they may tell you what you want to hear because they don’t want to disappoint you.
A good sports journalist must be very careful about gifts because they have the power to corrupt. You shouldn’t accept anything that may color your reporting. Teams will offer you great tickets to watch them play, or ringside seats in a boxing match. It is best not to accept these offers because they have the potential to make you develop a bias, and if it ever gets out that you have been accepting gifts, it erodes public trust in your reporting.
Make sure that all your meetings with sources are guided by professional and ethical rules. They must be logged in with your editor and be carried out in a transparent and accountable manner.
It’s all about protecting your sources. This is one of the most important mantras in journalism and you must take it seriously. You must never compromise a source by revealing who they are. As we have seen time and again, revealing sources can have serious consequences.
Don’t write stories that you haven’t fact-checked. We live in the era of fake news and there is a lot of misinformation going around. If you want to develop a reputation as a trusted sports journalist, always check the facts of all your stories.
When you are covering events, don’t rely on sources from the teams as they are likely to be biased. Instead, do your own reporting and report events as you see them.
Emotive phrases have the potential to cause trouble. You will learn in journalism school what sorts of phrases you should avoid. Put that knowledge to use when you eventually become a sports journalist. \
Can you grow with all these restrictions?
These guidelines seem restrictive and you may feel that they don’t give you much room for self-expression – how can you develop a personal brand if you have to think carefully about everything you report?
Sports journalism, and indeed all other types of journalism, are not about self-expression. They are about factual reporting without bias or personal opinion.
Many sports-casters have gone on to build a brand around themselves by observing the guidelines above.
That said, there are certain things you can do to make sure that you rise in your career and become highly marketable to employers.
Gain as many technical skills as you can
Journalism evolves constantly and there is always something new to learn. It takes more than being able to write a good story or read from a teleprompter to be a highly sought-after journalist. The more technical skills you can show employers, the more they will want to employ you.
Learn how to use digital platforms
It would be wrong to assume that because you are a journalist, you will not be required to be tech-savvy.
If you want to progress in your career, you must know how to use different social media platforms, understand website structure, know how to post stories and images, and be able to use different tools that ensure efficiency and accuracy in your work.
Understand algorithms and how they affect sports reporting
You want your stories to go out to as big an audience as possible, and to do that you need to have a good understanding of algorithms and how they work. You should also have a good knowledge of how different platforms treat sports stories.
The way that you publish on Twitter is different from the way that you publish on Facebook and quite different from how a story appears on Instagram. The people you reach on different platforms also vary, and you should be familiar with each platform so that you can reach as many diverse groups as possible.
If you want to publish a story for young people, for example, you may not get a very big audience on Facebook, but the same story could see bigger numbers if shared through a platform such as Instagram or TikTok. If all you want to give your audience is a taste of things to come, Twitter is the perfect social media platform.
Have an identity
Sports journalism is a competitive space and those who do well are those who seek to establish an identity early in their careers. Make something about your reporting stand out; you will eventually develop it into a brand that employers will be keen to use.
It’s not just about the news
Your primary role is not simply to inform the public about what is happening in sports – you must go further and bring them analysis, investigations, opinions from different people, debates and more.
Conclusion
As a sports journalist, you have an important advocacy role to play. You can use your career to galvanize people toward a cause, but you must always remember that you hold a great responsibility to society. Your reporting cannot be influenced by personal bias, and you must strive to be accurate and factual at all times.