How sports journalism becomes PR

sports journalists are trapped in double binds because sport clubs have all the power

Every day, sports journalists navigate a precarious tightrope.

Get close with clubs and governing bodies’ press officers for information and tip-offs, but not too close or else risk losing journalistic independence and credibility.

Get far from press officers, but not too far or risk being cut off from information and tip-offs to break stories with and lose your job.

It is said that the best sports journalist can masterfully navigate this journalism-PR tightrope, retaining journalistic independence and objectivity while having access to insider knowledge.

But what if this independence is an illusion?

What if the structures of the tightrope were being controlled by someone else? What if sports clubs and national governing bodies control the tightrope’s width, length, and strength? What if they control where it is, the safety nets, and how far the fall to the bottom is?

Elite sports clubs and national governing bodies have tight control of the flow of information surrounding their organisation.

The majority of the time, they set the sports news agenda. They decide when press conferences and interviews take place and who is put up for interview. Athletes are ‘media trained’ to deliver a pre-planned PR message and deflect any difficult questions, such as those which might be critical of the organisation. Athletes work in environments of self-censorship and censorship where it is safer not to be publicly critical of their organisation, or must seek permission to speak out on any social or sport policy issue, all under the guise of “protecting” athletes.

(I find this ironic when club and national policy is rarely athlete-centred and player unions continue to spend years, if not decades, lobbying sports national governing bodies for better workers' rights for athletes.)

They also decide which outlets they give tip-offs or exclusives to, after the journalist has been well-behaved enough, done a nice PR story on a project that uplifts underrepresented communities, or spent enough time with them in the pub.

Even if, in rare cases, a head coach or leading press officer decides to give journalists more control and access, for example, during an international tournament or for a documentary, this can be removed at any time if not respected in the right way. The power dynamic remains firmly tilted away from the sports journalist.

The result is that many sports journalists often end up pushing content or framing content in a way that a club or governing body wants.

Information-management techniques have ensured that the worst damage a story exposing wrongdoing can do is cause a temporarily bad reputation, not force any systematic, long-term change.

I’ve noticed the sports journalism industry’s “scoops” do not regularly challenge the interests of elite sport clubs and governing bodies and, often, give legitimacy to the status quo.

Exclusive player transfer and manager announcement stories take serious hard work, but that doesn’t make the journalism any less likely to serve the agenda of elite sports clubs and competitions.

The journalist might have skilfully navigated information-management techniques and spent 5 years getting to know a manager’s family, but, ultimately, it’s great promotional material for the elite sports clubs and competitions.

That’s not to say these stories shouldn’t be written or aren’t in the public interest, but that they must receive way less time, resources, and acclaim than they are currently allocated, or the journalism industry will continue to be a mouthpiece for the clubs and organisations they report on.

It is also telling that a lot of revelatory stories aren’t produced by sports journalists, but by investigative journalists. Think of the Roman Abramovich exclusive in 2023 by David Conn, Simon Lock, and Rob Davies, and last month, The Dark Side of Swimming Clubs by BBC Panorama.

Many sports journalists on the inside are trapped in double binds where no matter what they do, they risk becoming “complicit in helping those clubs achieve their own agenda, rather than working as the eyes and ears of the public” (p. 101).

I have previously written about sports and sports media’s symbiotic relationship, assuming that they need each other equally. Now I’m wondering if journalists are dependent on clubs and governing bodies.