a profile of australian sport journalists (revisited)

8/10/2019 A Profile of Australian Sport Journalists (Revisited)

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A Profile of Australian Sport Journalists (Revisited)

Matthew Nicholson, Centre for Sport and Social Impact, La Trobe University,

Australia

Lawrie Zion, Journalism Program, La Trobe University, Australia

David Lowden, Journalism Program, La Trobe University, Australia

Matthew Nicholson (corresponding author)

Centre for Sport and Social Impact

La Trobe University

Victoria 3086, Australia

Telephone +613 9479 1220

Facsimile +613 9479 1010

Email: [email protected]

Lawrie Zion

Journalism Program

La Trobe University

David Lowden

Journalism Program

La Trobe University


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Abstract

This article presents key findings from a survey of Australian sport journalists, the

first of its kind since Henninghams (1995) seminal study in the early 1990s.

Australian sport journalists (n=166) participated in an online survey, which asked

questions related to their profile and work practices. The findings reveal that in many

respects the profile of Australian sport journalists is similar to what it was almost

twenty years ago, yet there are indications that both the professional lives of sport

journalists and the broader sport media industry are undergoing significant change.

Like their predecessors, contemporary Australian sport journalists are thirty-

something, predominantly Australian-born, work in a male-dominated environment,

plan to be working in journalism or the media in five years time and have similar

views about the functions of the news media. The contemporary Australian sport

journalists differ in that they are far more educated, are more likely to be located in

Victoria and are now more likely to work in non-print media forms such as radio and

online than their predecessors, who were far more likely to work in the print media.


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Sports journalists are overwhelmingly male and Caucasian, slightly less well

educated than other journalists, more conservative in their political values, less

professional, but less inclined to support ethical breaches. They are happier in their

work, less stressed, more supportive of traditional, objective models of journalism

and less supportive of investigative roles for the media. (Henningham, 1995: 13)

These were some of Henninghams (1995) key findings from what has remained the

most thorough attempt to investigate the values and professional backgrounds of

Australian sport journalists. But what has changed since then, an important question

given that both in Australia and internationally, sport has become an even more

important part of the mediascape during the first decade of the 21st century.

Furthermore, understanding who sport journalists are is an essential foundation for

broader examinations of the role of the sport media as an influential social institution -

the role of the newsmaker is as important, if not more so, than an analysis of the

meaning of sport media texts, or the ways in which audiences interpret or consume

these texts. This article reports on the findings of a study that attempted to redress the

absence of research into what remains the single largest specialty cohort in Australian

journalism (Lange et al., 2007).

Researching Australian Journalists

Henninghams (1995) study of sport journalists was part of a broader investigation

into the working lives and attitudes of more than 1400 Australian journalists (see

Henningham, 1998), which in turn was part of an international collection of studies

led by Weaver, an American researcher. The latter, along with Wilhoit, have been

pioneers in investigating the attitudes and professional lives of American journalists


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for more than four decades (see, for example, Weaver and Wilhoit, 1991; Weaver et

al, 2007). Since Henningham, however, precious little large-scale research has been

conducted on Australian journalists (Hanusch, 2008: 99). Hanusch referred to the

work of Brand and Pearson (2001) as an exception, but noted that nobody had taken

up Forde and Burrows (2004) challenge to update Henninghams study. The research

gap remains.

A notable exception is Rodrigues study of Victorian journalists that built on and

borrowed from the work conducted in Australia by Henningham in 1992 (Rodrigues,

2008: 114) using a combination of survey questionnaires and follow-up in-depth

interviews that explored journalists perceptions of their roles and values. In the

context of this study it also examined generational changes within journalism by

comparing entry-level and veteran journalists. Hanuschs attempt to map Australian

journalism culture provided another important perspective on Australian journalism,

but not at the scale of the earlier Henningham (1998) study. Hanuschs interviews

with 100 journalists were designed to integrate with an international worlds of

journalisms survey, the mission of which was to allow for a standardised

comparison of journalists' characteristics, attitudes, views and role perceptions across

a number of different countries (Hanusch, 2008: 98).

Since then Australias Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) has

conducted two surveys as part of their Future of Journalism project. In the 2010

survey there were 1669 respondents, which included full-time, casual and freelance

journalists, ranging from editors and managers to reporters, production staff, digital

and online staff, photographers and artists (Este, 2010). While this study was


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revealing in terms of the working conditions and selected practices of Australian

journalists, the survey was not linked to previous academic studies, and did not

specifically address the working environments of sport journalists.

Researching Sport Journalists

Wenner (1998) identified that the world of MediaSport is created by the interaction

of institutions, texts and audiences, and noted that the bulk of research in the field had

been concerned with texts (see also Bernstein & Blain, 2002). This emphasis was in

part driven by accessibility and the relative ease of conducting research, but also by

important issues such as racial and gender biases in reporting, particularly of major

events such as the Olympic Games. By contrast, institutions and audiences were the

subject of relatively little academic attention. These institutions and audiences have

more recently been examined, particularly through the lenses of policy and sport

fandom respectively. There has been a significant amount of work that has examined

the broader sport media institution in terms of government regulation, as well as the

impact of sport media on globalisation and globalisation on sport media. At the same

time, sport fandom has become a popular field of academic endeavour, particularly in

the area of sport marketing, however, there has been a paucity of studies that have

examined the ways in which audiences interact with sport media texts. So, while it is

no longer the case that analysis of sport media texts exclusively dominates the field of

sport media studies, there remains a paucity of research that examines specific aspects

of the production and consumption aspects of the sport media supply chain, such as

the profile and role of sport journalists. Since the hyper-commercialism of sport in the

1970s, sport journalists, a major component of Wenners institutions, have been the

subject of sporadic academic attention, which has often explored the tension between


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the seriousness of news making and the fun of sports and games (c.f. Cotton, 1989;

Hardin, 2005; Koppett, 1981; Lowes, 1997; Lowes, 1999; Rowe and Stevenson, 1995;

Salwen and Garrison, 1998; Schultz-Jorgensen, 2005; Smith, 1976).

In 1989 Garrison felt sufficiently confident to claim in the American context that

sports reporting has become as sophisticated as the city desk and has turned the

corner into legitimate journalism. It will never turn back (p. 3-23; see also Garrison,

1993). Despite the confidence with which this pronouncement was made, the issue of

whether sport journalism is legitimate remains contentious, in part because little is

known about sport journalists and their work practices. As part of an international

study (Schultz-Jorgensen, 2005) in which he examined the sport content of several

Australian newspapers, Rowe (2007) considered the seemingly perennial question of

whether the pejorative jibe that sports journalism is the toy department of the news

media is justified:

The sports beat occupies a difficult position in the news media. It is

economically important in drawing readers (especially male) to general news

publications, and so has the authority of its own popularity. Yet its practice is

governed by ingrained occupational assumptions about what works for this

readership, drawing it away from the problems, issues and topics that

permeate the social world to which sport is intimately connected. In doing so,

it seeks reinforcement and affirmation from the largely closed circle of sources

that creates the insular world of sport in the first place. (p. 400)


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These issues have also been taken up by Boyle (2006), who noted that sport

journalists are traditionally positioned towards the lower regions of any journalistic

hierarchy. In many respects this might be considered to be stating the obvious given

the long standing debate over the relative merit and professional standing of sport

journalists, yet he also warned against overgeneralising. Writing about the British

context, Boyle noted that internal divisions across sport journalism are still evident

but in many ways have become more complex and that given the expansion of

sports writing and the sportswriter to talk of sports journalism as if it were one

homogeneous body of work is simply to misunderstand the range of journalistic

output and practice that one can find under this rubric (p.166).

Boyles contention in part is that sport journalists are increasingly being perceived as

becoming more professional, however, the implications of what this might mean are

debatable, not least because defining just who is a sport journalist is itself hardly

straightforward. As Boyle (2006: 167) noted the boundaries between print and

broadcast sports journalists are more porous than was once the case; the boundaries

between traditional media forms and online journalism have exacerbated the trend

towards an occupational pluralism in which journalists can, in different contexts, be

commentators, editors or bloggers.

Boyle concluded a discussion of sport broadcasters selling international events

through their reporting by noting that sports journalism and notions of journalistic

impartiality remain a problematic area; however, perhaps no more so than it is for the

wider field of contemporary journalism, which is saturated with comment and opinion

as well as factual reporting (pp.174-5). This problematic, symbiotic relationship


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between sport journalism and its industry has been an issue of significant academic

interest (see Knoppers and Elling, 2004; Lowes, 1997; Lowes, 1999; Rowe and

Stevenson, 1995; Salwen and Garrison, 1998; Schultz-Jorgensen, 2005; Wenner,

1989), although it is unclear, as Boyle suggested, whether sport journalism is more

greatly afflicted than other forms of contemporary journalism.

Within Australia the Henningham study remains a beacon in terms of understanding

who sport journalists are. Globally, the sport journalism cohort appears to exhibit a

stubbornly white male homogeneity (see, for example Dunne, 1985; Fountaine and

McGregor, 1999; Hardin and Shaine, 2005; Hardin and Whiteside, 2006). A

considerable amount of research into sport journalists has been conducted in America.

For example, Garrison and Salwens (1989) study of 249 members of the Associated

Press Sports Editors (APSE), a national group compromised mainly of sports section

managers as opposed to reporters, found that 96% were male, almost 99% were white,

the median age was 36 years, the median length of career was 14 years and

approximately 85% had a college degree or higher. Garrison and Salwen (1994)

conducted a follow-up study with the same APSE cohort and found that sports

journalists remained overwhelmingly white, male, college-educated and thirty-

something. Levels of education and media length of career had also increased

slightly.

This article seeks to address the research gap that exists by investigating the profile

and work practices of Australian sport journalists, and in doing so attempts to assess,

by contrasting contemporary data with Henninghams (1995) findings, whether sport

journalists as a cohort have changed.


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Method

During late 2010, an email invitation (with two reminders) to participate in an online

survey was sent to sport journalists throughout Australia. These sports journalists

were identified through publicly available media guides, websites, broadcasts and

hard copy publications, as well as personal contacts. The total number of sport

journalists invited to participate was approximately 500. We are unable to provide a

definitive number because some organisations were unwilling to provide email

addresses, but delivered the invitation via email to staff through a central contact.

Thus, we have had to estimate the number of sport journalists that were sent the

survey. All efforts were made to make the list as representative as possible, including

types of media (print, online, television, radio and magazines) and location (regional

areas as well as major metropolitan cities). A total of 166 usable surveys were

completed through an anonymous online survey system. The survey consisted of a

series of questions related to the sport journalists demographic profile and work

practices.

Findings

In many respects the current cohort of sport journalists appears very similar to their

colleagues of the early 1990s. Henningham reported a median age of 32, whereas the

current studys sample is slightly older, with a median age of 36; 30% of the current

sport journalists are less than 30 years of age and 47% are aged between 30 and 45,

whereas it was 40% and 45% respectively in the Henningham study. While

Henninghams (1998) study found that journalism was a relatively young profession,

it appears that the workforce has aged, both in Australia and internationally (Hanusch,


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2008), which is consistent with the findings of this research. Only 19% of current

sport journalists are aged over 50, illustrating that sport journalism is still a relatively

youthful profession. Similarly, the proportion of Australian and overseas-born sport

journalists has not changed significantly since the early 1990s. In the Henningham

study the proportion of Australian born sport journalists was 90%; in the current study

it is 88%. This data might be explained by the dominance of Australias indigenous

football code, as well as a preponderance of team sports in which Australia is highly

successful, but in which there is relatively little international competition, such as

netball, cricket, rugby league and rugby union.

Henningham reported that the sport journalists average number of years in

journalism was 12.4 years, slightly less than the average number of years for non-

sport journalists. In the current study, 46% of the sample had been involved in

journalism between 0 and 10 years, with 54% of the sample 11 years or more, and

29.4% having worked in the profession for 21 or more years. The data was somewhat

similar for the number of years involved in sport journalism: 46% had worked 11 or

more years, with 22.3% involved for 21 or more years. Henningham also reported that

sport journalists are more likely to stay in journalism than their non-sport colleagues;

86% of sport journalists in the Henningham study planned to be working in

journalism or media in five years time. In the current study 95.4% of the sample

planned to be working in journalism or media in five years time, with 85.6% planning

to be working in sport journalism or sport media. By comparison, Este et al (2010)

reported that only 47% of Australian journalists in a study conducted by the MEAA

were positive or very positive about their career prospects. This data might be used


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with caution to suggest that the current sport journalists are more satisfied or

contented in their work than their predecessors and non-sport contemporaries.

Based on the proportion of men and women, and their perceptions of workplace

prejudice, Henningham (1995) concluded that sport journalism is essentially a male

domain. Only 11% of his sample of sport journalists were women, while more of the

women and less of the men believed that it was more difficult for women to get ahead

in journalism and that women were victims of prejudice in the newsroom. The

proportion of women in the current study was 10.2%, a small decrease that indicates

that despite a much larger number of high profile female sport journalists, sport

journalism remains a mans domain. The data presented in table 1 contrasts the

current study with Henninghams (1995). Asked the question is it more difficult for

women to get ahead in journalism, 24.1% of journalists in the current study

responded yes, compared to 42.3% in the earlier study. However, as with the earlier

study, the current study reveals that there is a disparity between the views of male and

female journalists, with female journalists more inclined to answer yes to the above

question. Similarly, when asked have you had any personal experience or knowledge

or women being victims of prejudice in the newsroom, 82.7% of the current study

answered no, however 68.8% of female sport journalists answered yes to the

question, while only 10% of men answered yes to the question, compared to 85% and

32% respectively within the Henningham (1995) study. It is unclear whether there is

less prejudice within contemporary sport journalism, but it is clear that female sport

journalists perceive that it exists or have experienced it far more than their male

colleagues. The survey results also highlight the need to ask the question of gender-

based prejudice amongstformerfemale sport journalists. The authors are aware of a


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female journalist who left sport journalism after several years to report in general

news because of her perceived or actual workplace prejudice.

**Insert Table 1 near here**

The perceptions of the importance of news media functions also appear remarkably

similar between the current and previous cohorts of sport journalists, as illustrated in

Table 2. Henningham (1995) found that the most statistically significant differences

between sport and non-sport journalists were for the following functions: (1) provide

analysis and interpretation of complex problems; (2) discuss national policy while it

is still being developed; (3) be an adversary of public officials by being constantly

sceptical of their actions; and (4) be an adversary of businesses by being constantly

sceptical of their actions. The first of these functions provide analysis and

interpretation of complex problems is more important for the current cohort, while

provide entertainment and relaxation is less important. These two results are more

aligned to Henninghams cohort of non-sport journalists, although given that we have

no data on the current cohort of non-sport journalists these findings must be treated

with caution. By contrast, the final three functions in which there was a statistically

significant difference in Henninghams original study all experienced a decrease in

the perception of importance in the current study, albeit a small one.


Interestingly, the percentage of sport journalists who believe it is extremely important

to investigate claims and statements made by government has dropped considerably,


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while the percentage who believe it is extremely important to discuss national policy

while it is still being developed is relatively low. These results are seemingly in

conflict with the relatively high proportion of sports journalists that believe that it is

extremely important to provide analysis and interpretation of complex problems. For

many non-sport journalists government policy, and the claims and statements made by

government, are essential to their working lives, especially political journalists. Policy

problems are by their very nature complex and the public relies on journalists to

provide analysis and interpretation, yet the same does not appear to be the case for

sport policy issues. This might be explained by the general apathy of sport media

consumers in relation to issues of public or sport policy, which in turn influences the

approach of sport journalists. It might also be explained by the relatively consistency

of Australian sport policy since the mid 1980s, particularly the prioritising of elite

sport success (Hoye and Nicholson, 2009); sport journalists might perceive that the

professional sport leagues, clubs and promoters have more influence than government

in the Australian sport landscape and government policy is therefore a relatively low

priority. Professional elite sport organisations also employ experienced and

professional media and public relations advisors who ensure there is a well managed

torrent of information on any particular issue. The designers of public policy, within

government and associated organisations, rarely initiate contact with sport journalists,

or do so with less system and resources than professional leagues and clubs.

In the context of the increasing commercialisation of sport media it is also worth

noting that the percentage of sport journalists who believe that it is extremely

important to be an adversary of business by being constantly sceptical of their

actions was the lowest in both the current and the Henningham (1995) study, as


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illustrated in Table 2. The result in the Henningham (1995) study is perhaps explained

by the fact that at the time of the survey the commercialisation of Australian sport was

just beginning in earnest and that sport journalists were concerned more with match

and game reports than they were with an analysis of the off-field activities of leagues,

clubs and individuals. But, recording a similar result almost two decades later is a

surprising result to say the least, particularly given the hyper-commercialisation of

sport during the period between the two surveys.

In the last two decades Australian sport has experienced a significant transformation,

particularly within the major sports: rugby union was professionalised, rugby league

endured the Superleague saga, the Australian Football League added additional teams

from outside Victoria in attempt to nationalise it product, cricket was irreversibly

altered by the introduction of the twenty-twenty format, soccer was transformed via

the Crawford review and the subsequent establishment of the A-League and the

national netball competition was broadened to include teams from New Zealand. In

large part all of these developments were related to the relationship between the sport

and the media, and the pressure placed on leagues and teams to become a more

attractive media product. These developments have also meant that the relationships

between sport and business and sport and media are more complex now than they

have ever been. Media organisations are heavily invested in leagues through broadcast

rights deals, exclusive media partnerships and advertising and sponsorship deals that

are predicated on sport audiences, while in some instances the media organisations

own the content (the team or the league), as well as the means of distribution.


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The increasing convergence of sport and media organisations is likely to have an

impact on public access to sport and the character of Australian sport consumption, as

media organisations explore ways to charge for previously free content and more

sport content is provided on a pay-per-view basis. Given these developments the

result recorded in this study related to sport journalists being an adversary of business

is of potential concern and perhaps indicates that sport journalists are less likely to be

critical than their non-sport colleagues. It is unclear how sport journalists will

interpret future developments, as they are often employed by organisations that are

the major players in the development of Australian media sport. An important caveat

here is that it is unclear what impact the wording of the statement might have had on

the responses by sport journalists. The notion of being constantly sceptical of their

actions might have caused sport journalists to respond differently, and as such it

would be worth future research exploring the nexus between sport journalists and the

impacts of the hyper-commercialisation of Australian sport in more detail.

The current cohort or sport journalists also differ from their predecessors in several

important respects. In the Henningham (1995) study, 0.9% of the sample had

completed a graduate degree and 30.2% had completed a diploma or bachelor degree,

compared with 6.6% and 60.8% of this sample respectively, as illustrated in Table 3.

Whereas in the Henningham study 56% of the sample had not studied beyond high

school, in the current study 67.2% had completed a qualification beyond high school;

it is clear that sport journalists are now far more educated, with a diploma, bachelor

degree or graduate qualification becoming the norm rather than exception for entry

into the profession. By way of contrast, Henningham (1995) referred to the Garrison

and Salwen (1994) study of sports writers and editors in the US, in which they noted


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that 71% had a bachelor degree, and an additional 13% had undertaken postgraduate

study. More than 15 years later, the current Australian data is still not on a par with

the Garrison and Salwen data. This is perhaps due to the highly competitive nature of

the American sport industry generally and American sport journalism more

specifically. It also might reflect that sport journalism has been a serious career in

the US for longer than it has in Australia.


The current sample also differs from the Henningham (1995) study in terms of their

location. Although New South Wales was the location for approximately a third of

sport journalists in the Henningham study, as it is in the current study (33.1%),

Victoria has risen from approximately 20% in the Henningham study to the number

one location with almost 37% of the sample. Queensland and Western Australia have

dropped from 18% and 12% to 7.2% and 7.8% respectively. The large number of

Victorian sport journalists in the current study may be an anomaly, or perhaps an

indication that since the mid 1990s the state has cemented itself as the sporting capital

of Australia, particularly with the growth and media coverage of major events such as

the Australian Open, Rip Curl Pro, Melbourne Cup, Australian Football League

Grand Final and the Formula One Grand Prix. As such, Victoria is perhaps the state

with the greatest demand for sport journalists.

In terms of the specific location of sport journalists, the current study revealed that

66.9% work in a city of more than one million people, while 92.8% work in a city of

50,000 or more people. Given the distribution of sport journalists by state, it is


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reasonable to conclude that most of the nations sport journalists are working in

Melbourne and Sydney. The concept of sport journalists moving to live where major

events are located may also be linked to the comparative lack of employment

opportunities for sport journalists in states and territories other than New South Wales

and Victoria.

Table 4 shows the distribution of sport journalists in the different media forms. In the

Henningham study the categories were print, radio, television and wire services, while

in the current study print was divided into newspapers and magazines, the category of

online was added and wire services was omitted. In the Henningham study journalists

nominated the primary media form in which they worked, while in this study we

allowed sport journalists to nominate the percentage of their time allocated to the

specific media forms, cognisant of the fact that contemporary journalists may be

required to work across multiple forms. As such, the percentages for the current study

reported in table 4 do not represent individual journalists, but rather an aggregation of

the total time across the entire cohort. Of the 153 sport journalists who responded to

this question, 67 were employed 100% by a single media form. In other words, more

than half of the sport journalists who responded to this question work across multiple

media forms. For some this might be within a multi-platform organisation, such as the

ABC, while for others it might be the result of working for more than one employer.


Perhaps not surprisingly, the percentage of sport journalists working in the print

media has declined significantly in relative terms. Even if the newspaper and


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magazine data are added together to recreate the category print in the earlier study,

this category has declined by approximately 20%. By contrast, the proportion of sport

journalists employed in radio has increased, while the new category of online

represents 16%, the second largest category behind newspapers. Since the first survey,

Australia has seen the introduction of radio stations with formats that broadcast

predominantly, if not exclusively, sport related content. This may account, in part, for

the increase in the number of sport journalists who spend the majority of their

working week employed by a radio station. Newspapers remain the stalwart in terms

of sport journalism employers, yet it is clear that the profession is changing. It is

unclear from two time points (1995 and 2011) how rapid this change is; regular

follow-up studies are required to determine how quickly the print media is

diminishing and how quickly the broadcast media are ascending. The proportion of

sport journalists employed within television has remained relatively constant, which is

somewhat surprising given the introduction of pay television and the subsequent

proliferation of sport channels. The distinction between sport journalists and sport

presenters is worth considering in the context of these findings and any discussion of

professional boundaries. Television sport presenters may self identify as sport

journalists despite not having a journalistic role, that is, contributing to the editorial

content of a publication or broadcast. Is the presenter of a sport program on radio a

sport journalist? Should the producers of sport discussion programs on radio and

television be regarded as sport journalists? In September 2010, the former AFL

footballer, Garry Lyon, won the highest individual honour for journalism at the

Australian Football Media Awards for his columns on Australian Rules football. In

his acceptance speech, Lyon admitted he did not think of himself as a journalist and

that the award would challenge him to reconsider whether he should maintain that


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view of himself. Defining who is and who isnt a sport journalist was not the subject

of this study but future research into this question would be useful for the analysis of

data relating to the profession. Further research may also explore the related issue of

whether the proliferation of sport channels has resulted in more sport journalists being

employed, and address the issue of the blurring of sport reporting and sport coverage.

The data from this survey indicates there has not been a marked increase in the

number of sport journalists employed. Again, this assertion relies on an existing

definition of a sport journalist which the authors acknowledge should be the subject of

further research.

There are also a number of findings from the current study for which we have no

comparative data, but are worth reporting given other research in the area. Given the

predilection of media outlets to hire ex-players and athletes as commentators,

broadcasters, columnists or reporters, we asked the current cohort whether they had

previously been paid to play sport in a professional capacity. The research revealed

that 7.8% of the sample had been professional athletes prior to their current sport

journalism career, perhaps indicating that the profession draws upon the industry on

which it reports for prospective talent more so than any other journalism speciality, a

predicament that is itself the source of some misgivings with the ranks of sport

journalists (Nicolea, 2010).


The current study also sought to establish the types of sports that sport journalists

were allocated to. As such, we asked the survey respondents to nominate the


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percentage of their time allocated to specific sports. As with the data related to the

journalists distribution across media forms, this data on types of sports has been

aggregated into a total number of people, from which a percentage of the overall

cohort has been derived. Table 5 shows that the AFL is the dominant professional

league in Australia in terms of the number of journalists allocated to its coverage

(25.8%). The AFL, rugby league and soccer combined represent more than half the

total number of sport journalists, while the top ten sports account for almost 90% of

Australian sport journalists. Of course, these figures do not necessarily reflect the

quantity of coverage each sport receives, as specific journalists may be required to

produce more copy than others. In order to get a sense of the content being produced

by the sport journalists, we asked them to identify, in the main, what type the articles

or segments they were writing or broadcasting were according to the following

designations: international; national; state and local. The data revealed that 51.9% of

the content produced was national in orientation, 21.8% was state-based and 19.5%

was locally orientated. Only 6.8% of the content was internationally orientated, which

might indicate that Australian sport content is fairly parochial and that much

international content is not produced by Australian sport journalists, but is imported.

Conclusions

In many respect contemporary sport journalists are not too dissimilar to their

predecessors. Although slightly older, they are still thirty-something, remain

overwhelmingly Australian-born, work in a male dominated environment, have a

similar duration of career in journalism generally and sport journalism more

specifically, have similar expectations of their career in the next five years and have

very similar views on the functions of the news media. These findings appear to


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suggest that the profile of sport journalists has remained a dependable constant amid

the seemingly dynamic and highly fluid media and sport media environments.

By contrast, the findings of this research also suggest that there are some important

changes occurring within sport journalism. Contemporary Australian sport journalists

are now far more educated than their predecessors, indicative of sport journalisms

growing professionalisation, and are more likely to work in Victoria, a state which has

cemented its place as Australias sporting capital since the mid 1990s. Perhaps most

significantly, the proportion of sport journalists working in the print media has

declined, which is in line with the financial pressure many newspapers are under,

given a decline in the circulation of the printed version of most newspapers. However,

sport journalists who derive the majority of their income from newspapers are the

most sought after by television and radio when it comes to the reporting of sport news

(in programs other than their nightly news bulletin). Many sport programs on radio

and television employ former professional athletes, most of whom are not trained in

journalism and do not see themselves as journalists, but as presenters or

commentators a trend that has its parallel in other areas of the media, such as

political reporting, where former parliamentarians are swelling the ranks of the

commentariat. Identifying the extent to which the professional activities of such

commentators can be classed as journalism remains open to question: as Zelizer

(2004: 22) noted, tensions over the boundaries of who is a journalist persist. That

noted, it is clear that by contrast the proportion of sport journalists employed in radio

and the growing online category has risen. The data presented in this article did not

explore the inherent tensions that have been created by the growth of online sport

journalism and the fusing of traditional and new media, such as the use of Twitter,


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blogs and other social media platforms by journalists and athletes alike. The impact of

Web 2.0 on the work practices of sport journalists is worthy of more sustained

analysis and it is likely that more qualitative or ethnographic studies might be usefully

employed (see Lowes, 1999, for example). Despite the fact there are now many more

sport-related shows on television, the survey indicated the number of sport journalists

in television has remained constant since Henninghams survey. This may be due in

part to cost-cutting experienced by all metropolitan and regional television

newsrooms around the country. The requirement to do more with fewer resources is

not unique to sport journalism, but the paradox between the number of exponents and

the number of sport-related programs is. As noted earlier in the article, it is unclear

whether this change has been gradual over the last twenty years, or whether it has

been relatively rapid over the last five to ten years. More research is required to

confirm the nature of this important change within the sport journalism industry.

The research also found that a small but significant proportion of contemporary

Australian sport journalists have previously been paid to play sport in a professional

capacity. More research is required to establish to what extent other journalism

specialities hire from within the industry, and to what extent sport journalism is a

unique case. The current research also found that a relatively small number of sports

in Australia are allocated almost all the available sport journalists; 90% of sport

journalists are allocated to ten sports and the AFL, rugby league and soccer, three of

the most prominent national leagues, account for more than half. The distribution of

sport journalists is an important challenge and problem for smaller sports, as well as

an interesting perspective on the interdependence of sport and the media, particularly

the major professional leagues and the media. Further research is required to


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determine whether the allocation of sport journalists to specific football codes and

leagues leads to particular styles and types of reporting.

This article has revisited the seminal work of Henningham (1995) in order to provide

a new profile of Australian sport journalists, and has reported a dichotomous set of

findings. Contemporary sport journalists are similar yet different to their predecessors

of twenty years ago. The similarities, particularly the proportion of male and

Australian-born sport journalists, suggest that sport journalism is very conservative,

traditional and entrenched in its ways. But, on the other hand, the educational profile

of sport journalists and the growing range of media in which they work suggests that

as a career in sport journalism is at once becoming more professional and - as it is for

other media workers - less predictable (Este et al., 2010). Who are sport journalists

is an important question. The quantity of sport coverage across a range of media

forms is such that its influence cannot be ignored, however, while it is relatively easy

to speculate about the meaning, inferences and indeed the impact of sport media texts,

or to comment on the impact of new broadcast rights deals or regulations, it is far less

easy to understand the role of the people who make the sport news. An insight into

who these people are is an important first step in further exploring their role in news

production and selection, and the way in which their attitudes, views and agendas

shape the ways in which sport is consumed. It remains for future research to further

examine in greater details through both quantitative and qualitative methods of

inquiry the significance of the changing practices of sport journalists in Australia, and

what this means for not only sport journalism specifically, but also the place of sport

journalists within a rapidly evolving mediascape.


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Table 1: Judgements on Difficulties Faced by Women

Yes No

Current Study, 2011 (n=133) 24.1 75.9

Henningham, 1995 (n=111) 42.3 57.7

Current Study, 2011 Male (n=117) 17.9 82.1

Current Study, 2011 Female (n=16) 68.8 31.2

Henningham, 1995, Male (n=97) 36.1 63.9

Henningham, 1995, Female (n=13) 84.6 15.4


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Table 2: Importance of news media functions (percentage saying extremely

important)

Media Function

Current Study,

2011 (n=132)

Henningham,

1995 (n=116)

Get information to the public quickly 78.8 82.8

Provide analysis and interpretation of complex problems 68.2 59.5

Provide entertainment and relaxation 28.8 36.2

Investigate claims and statements made by the government 50.8 72.4

Stay away from stories where factual content cannot be verified 42.4 46.5

Concentrate on news of interest to the widest possible audience 39.4 44.8

Discuss national policy while it is still being developed 30.3 37.1

Develop intellectual and cultural interests of the public 22.7 29.3

Be an adversary of public officials by being constantly sceptical of

their actions

17.4 18.1

Be an adversary of business by being constantly sceptical of their

actions

15.9 16.4


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Table 3: Highest level of education completed

Education level % (n=166)

Postgraduate degree (PhD, Masters or Postgraduate Diploma) 6.6

Bachelor Degree 54.8

Advanced Diploma or Diploma (TAFE) 6.0

Secondary Education 30.1

Other 2.4


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Table 4: Distribution of Journalists across Media (%)

Current Study, 2011

(n=153)

Henningham, 1995 (n=116)

Print - 79.3

Newspaper 48 -

Magazine 12.3 -

Radio 8.6 1.7

Television 15 14.7

Online 16 -

Wire Service - 4.3


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Table 5: Percentage of sport journalists allocated to specific sports (n=132)

Sport Allocation (%)

AFL 25.8

Rugby league 13.2

Soccer 11.6

Cricket 10.9

Horse Racing 8.0

Rugby union 5.9

Cycling 4.9

Golf 4.4

Basketball 2.4

Tennis 2.1

Netball 2.0

Motorsport 1.8

Other (including Gymnastics, Athletics, Baseball, Boxing, Lawn Bowls,

Hockey, Diving, Rowing, Surfing, Sailing, Touch, Triathlon, Volleyball,

Water Polo, Greyhound Racing and Surf Lifesaving) (range: 0.1-0.9)

7.0

a profile of australian sport journalists (revisited)

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