Balancing Entertainment and Ethics in Sports Reporting
In the end, many teams and sports leagues focus on specific players to increase fan engagement. The rise of websites specialized for sports like The Athletic is an indication of this change.
But, the values of entertainment should not be the primary focus of the journalism of sports. The most important ethical guidelines (IFJ, Council of Europe) explicitly state that comments and speculation must be avoided.
Real time Soccer Scores
Fans who cannot to attend their team’s play, they may use sites that offer real-time soccer scores. They feature tournaments, cups, leagues and tournaments all over the world. Additionally, they provide game statistics as well as news and fixtures. Additionally, they’re designed for mobile and desktop devices.
In Germany most of the live soccer commentators work with public service broadcasters (ZDF, NDR, and WDR), RTL, as well as private channels like Eurosport, sportdigital, and Sky. In this way, they have to meet high viewer expectations. As interviewee 3 says “They expect us to know everything, see every detail, and assess it correctly in a matter of seconds”.
The commentary is in a tense position since it’s supposed to educate the viewers with a journalistic style as well as serve an orientation purpose as well as entertain them. This hybrid type of journalism is referred to as soccer commentary, and it combines the media formats of factual reporting as well as subjective commentaries (Wiske 2017). The aim of this research was to examine the way live soccer commentators view the conflict between journalistic and entertainment-related values when they work.
Enhanced Fan Engagement
Engagement of fans is among the primary aspects of reporting on sports because it affects various important metrics for organizations and teams. A dedicated and active fan base can increase ticket sales as well as merchandise sales, and media coverage of the team. Additionally, a positive and active fan base can create a sense of belonging and trust among fans and can result in an increase in brand recognition and stronger revenue-generating model for the company.
Increased engagement of fans in sports reportage can be observed by the increasing popularity of soccer “fanzines,” cheaply printed publications written by soccer fans, which skip official match broadcasts as well as traditional media. They provide a mixture of journalistic and entertainment content and blur the lines between entertainment and journalism. Interviewees have pointed out the fact that this trend towards’soft journalism can lead to an eroding reputation of journalism (Wiske 2017.). Some commentators suggest that this could result in a more focused effort of journalists to build their personal brand.
Data Driven Analysis
The popularity of the novel “Moneyball” has sparked interest in analytics and big data in sport. Now, it is possible to gather, store, and transfer and analyse large amounts of data at a reasonable cost. This has resulted in new methods of analysis as well as an greater trust in the accuracy of decisions based on data.
The change has a significant impact on the field of sports journalism Keonhacai. Journalists’ role is not just an impartial spectator of sports and is now an essential mediator between the supporters and clubs. Journalists in sports are caught between the economic reality (drawing huge audiences through entertainment) as well as journalistic endeavors (such as investigative reports). The tension between the two has a direct impact on the way the journalist in sports is viewed and carried out. Interviews with commentators on sports show that they employ a variety of strategies that help them distinguish themselves from other commentators that range from emotionally entertaining to impartial mediators. They rely more on traditional journalistic style of presentation. The entertainment-oriented commentators aim to excite viewers through their voice, language and emotions.
Challenges of Reporting Live Sports Scores
Like all other aspects of journalism There are ethical issues when it comes to sports reporting. It is crucial for reporters to provide accurate and reliable information. Also, it is important to keep a good relationship with the sources, and to not cave the pressure of sources to release details that support a team or player’s viewpoint. Journalists shouldn’t accept the gifts of special invites or invitations that might influence their reporting.
Furthermore, it is crucial that sports reporters understand the telecast’s hybrid character soccer. One side, it’s factual and serves the purpose of providing information that is orientating, but contrary to that it is a mixture of personal commentary as well as entertaining aspects (Schaffrath 2003). In this way, sports broadcasters are a significant influence on the way that viewers experience live sports events, and influence their perceptions of and memories.