Today I wanted to write about sports bloggers. While they may not be considering journalists per se, bloggers still comprise an important part of the industry.
Many newspapers and other outlets are hiring bloggers or allowing their regular sports reporters to keep blogs on the side.
Last semester, a Sports, Media, and Society course that I took conducted a survey to examine the ethics of sports bloggers. Marie Hardin, who is also my thesis adviser, was the professor for the class, and the coordinator for the survey of bloggers.
Here is the web link to the results: http://comm.psu.edu/about/centers/john-curley-center-for-sports-journalism/blogsreport.pdf
Here are some of the very interesting highlights:
- ¾ of bloggers do not see themselves as rivals of sports reporters.
- 85% consider blogging to be a form of journalism.
- Only 15% had been sports journalists before starting their blogs
What this means is that bloggers see themselves as part of the journalism fold. And you can bet the online audience feels the same way.
This comes with a possible issue, however. If some sports bloggers behave in an unethical way, people may start to associate these ethical lapses with the industry as a whole.
Just something to think about, but I suggest you read the PDF file for the rest of the findings. It is very interesting, and is only 4 pages long.
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