ABSTRACT
Digital technology has changed not only what audiences want and how sports journalism is consumed but has also fundamentally altered how sports journalism is produced and what is required of the sports journalist. Sports journalists might get the best seats in the house when they are covering live games or tournaments from a stadium, but for every sports journalist there in person, there are likely to be dozens more working remotely producing a live text commentary and combing through social media feeds about the event. Journalists’ loosening grip over the flow of sports content has been accentuated by the growing number of people working in – and the growing amount of content produced by – the sports media relations sector. The modern sports journalist is arguably fighting on two fronts: on one front there are the shots being fired from the blogosphere by citizen journalists, while on the other is the heavy artillery at the disposal of household-name ex-pros.
