ABSTRACT
Over the past couple of decades, newspapers – and their affiliated sports desks, sections, and staffs – have witnessed monumental turmoil brought on by several often interrelated factors, including the new digital shift. In terms of sportswriting, print sports reporters are still expected to be good writers, skilled reporters, and knowledgeable professionals (Murray, McGuire, Ketterer and Sowell, 2011). But in the digital media era, sportswriters – in addition to their continued embracing of traditional journalistic practices and principles – are expected to use new media technologies and adjust their newsgathering, dissemination, and readership and source interaction activities accordingly. New media influences, digital interactivity and participatory elements, and the overall technological impact have significantly shifted the landscape in newspaper sports reporting and the surviving print sportswriters have embraced – or been forced into – their new role as digital sports journalists. This chapter – which begins with a quick overview of the current state of newspapers – covers the challenges and opportunities for sportswriters in the digital era as well as predictions for print sports journalism.
