A whole new ball game: How Sky Sports News journalists are learning from the academy | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 41, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 0810-2686
  • E-ISSN: 2517-620X

Abstract

This article outlines an academic development programme at Sky Sports News (SSN), a 24-hour rolling news television channel in the United Kingdom. The course counters negative industry perceptions of journalism education. It demonstrates that a major news organization and a significant employer of sports journalists in the United Kingdom considers that academia has an important role to play in the professionalization process. SSN’s commitment to resourcing such a programme should also be seen as an attempt to raise professional standards and overcome the derogatory ‘toy department’ reputation that has hampered sports journalism. This article outlines how industry professionals are connected to academic learning and encouraged to critically reflect on their practice. The article intends to raise awareness of the programme across contexts and countries and, in doing so, provide a blueprint for similar industry-academic collaborations.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/ajr_00004_1
2019-11-01
2024-05-02
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aldridge, M., and Evetts, J.. ( 2003;), ‘ Rethinking the concept of professionalism: The case of journalism. ’, British Journal of Sociology, 54:4, pp. 54764.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Anon. ( 2014;), ‘ How much journalism training was there at The Sun? “None”, former managing editor Graham Dudman tells court. ’, Press Gazette, 2 December, https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/how-much-journalism-training-was-there-sun-none-former-managing-editor-graham-dudman-tells-court/. Accessed 5 July 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Anon ( 2016;), ‘ Exclusive investigation: England manager Sam Allardyce for sale. ’, Daily Telegraph, 27 September, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/26/exclusive-investigation-england-manager-sam-allardyce-for-sale/. Accessed 5 July 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bairner, A.. ( 2005), Sport and the Irish: Histories, Identities, Issues, Dublin:: University College Dublin Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Blake, H., and Calvert, J.. ( 2016), The Ugly Game: The Qatari Plot to Buy the World Cup, London:: Simon & Schuster;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Boykoff, J.. ( 2016), Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics, London:: Verso;.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Boyle, R.. ( 2006), Sports Journalism: Context and Issues, London:: Sage;.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Boyle, R.. ( 2010;), ‘ Sport and the media in the UK: The long revolution?. ’, Sport in Society, 13:9, pp. 130013.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Boyle, R., and Haynes, R.. ( 2004), Football in the New Media Age, Abingdon:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Boyle, R., and Haynes, R.. ( 2009), Power Play: Sport, the Media and Popular Culture, , 2nd ed.., Edinburgh:: Edinburgh University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Bradley, J. M.. ( 2015;), ‘ Sectarianism, anti-sectarianism and Scottish football. ’, Sport in Society, 18:5, pp. 588603.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Cassidy, W. P.. ( 2017;), ‘ Inching away from the toy department: Daily newspaper sports coverage of Jason Collins’ and Michael Sam’s coming out. ’, Communication & Sport, 5:5, pp. 53453.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Cronin, M. G.. ( 1999), Sport and Nationalism in Ireland: Gaelic Games, Soccer and Irish Identity Since 1884, Dublin:: Four Courts Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Dart, J.. ( 2009;), ‘ Blogging the 2006 World Cup Finals. ’, Sociology of Sport Journal, 26:1, pp. 10726.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Dowling, D., and Vogan, T.. ( 2015;), ‘ Can we “snowfall” this? Digital longform and the race for the tablet market. ’, Digital Journalism, 3:2, pp. 20924.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. English, P.. ( 2011;), ‘ Online versus print: A comparative analysis of web-first sports coverage in Australia and the United Kingdom. ’, Media International Australia, 140:1, pp. 14756.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Farrington, N.,, Kilvington, D.,, Price, J., and Saeed, A.. ( 2012), Race, Racism and Sports Journalism, Abingdon:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Fifield, D.. ( 2018;), ‘ Sussex police breach FoI act after Crystal Palace fans take action. ’, The Guardian, 22 August, https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/22/sussex-police-breach-foi-crystal-palace-fans. Accessed 5 July 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Franks, S., and O’Neill, D.. ( 2016;), ‘ Women reporting sport: Still a man’s game?. ’, Journalism, 17:4, pp. 47492.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Gibson, O.. ( 2015;), ‘ Details of West Ham’s Olympic Stadium deal must be made public. ’, The Guardian, 15 September, https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/sep/15/west-ham-details-olympic-stadium-deal. Accessed 5 July 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Haynes, R.. ( 1995), The Football Imagination: Rise of Football Fanzine Culture, Farnham:: Ashgate Publishing;.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Hutchins, B., and Boyle, R.. ( 2017;), ‘ A community of practice: Sport journalism, mobile media and institutional change. ’, Digital Journalism, 5:5, pp. 496512.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Hutchins, B., and Rowe, D.. ( 2012), Sport Beyond Television: The Internet, Digital Media and the Rise of Networked Sport, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. James, M.. ( 2017), Sports Law, , 3rd ed.., London:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Jennings, A.. ( 2016), The Dirty Game: Uncovering the Scandal at FIFA, London:: Arrow Books;.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Ketterer, S.,, McGuire, J., and Murray, R.. ( 2014;), ‘ Contrasting desired sports journalism skills in a convergent media environment. ’, Communication & Sport, 2:3, pp. 28298.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. McEnnis, S.. ( 2016;), ‘ Following the action: How live bloggers are reimagining the professional ideology of sports journalism. ’, Journalism Practice, 10:8, pp. 96782.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. McEnnis, S.. ( 2017;), ‘ Playing on the same pitch: Attitudes of sports journalists towards fan bloggers. ’, Digital Journalism, 5:5, pp. 54966.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. McEnnis, S.. ( 2018a;), ‘ Sports journalism and cultural authority in the digital age. ’, in T. F. Carter,, D. Burdsey, and M. Doidge. (eds), Transforming Sport: Knowledges, Practices, Structures, Abingdon:: Routledge;, pp. 20720.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. McEnnis, S.. ( 2018b;), ‘ Toy department within the toy department? Online sports journalists and professional legitimacy. ’, Journalism, 3 September, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1464884918797613. Accessed 5 July 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Morrison, S.. ( 2014;), ‘ The toy department shall lead us: Why sports media have always been newsroom innovators. ’, Columbia Journalism Review, July and August, https://archives.cjr.org/reports/the_toy_department_shall_lead.php. Accessed 5 July 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Oates, T. P., and Pauly, J.. ( 2007;), ‘ Sports journalism as moral and ethical discourse. ’, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 22:4, pp. 33247.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Ponsford, D.. ( 2016;), ‘ Sun editor Tony Gallagher on Brexit, journalism as a trade not profession and how the BBC never breaks stories. ’, Press Gazette, 2 March, https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/sun-editor-tony-gallagher-brexit-journalism-trade-not-profession-and-how-bbc-never-breaks-stories. Accessed 5 July 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Rowe, D.. ( 2004), Sport, Culture and the Media, , 2nd ed.., Buckingham:: Open University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Rowe, D.. ( 2007;), ‘ Sports journalism: Still the “toy department” of the news media?. ’, Journalism, 8:4, pp. 385405.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Rowe, D.. ( 2017;), ‘ Sports journalism and the FIFA scandal: Personalization, co-optation and investigation. ’, Communication & Sport, 5:5, pp. 51533.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Salwen, M. B., and Garrison, B.. ( 1998;), ‘ Finding their place in journalism: Newspaper sports journalists’ “professional problems”. ’, Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 22:1, pp. 88102.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Sherwood, M., and Nicholson, M.. ( 2013;), ‘ Web 2.0 platforms and the work of newspaper sport journalists. ’, Journalism, 14:7, pp. 94259.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Sherwood, M.,, Nicholson, M., and Marjoribanks, T.. ( 2017a;), ‘ Access, agenda building and information subsidies: Media relations in professional sport. ’, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 52:8, pp. 9921007.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Sherwood, M.,, Nicholson, M., and Marjoribanks, T.. ( 2017b;), ‘ Controlling the message and the medium? The impact of sports organisations’ digital and social channels on media access. ’, Digital Journalism, 5:5, pp. 51331.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Sugden, J., and Tomlinson, A.. ( 2007;), ‘ Stories from planet football and sportsworld: Source relations and collusion in sport journalism. ’, Journalism Practice, 1:1, pp. 4461.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Sugden, J., and Tomlinson, A.. ( 2010;), ‘ What Beckham had for breakfast: The rolling menu of 24/7 sports news. ’, in J. Lewis, and S. Cushion. (eds), The Rise of 24-Hour News Television: Global Perspectives, Oxford:: Peter Lang;, pp. 15166.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Sugden, J., and Tomlinson, A.. ( 2016), Football, Corruption and Lies. Revisiting Badfellas, the Book FIFA Tried to Ban, Abingdon:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Suggs, D. W. Jr. ( 2015;), ‘ Tensions in the press box: Understanding relationships among sports media and source organizations. ’, Communication & Sport, 4:3, pp. 26181.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. University of Brighton ( 2016;), ‘ Sky’s the limit for women in sports media. ’, 21 March, https://www.brighton.ac.uk/about-us/news-and-events/news/2016/03-21-sky%27s-the-limit-for-women-in-sports-media.aspx. Accessed 5 July 2019.
  46. Waterson, J.. ( 2018;), ‘ Sky takeover: Murdoch must offload Sky News to get green light. ’, The Guardian, 5 June, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jun/05/sky-takeover-murdoch-sky-news-uk-fox-comcast. Accessed 5 July 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Weedon, G.,, Wilson, B.,, Yoon, L., and Lawson, S.. ( 2016;), ‘ Where’s all the “good” sports journalism? Sports media research, the sociology of sport, and the question of quality sports reporting. ’, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 53:6, pp. 63967.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Wenner, L.. ( 1998), MediaSport, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Whannel, G.. ( 1992), Fields in Vision: Television Sport and Cultural Transformation, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. McEnnis, S.. ( 2019;), ‘ A whole new ball game: How Sky Sports News journalists are learning from the academy. ’, Australian Journalism Review, 41:2, pp. 169181, doi: 10.1386/ajr_00004_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/ajr_00004_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error