Sports journalism ethics in broadsheet newspaper organisations in India, Australia and the UKPeter English

PhD Candidate

University of the

Sunshine Coast,

Australia

The study

0Six media outlets: the Guardian, The Daily Telegraph; The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald; The Hindu, The Times of India.

036 in-depth interviews with journalists (six from each sports department), and a content analysis of 4103 articles over three months in 2012.

0Ethical issuesCommercial influences AttributionAnonymous sources

Ethics and commercial mentions

0Australia – journalists do not allow “advertising or other commercial considerations to undermine accuracy, fairness or independence” (MEAA 2013)

0 India – advertisements “must be clearly distinguishable from editorial matters” (Press Council of India 2010).

0The UK – do not endorse advertisements or commercial products (NUJ 2013)

0Picard states promotion of commercial aspects is not “immoral” or harmful to journalism”. But newspapers traditionally “placed greater emphasis on their roles as promoters of public interests and on becoming a trusted institution of society that represented the people” (Picard 2004: 54).

Journalists against commercial influences

0“It seems a shame that you have to mention an isotonic drink to have a really boring interview with someone” – The Telegraph, online staff member

0“We’re not geared to promoting products” – The Australian, reporter

0“It’s very sad. It’s hijacking a news person’s right. You’re not being honest to the reader” – TOI, reporter

0“You’ve got to have complete editorial freedom” – the Guardian, subeditor

Journalists accepting of commercial influences

0“Five years ago I never even wanted to meet an advertising client. I would now regularly meet advertising clients” –SMH, sports manager

0“It’s almost impossible to get a proper interview without some kind of commercial tie-in ... So much of it now comes through sponsors, either personal or competition sponsors. It would just be irrationally pure-minded to say you wouldn’t do it” – the Guardian, sports manager

0“It’s a necessary evil” – The Telegraph, sports manager

Types of commercial mentions

01195 articles out of 4103 had commercial mentions0Solicited

mentions of sponsors; products; businesses; sponsored columns; “this interview provided by ...”

0Unsolicitedstadium names; series/match titles; team names

0The most used unsolicited typesAustralia – stadiumsUK – series or tournament namesIndia – team names

Types of commercial mentions in articles

  Unsolicited Solicited BothTotal

mentionsThe Sydney Morning Herald

84 48 5 13761.3% 35.0% 3.6% 100.0%

The Australian101 41 8 150

67.3% 27.3% 5.3% 100.0%

The Guardian118 70 15 203

58.1% 34.5% 7.4% 100.0%

The Daily Telegraph167 88 35 290

57.6% 30.3% 12.1% 100.0%

The Hindu135 61 27 223

60.5% 27.4% 12.1% 100.0%

The Times of India118 64 10 192

61.5% 33.3% 5.2% 100.0%

Total723 372 100 1195

60.5% 31.1% 8.4% 100.0%

Attribution

0Ethical requirement to avoid plagiarism0Three approaches

1) Credit explicitly“The Herald won’t pinch a story” – SMH,

reporter2) Obscure the sourceHe/she told a newspaper3) Do not credit“We don’t. The rivalry is very bad” – TOI,

senior writer

Attributing rival media sources for quotes

 

Articles with

credited quotes

% of overall

articles in sample

Total articles

with quotes

Overall articles in

sample

The Sydney Morning Herald

30 6.1% 390 490

The Australian 53 12.6% 358 422

The Guardian 63 10.0% 484 633

The Daily Telegraph 57 6.9% 584 825

The Hindu 20 2.1% 349 945

The Times of India 36 4.6% 458 788

Total 259 6.3% 2623 4103

Anonymous sources

0Not a universal ethical guideline

0Australia – “Aim to attribute information to its source”

0“We don’t do un-named sources at all” – The Hindu, sports manager

0“A lot of stories get printed as source-less, which I don’t think is fair to the reader” – TOI, senior writer

Articles with un-named sources

 

Articles with

un-named sources

% of overall articles

Total articles

with quotes

Overall articles in

sample

The Sydney Morning Herald

9 1.8% 390 490

The Australian 4 0.9% 358 422

The Guardian 4 0.6% 484 633

The Daily Telegraph 8 1.0% 584 825

The Hindu 3 0.3% 349 945

The Times of India 21 2.7% 458 788

Total 49 1.2% 2623 4103

Conclusions

0Most sports journalists want to be ethical. But there is not always strict adherence to the guidelines

0Commercial influences form a significant aspect behind the production of the sports pages

0Unclear if all items are attributed. Small amounts of stories are, but journalists admit to relying heavily on competitors

0The financial climate in the West – falling circulation, advertising, and fewer jobs – can create extra pressure, possibly leading to ethical breaches