Sports broadcasting, journalism and the challenge of new media

Abstract

This article explores the challenge faced by established media organisations integrating digital media in their production. Using a case study of a Danish broadcaster’s use of blogs in their coverage of major sports events, it is argued that the challenge is strategic in a broader sense, as the move to digital platforms is influenced by economic, organisational as well as conceptual parameters for roles. It is argued that in order to understand the potential and challenges of this case, the peculiarities of the role of sports journalists in broadcasting have to be taken into consideration. The case illustrates how their distinctive engagement with their topic and the audience makes some of them more prone to work for pleasure and produce for the digital platform on very unclear conditions, just as it influences the interaction that takes place in the blogs in various ways.