How Sports Journalism came to be and why it’s so important in Sports

Date: November 1, 2022

Source: The Essentials of Sports Reporting and Writing

Summary: In the blog they talk about the history of sports writing and how it has evolved and affected sports over time.

Introduction

Sports writing has expanded for decades and decades and now it has become a huge factor in sports. Sports reporting can affect the teams, athletes, fans, and results of the game these days. With the increase of the popularity of sports over the years, sports has increased the impact of sports journalism and sports reporting. Sports now have 24 hour coverage, and every little situation that happens to a person’s team they want to know about it immediately. The rise of sports writing and reporting have also made the writers and journalist into stars. People like Stephen A . Smith and Tony Cornheiser have their own shows were they share their opinions and views on sports topics.

The History of Sports Journalism

Even though sports journalism has become more popularized in its later years, it has been around for a very long time. It can be traced back to the 1700s when it was found in newspapers. “In 1829 the nation's first sports newspaper - the American Turf Register and Sports Magazine was published” (Reinardy and Wanta pg.3). New York became the main spot where sports reporting was prominent. At the time sports writers were just general news reporters. They were not just writing solely for sports which we have today. New York began to have sections for baseball and they had the first baseball writer Henry Chadwick (Emery 1972).  The biggest innovation of all came from the New York Journal which had the first newspaper in the United States to have an entire section devoted to just sports. This was huge because in the following years different cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington all adapted a sports section in their newspapers. Newspapers began battling for scoops about different players and different teams. Credibility and ethical behavior became a concern for sports writing,  so a committee was made called the American Society of Newspaper Editors. They recommended an increase in the coverage of amateur athletes and they recommended ending free publicity for sporting events.

The advancements of technology really ascended sports journalism to the next level. With the creation of ESPN ( a sports television network that runs 24/7) sports writing and journalism was at the forefront. Shows with sports journalist and writers took place throughout the day which made them stars. This also allowed for round the clock information to be easily accessed and visual.

Current Trends and Effects of Sports Journalism

Sports writing now has become a business and each team’s organization has specific writers just for their team. Some may say they are pawns just to promote the team for business while others will just say its regular reporting. Some reports suggest that “sports is a 500 billion dollar industry” (Reinardy and Wanta pg.8) so it would make sense as to why owners would want to protect their franchise by having their own writers. Journalist have the potential to make a lot of money now especially with the addition of tv. Guys like Skip Bayless and Stephen Smith make millions of dollars giving their opinions about different topics. The overall quality of the writing has got better over the years because cliche papers will not get a readers attention these days. A paper that is unique and adds a different perspective is now what is interesting to the consumer.

Journal Reference 

Reinardy, S and Wanta, W. ET AL (2015). The Essentials of Sports Reporting and Writing, 1-9