The Hybrid Journalism of Soccer Commentary: A Delicate Balance
In the end, many teams and sports leagues have a particular focus on players to enhance fan involvement. The emergence of specialised websites such as The Athletic is an indication of this new trend.
The entertainment value should not dominate media coverage in sports. The most important ethical guidelines (IFJ, Council of Europe) explicitly state that comments and speculation are not acceptable.
Real time Soccer Scores
If fans aren’t able to attend their team’s take on the field, they can utilize websites that provide real time soccer scores. These websites feature tournaments and cups, leagues and tournaments in all countries. Additionally, they provide game statistics in addition to news and fixtures. Furthermore, they’re designed for mobile and desktop gadgets.
In Germany, the majority of live soccer TV commentators work in public service broadcasters (ZDF, NDR, and WDR), RTL, and also private TV channels like Eurosport, sportdigital, and Sky. In this way, they are exposed to high audience expectations. In fact, as the interviewee 3 says “They expect us to know everything, see every detail, and assess it correctly in a matter of seconds”.
This places the commentary in a precarious position, since it’s supposed be able to inform spectators using a journalistic approach as well as serve an orientation purpose, but also entertain them. The hybrid version of journalism is known as soccer commentary, and it combines the journalistic formats of factual reporting as well as subjective commentaries (Wiske 2017). This study was to determine how soccer commentators who live broadcasts perceive the conflict between journalistic and entertainment values in their work.
Enhanced Fan Engagement
Engaging fans is among the most important elements of sports journalism, as it impacts many important statistics for organizations and teams. In particular, a loyal and active fanbase could help boost ticket sales, merchandise purchases, and media coverage for the team. In addition, a strong and engaged fan base will build a sense and loyalty amongst the fans that can translate into greater brand awareness as well as a greater revenue-generating strategy to the organisation.
An increase in the amount of engagement by fans with sports coverage can be found by the increasing popularity of soccer “fanzines,” cheaply printed magazines that are written by people who have no connection to official clubs’ match programming and conventional media. They provide a mixture of journalistic and entertainment content, blurring the boundaries between journalism and entertainment. Interviewees have pointed out that this tendency to’soft’ journalism leads to an eroding reputation for journalism (Wiske 2017). Others note that it may cause a focused effort of the media commentators in establishing themselves as an individual brand.
Data Driven Analysis
The popularity of the novel “Moneyball” has sparked interest in big data and analytics for sport. Now, it is possible to acquire, store, transfer and process large datasets for a relatively low cost. This has led to the development of new types of analysis, as well as increase in confidence in the objectivity of data-driven decision making.
This development has an impact on the field of sports journalism Keonhacai. The journalist’s role has become not just an impartial watcher of games and is now an important intermediary between football fans and their club. Sports journalists are caught between the economic reality (drawing huge audiences through entertainment) and journalistic pursuits (such as investigative stories). The tension between the two has a direct impact on the manner in which the sports journalist is perceived and performed. In interviews with sports commentators, they reveal that they use a number of strategies that help them make themselves stand out that range from emotionally entertaining to independent mediators. They rely more on traditional journalistic approach. The entertainment-oriented commentators aim to excite viewers through their voice, language and emotions.
Challenges of Reporting Live Sports Scores
As with all aspects of journalism, there are ethical considerations in sports reporting. It is essential for sports reporters to publish accurate data. Also, it is important to maintain a professional relationship with sources and avoid giving in to pressure from sources to publish details that support a team or player’s perspective. Journalists should never accept gifts or special invitations that might influence their reporting.
Moreover, it is essential for journalists who cover sports to comprehend the dual nature of television soccer. It is one thing that it’s completely factual and has the purpose of providing information that is orientating, but on the other hand the show is filled with subjective commentary as well as entertainment (Schaffrath 2003). In this way, sports broadcasters play a huge role in the ways that people view live sporting events as well as shaping their evaluations and memory of them.