The New World of Social Media and Broadcast Sports Reporting

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

1-1-2013

Abstract

The Information Age is very much a new world, and in many ways it is defined by the social media, which have become a ubiquitous cultural phenomenon. In 2012, Facebook reported 845 million users (Moire, 2012) whileTwitter, the social-networking site that lets people share 140-character messages, is now used by 13 percent of all online adults in the US. Use of Twitter by people in the 25-34 age group has more than doubled since 2010 (Womack and Pulley, 2011).This growth in the social media has had a profound impact on the way sports are created, delivered and consumed.Media audiences are now fully interactive, and extremely demanding in terms of what they want from content providers. “The way people experience sports media has changed,” said sports broadcaster Reggie Rivers, speaking on a conference panel presentation. The former National Football League (NFL) player added, “They can tailor it to the way they receive information; the way they follow certain teams” (Ahead of the curve, 2010).The migration of athletes and fans to the social media has corresponding changes for how broadcasters interact with both groups.This chapter examines how the rise of social media has influenced and changed the news routines of broadcast sports reporters, while examining the challenges these reporters now face in a world of social media reporting.

Publication Title

Routledge Handbook of Sport Communication

First Page

210

Last Page

218

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