Guest Editors
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- Anders Graver Knudsen (OsloMet University)
- Harald Hornmoen (OsloMet University)
- Nathalie Hyde-Clarke (OsloMet University)
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The purpose of this thematic issue is to address, discuss, and elaborate on how sports journalism relates to, and narrates, socio-political issues considering the economical, structural, and professional limitations and possibilities that surround the profession. The focal point will be the news media in the Nordic countries and the Nordic media system (Hornmoen & Steensen, 2021) since these have many similarities in terms of media history, sports history, and sports policy. Recent heated debates about human rights, corruption, and politics in connection with the Euro 2021 tournament, the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, players taking a knee before games, and the removal of Roman Abramovich as the owner of Chelsea football club after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, all illustrate that sports are deeply intertwined with issues of political and social change and development. Similarly, sports are used in image- and reputation-building by a variety of political figures and governments. Sports can therefore both challenge and be a driving force for societal change and political awareness. This is particularly prevalent within the Nordic countries, where the Nordic welfare model gives national consciousness and responsibility to ensure equal access and participation in sports, combined with a relatively high level of trust in media and innovative technological media usage. In recent years, there has been a development within Nordic media towards a more critical and investigative take on sports journalism, making this region particularly interesting for investigating the relationship between sports and politics in the journalistic field.
Through the analysis of Nordic case studies from the past five years (2018–2022), the objectives of this thematic issue are to: identity and describe prevalent political narratives in sports journalism; elaborate and discuss the concept of critical sports journalism; as well as discuss tensions between professional autonomy, precarity, and possibilities for sports journalists, and how these affect critical reporting.
Reference
Hornmoen, H., & Steensen, S. (2021). Journalistikkens filosofi [The philosophy of journalism]. Universitetsforlaget.
Instructions for Authors
Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal’s instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).
Important dates
Submission of Abstracts: 1-15 September 2023
Submission of Full Papers: 15-31 January 2024
Publication of the Issue: July/September 2024
Open Access
The journal has an article publication fee to cover its costs and guarantee that the article can be accessed free of charge by any reader, anywhere in the world, regardless of affiliation. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and advise them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication fees. Institutions can also join Cogitatio’s Membership Program at a very affordable rate and enable all affiliated authors to publish without incurring any fees. Further information about the journal’s open access charges and institutional members can be found here.
