{"id":2435,"date":"2016-10-09T01:14:05","date_gmt":"2016-10-08T23:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/?p=2435"},"modified":"2016-10-10T09:04:59","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T07:04:59","slug":"look-what-it-means-to-him-interviews-professor-david-rowe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/look-what-it-means-to-him-interviews-professor-david-rowe\/","title":{"rendered":"Look What it Means to Him Interviews: Professor David Rowe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This blogpost\u00a0consists of an\u00a0interview with me by Look What it Means to Him, by way of elaborating on various themes contained in my 20+ regular posts<\/a>\u00a0that I have so far published\u00a0at forumbloggen. The interview is reproduced in facsimile below, with kind\u00a0permission of the interviewer. Do visit the\u00a0Look What it Means to Him website, one of\u00a0their posts\u00a0is about\u00a0Sven-G\u00f6ran Eriksson! It\u2019s\u00a0here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Introduction<\/h3>\n

As\u00a0explored previously on this site<\/a>, the sports media remains comparatively underdeveloped as a field of academic research.\u00a0 While this is at odds with the cultural influence the industry now wields, important critical analyses of the sports media are available, and many of them have been written, co-authored or heavily influenced by one man;\u00a0Professor David Rowe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the author of\u00a0Sport, Culture and the Media<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>Professor Rowe has written what I and many other students of journalism consider to be \u2018the\u2019 book for helping make sense of modern sports journalism. \u00a0To steal from its foreword,\u00a0the book\u00a0\u201cprovides readers with the tools to analyse and understand the sports media for themselves \u2026 to take back a little of the cultural power that we have ceded to it\u201d. \u00a0<\/em>Professor Rowe is also the author \/ co-author of a number of vital academic papers on the sports media;\u00a0a selection of which I\u2019ve listed below with links provided where possible.<\/p>\n

Now based at Western Sydney University\u2019s Institute for Culture & Society, Professor Rowe kindly spared me an hour to discuss one of\u00a0<\/strong>Look What it Means to Him\u2019s favourite topics; the football media and the role we, the consumer, increasingly play as its watchdog (as explored in \u2018Who\u2019s Watching the Watchmen<\/a>?\u2019).<\/p>\n

NOTE: Changes have been made to the transcript of the original interview; some of my questions and Professor Rowe’s longer responses have been condensed for the purposes of this article.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

The Interview<\/h3>\n

THE SCENE:<\/strong>\u00a0Having secured my gassy,\u00a0emotionally demanding bulldog in a separate room, I Skype Professor Rowe in Australia and after a caffeine-fuelled, skittish preamble, I stop wasting his time and blurt out a question.<\/p>\n

LWIMTH:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0In a recent article on Look What it Means to Him,\u00a0I attempted to explore how\u00a0football journalists can disseminate questionable news without checking their sources;<\/a>\u00a0would you say this is a growing phenomenon in the sports media as a whole?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

PDR<\/strong>: I think digitisation has encouraged a \u2018bung it up now, correct it later\u2019 type of approach that\u2019s become something of a trend across the entire news media, but, in the sports media, one can imagine the consequences (of being inaccurate) might be less serious.\u00a0 But while I think, in the past,\u00a0the sports media has been given a fair bit of latitude, that\u2019s maybe being pushed by the emergence of sports gossip; I think there\u2019s now a lot more of it, and a lot of that stuff doesn\u2019t rely on veracity; it\u2019s rumour, and some of it is very trivial.<\/p>\n

LWIMTH:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Are<\/em>\u00a0there any real repercussions when journalists churn out unsubstantiated sports gossip? Can it cause reputational harm?<\/em><\/p>\n

PDR:<\/strong>\u00a0 It can bring sports journalism into disrepute, for example; the case of\u00a0Simonya Popova<\/a>\u00a0(the non-existent yet much-hyped tennis player).\u00a0 A lot of journalists went to the Tennis Federation to ask for interviews with her! These scams or tricks happen every now and again and they can expose sports journalists. The problem is, these same journalists may later complain that they aren\u2019t taken as seriously (as other types of journalist) … but then they also can\u2019t be bothered to do checks or rely on \u2018fixing things up later\u2019, and that\u2019s an issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"rowe\"
Sport, Culture and the Media<\/em>\u00a0(second edition)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LWIMTH<\/em><\/strong>: If there\u2019s more sports-gossip and inaccurate news in circulation, has this prompted a corresponding rise in sports media consumers critiquing sports content, and acting as ’watchdogs’?<\/em><\/p>\n

PDR<\/strong>: Well, there will always be elements of the public that aren\u2019t interested in the objective truth because they\u2019re so partisan.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t particularly interested in the truth as such; they\u2019re interested in supporting their team, lionising their team and ridiculing or abusing other supporters. \u00a0But there are other people who take sports journalism seriously, and while they have partisan leanings, they also have a commitment to a public sphere standard.\u00a0 These people will pick up journalists, not just in terms of accuracy, but for a whole range of \u2018isms\u2019, so highlighting journalists who stereotype and reinforce prejudice.<\/p>\n

LWIMTH<\/strong>:\u00a0On<\/em>\u00a0that last point;\u00a0there seems to be an emerging trend where people actively seize upon perceived prejudice in the media, or on social media,\u00a0are we seeing a similar trend when it comes to sports news and athletes?<\/em><\/p>\n

PDR:<\/strong>\u00a0I think we are.\u00a0 I use a bit of social media myself and I think it\u2019s fair to say that some people are easily outraged.\u00a0 You can see that some stories, where people have made a misstep or genuine mistake,\u00a0are blown out of proportion.\u00a0 But when someone says something really serious, if there isn\u2019t enough policing in the craft or by journalists, or if a sports organisation attempts to whitewash an issue, then I think it\u2019s down to the fans to make a lot of noise.<\/p>\n

LWIMTH<\/strong>:\u00a0But can that actually make a difference, or is it simply ’noise’ and nothing else?<\/em><\/p>\n

PDR<\/strong>: Well, fans can now exert their own pressure.\u00a0 The last thing sponsors want is campaigns or boycotts; lots of stuff flying around social media that gets traction and is picked up by the (mainstream) media which then pings back into social media again. I think people that would have got away (with bigotry) before are finding it harder now.\u00a0 Of course it helps that, with a digital record there, you can bring it back into public debate and discussion.<\/p>\n

LWIMTH<\/strong>:\u00a0Is there a risk that some of this outrage is simply \u2018slacktivism\u2019 and doesn\u2019t really have an effect on the sports media?<\/em><\/p>\n

PDR<\/strong>: When people express outrage over less serious things it can mean we risk losing perspective over what we should really be outraged by, but I do think, at least I would hope, that citizen journalists\u00a0could<\/em>\u00a0have some impact …\u00a0But, I mean, I wouldn\u2019t want to exaggerate it though and nor would I want the \u2018big media\u2019 to fall over. \u00a0Large organisations have the resources and authority which can mean a story has \u2018legs\u2019 rather than just being a one-day wonder<\/p>\n

(Warming to the theme<\/em>) I think we have more complex public sphere now; we have a mainstream media under more pressure due to digitisation, and an element of this is due to fans, amateur sleuths and citizen journalists.\u00a0 They\u2019re creating a volatile environment, or dynamic;\u00a0it doesn\u2019t always produce great outcomes but you would think it makes it harder for sports people, clubs and organisations to get away with the things they used to.<\/p>\n

A classic case (of consumers having an effect) is when sports people behave badly in public;\u00a0everyone\u2019s carrying a camera so people can upload and disseminate this information quickly.\u00a0 This is a big change; it\u2019s happened really only in the last decade. \u00a0However, what maybe\u00a0hasn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0changed is the standing of sports journalism in the industry overall; some (journalists)\u00a0might be very well regarded and well paid, but your run of the mill sports journalist still has an image problem.<\/p>\n

LWIMTH:<\/strong>\u00a0The general public are quick to highlight individual acts of bigotry in the world of sport, but do you think they could ever expose a major issue; like endemic corruption within FIFA?<\/em><\/p>\n

PDR<\/strong>: I think that\u2019s already happened; all journalists are reliant on leaks and whistleblowers, so members of the public and people in the sports industry have probably provided journalists with that type of information in the past.\u00a0 But what sports journalists have tended to be poor at, either because they weren\u2019t qualified, weren\u2019t interested, or were too concerned about compromising their cozy relationships; is investigative work.<\/p>\n

Most of the work exposing scandals in sport has not been done by sports journalists, but fans.\u00a0 Fans don\u2019t have the same constraints (as journalists).\u00a0 Let\u2019s say a fan was aware of a scandal;\u00a0they were once restricted to ringing up a journalist who may or may not use what you had to say. \u00a0 Instead, you might put a few leaflets around, but now you can get stories out there in the network space\u00a0fast<\/em>. That\u2019s probably going to lead to more caution among those who are doing wrong, and that\u2019s a way of making the sports world a little less cozy than perhaps it once was.<\/p>\n

LWIMTH:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you see sports journalism’s image changing any time soon?<\/em><\/p>\n

PDR<\/strong>: If sports journalists want to improve their standing they need to engage in more critical and investigative journalism \u2026 something that looks at the institution of sport itself, warts and all, and unpacks that and analyses that. \u00a0They need to combine the area knowledge they have developed with a capacity for investigation, to break stories of consequence (about say)\u00a0unethical behaviour or corruption.\u00a0 I think sports journalists need to engage in that kind of activity if they ever want to have standing that’s beyond that of being summarisers, commentators, cheerleaders \u2026 that kind of thing.<\/p>\n

I think a capacity for investigation would improve with the increased diversity of sports journalists; fewer older white men, more women, people from different backgrounds, better educated than those of previous eras.\u00a0 Let\u2019s hope that they will take sports journalism into the future and develop it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to be unnecessarily optimistic, but I do read some good sports journalism, while we’re beginning to see some of the more \u2018gossipy\u2019 sites move into more serious territory; they\u2019re starting to become proper news organisations.<\/p>\n

LWIMTH:<\/strong>\u00a0David, I\u2019ve taken you well over our allotted time with my longwinded questions,\u00a0so I\u2019ll let you go.\u00a0 Thanks very much for your time!<\/em><\/p>\n

PDR<\/strong>: No problem \u2013 bye!<\/p>\n

September 25, 2016<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blogpost\u00a0consists of an\u00a0interview with me by Look What it Means to Him, by way of elaborating on various themes contained in my 20+ regular posts\u00a0that I have so far published\u00a0at forumbloggen. The interview is reproduced in facsimile below, with kind\u00a0permission of the interviewer. Do visit the\u00a0Look What it Means to Him website, one of\u00a0their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-okategoriserade"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/lwimth.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2JbBl-Dh","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}