Hur långt är jag beredd att gå för att min text ska få läsning? : En kvalitativ intervjustudie om svensk sportjournalistik

• Main Author: Hallin Ekesand, Samuel
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för kultur- och medievetenskaper 2021
• Subjects: floorball; media floorball; media coverage; sports journalism; news values; gate-keeping; digital journalism; commercialization; Media and Communications; Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184891

The title of the study is: How long am I prepared to go for my text to get some readers? A qualitative interview-based study about Swedish sports journalism. The aim of this study is to figure out what underlying factors which affects the journalisms news values and selection on news based on which sports that get editorial space. The paper approaches the subject with a specific viewpoint from the sport floorball, which is the largest indoor-sport in Sweden. Though it’s relative size, the sport seems to have an issue: it does not reach out. It gets a lot less coverage and media attention compared with other similar sports, such as ice hockey for example. The development of the sport has been discussed through the years, and a part of that has been an less flattering image as a hobby, not a sport. A part of the discussion has also circulated around the argument that the sport doesn´t get the media coverage it needs. Some essays have been written on the subjects on journalism and media from the point of news value although very little has been done with a combined view on sports, which is why I argue that there is a gap in the research field which this study will partly fill. This work looks at what the sports media in Sweden are focusing on in terms of coverage and what the sport floorball can do to get more coverage. Since the 2020/21 season, the Swedish newspaper SportExpressen streams every game in the top league for both women and men. The theoretical framework in this study is based on the theory of gate-keeping and the commercialization of the media industry which has been put forward by Stromback and Jonsson. The chosen method of the work is a qualitative interview study which consists of an semi-structured interview with four news editors on four Swedish news papers.  The results of the study shows that the news editors believe that floorball get as much coverage as they deserve. There are several factors that affect contemporary sports journalism. One reason is that today´s journalism is well driven by digital metrics. This development in news values and news selection seems to derive from the technological development in the profession, as well as the commercialization.