Center launches research initiative on prep sports coverage

Center launches research initiative on prep sports coverage

As journalists and camera crews converged on stadiums across the United States for the start of high school football season earlier this month, researchers in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism urged media organizations and sports-journalism educators to consider the ethical issues involved in coverage of prep sports.

"There has been growing attention to scholastic athletes and sports in the past few years, fueled by fan interest, the rise of ranking services and the Internet's bottomless news hole," said Marie Hardin, the center's associate director for research and an associate professor in the College of Communications at Penn State. "What has not received enough attention, though, are the ethical questions that come with putting a brighter spotlight on youths."

In an essay published in the Journal of Sports Media this month, center researchers point to the growing commercialization, cultivation of star athletes and big-time, national coverage of high school programs as reason for pause.

The essay, based in part on conversations with journalists across the country along with educators and the parent of a nationally ranked player, argues that prep sports coverage has changed dramatically in the past decade. Regional and national television contracts are on the agenda of principals and high school sports associations, for instance, and rankings of players and teams can drive programs — perhaps at the cost of academics.

Accordint to the essay, whether journalists like it or not, they're covering a big business that is moving closer to the college and pro model. They also are covering the most vulnerable subjects: youths. Thus, they need to balance the requirement for sensitive coverage of inexperienced and often-naive sources with journalism that holds schools, athletic organizations, parents and educators accountable.

The center is launching initiatives to assess trends in broadcast, print and online coverage of prep sports and the challenges faced by journalists in the field. The data will inform the development of guidelines and tips for journalists and media organizations covering prep sports. 

"As one journalist told us, this is an area 'in dire need of an authoritative voice,'" Hardin said. "We're working toward providing such a voice, informed by research and conversations with journalists, parents and educators."

The John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, created in 2003 and housed in the College of Communications at Penn State, explores issues and trends in sports journalism through instruction, programming and research.

The center's undergraduate curricular emphasis includes courses in sports writing, sports broadcasting, sports information and sport and society. Along with classroom instruction, the Center’s mission stresses the value of interaction, from on-campus guest lectures and on-site visits by students to real-life experience gained through internships. Sponsored programming includes lectures, panels and workshops on journalism and the role of sport in society.

Recent research has focused on a wide variety of topics, including misconceptions about Title IX among the media, the gender makeup of sports departments at newspapers and television stations, and the "mythology" behind the perceived behavior of student-athletes.