Speakers
Description
Against the background of an increasingly digital society, we see the recent circumstances of change in the Canadian Sport landscape being driven by decision makers forced to act in the face of media attention on allegations made public, including athletes’ open letters detailing toxic cultures underlying maltreatment. Importantly, and similarly to athletes, those who to choose to amplify these stories, critique institutions and call for social change continue to bear disproportionate personal, social and economic risk to challenge the morally good image of sport and safeguard people in the process - calling us to consider the safeguarding role of sports journalists. Despite existing research exploring the experiences of athletes, bystanders, coaches, parents, sport administrators, sport psychology consultants and other practitioners (i.e., medical doctors), sports journalists have not yet been explicitly conceptualized as safeguarding agents. As key cultural actors capable of making issues visible and signifying actions needed to prevent maltreatment, this research sought to explore sports journalists’ experiences of covering athlete maltreatment. A qualitative, constructionist approach was employed through semi-structured interviews with sports journalists in North America. Engaging in reflexive thematic analysis led to the generation of two main themes; journalistic implications of social justice orientations in sport and society, and safeguarding people and their stories. The findings highlight the process and personal and professional challenges of bringing these cases to light, and that the risks are not the same for everyone - further supporting the call for shared responsibility to effectively safeguard athletes.
