Wille, F., Cernaianu, S. (2017). Social Responsibility of Sports Journalists in Expressions of Diversity: The Example of The London Olympic Games as Covered in La Voix du Nord. In: Sport and Discrimination, Series Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society, Abingdon, UK : Routledge
Résumé : Research about journalists’ social responsibility in their coverage of diversity can serve to highlight and reassert the role of the media in today’s democracies. Sports, considered as an entertainment industry, are a cornerstone of current society. However, the issue of the social responsibility of sports journalism has not been fully addressed. Mainstream media cover sport as news and this does not provide an equitable representation of audience social and cultural diversity.
To address these concerns, this study examines the coverage of the 2012 London Olympic Games by La Voix du Nord, a daily regional newspaper in northern France. The 8-page special section published each day during the Games is first analysed quantitatively using a method inspired by the 2011 International Press Survey. Then, in phase two, these results are discussed with the paper’s two special correspondents for the Olympics, to gain insight into current practices in sports journalism.