It's a Problem for All of Us: Discursively Explaining the Destruction of Sports Journalism

Abstract: In 2023 the field of sports journalism in the United States experienced two critical incidents: major, high-profile layoffs at ESPN and the closure of the New York Times sports desk. Utilizing the theory of metajournalistic discourse and the concept of journalism as an interpretative community, this study textually analyzes discourse produced in the aftermath of these two incidents. It finds that those within the field of journalism believe that the boundaries of sports journalism are collapsing, the profession is losing credibility and is the victim of corporate greed. The article ends by theorizing what this means for sports journalism practice moving forward.