Towards more accountable journalism: An examination of Spanish sports reporters’ perceptions and practices regarding racism in football

Abstract

This paper analyses sports journalists’ reflections about racism in Spanish professional men's football and the meaning-making practices involved in reporting about this phenomenon. To this end, we employed a qualitative research design that relied on in-depth interviews conducted with nine sports journalists working at leading media outlets in Spain. Findings reveal that interviewees consider racism a deep-rooted problem in society, which is reflected in Spanish football stadiums as in other European countries, and argue that coverage would benefit from avoiding partisanship and embracing cultural sensitivity and combativeness. Interviewees believe that media organizations should be proactive in raising public awareness and counteracting racism through different initiatives such as campaigns, guidelines, and in-depth coverage. While journalists nominally acknowledge sports newsrooms as masculine and White hegemonic spaces, their perspectives ultimately reinforce Whiteness and leave racism unaddressed. For example, they understand racism in football as accidental and perpetrated by minorities of hooligans or abusers, concealing the systemic character of racism. Bearing in mind the responses provided by the participants and the theoretical framework underpinning this study, a decalogue of recommendations is drawn up to guide sports journalists to cover stories related to racism in a more accountable way.