A Profile of Australian Sport Journalists (Revisited)

Abstract

This article presents key findings from a survey of Australian sport journalists, the first of its kind since Henningham's (1995) seminal study in the early 1990s. Australian sport journalists participated in an online survey, which asked questions related to their profile and work practices. The findings reveal that in many respects the profile of Australian sport journalists is similar to what it was almost twenty years ago, yet there are indications that both the professional lives of sport journalists and the broader sport media industry are undergoing significant change. Like their predecessors, contemporary Australian sport journalists are ‘30-something’, predominantly Australian-born, work in a male-dominated environment, plan to be working in journalism or the media in five years’ time and have similar views about the functions of the news media. The contemporary Australian sport journalists differ in that they are far more educated, are more likely to be located in Victoria and are now more likely to work in non-print media forms such as radio and online than their predecessors, who were far more likely to work in the print media.