The Changing Work Routines and Labour Practices of Sports Journalists in the Digital Era: A Case Study of Postmedia

• Author / Creator

  Daum, Evan R.

• The Canadian newspaper industry is changing rapidly, as convergence, concentration and digitization have eroded the daily newspaper’s once prominent place in the media hierarchy, to a position that is increasingly marginalized by expanding digital news sources. Daily newspaper’s sports coverage has been particularly affected by both trends impacting the newspaper industry, as well as the growing power of major-league sport organizations to generate their own digital content. Using extensive interviews with Postmedia sports journalists, this research explored how sports journalists from across the Postmedia newspaper chain have seen their work routines and labour practices change in the digital era. Utilizing a cultural-economic theoretical framework, this research highlighted how newspapers continue to pursue the lucrative male audience commodity through expanding major-league sport coverage, while simultaneously experiencing significant change within the media sports cultural complex, as mainstream media’s longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship with major-league sport is altered.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Newspapers
  • Sport journalism
  • Digitization

• Graduation date

  Spring 2015

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3R785X3R

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.