News Sources and Follow-up Communication

Twitter and sports journalism in Germany: Application and networks during the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

“…Each journalist sent 270 tweets within the investigation period in February 2014 -24 times more messages than in the reference period one year before. The data confirm the findings of former studies regarding the heterogeneity of Twitter usage by sports journalists and the outstanding importance of social media in the scope of major sporting events (Nölleke et al, 2017). Compared to the year leading up to the Winter Olympics, in which each journalist had a mean communication of 1.4 tweets per day, activity rose to 9.6 tweets per day during the Sochi Games -an increase of nearly six times.…”

“…The majority gathers information by following actors from the field of sports (87.5%). Nevertheless, they agreed with the statement that athletes" social media use has made it more and more difficult to provide news exclusively (Nölleke et al, 2017).…”

“…During the investigation period, adjustments in favor of the event, relevant winter sports associations, the German Olympic Sports Confederation, as well as enhanced interconnections with German winter sports athletes -in particular top athletes and those with medal prospects -became visible. This seems understandable related to enhancing research options for sports journalists during the Olympic Games while interacting with the organizations as well as a way to get their stories noticed by these organizations to raise importance (Nölleke et al, 2017). In comparison, the "journalistic network" to colleagues or media organizations lost its importance and changed its structure.…”

“…However, it was recently found that social media, which can also provide opportunities that support journalistic practice, are perceived as valuable tools by sports journalists. Indeed, they use social media as a supplement to their proven methods of news gathering and dissemination (Nölleke et al, 2017). The majority of sports journalists in Germany agrees that athletes" social media use has made it more difficult to provide news exclusively, yet 87.5 percent of these journalists gather information by following actors from the field of sports (Nölleke et al, 2017).…”

“…Indeed, they use social media as a supplement to their proven methods of news gathering and dissemination (Nölleke et al, 2017). The majority of sports journalists in Germany agrees that athletes" social media use has made it more difficult to provide news exclusively, yet 87.5 percent of these journalists gather information by following actors from the field of sports (Nölleke et al, 2017). English (2016) compared the acceptance of Twitter by sports desks in Australia, India, and the United Kingdom.…”