Abstract:

Sports media that functions as the transmitter of sports news to the public is one of the topics of academic or sectoral discussion among the general media sectors. This study examines the viewpoints of sports service and sports newspaper administrators regarding impartiality and insubstantiality in the news which is a topic of most of the criticisms towards sports journalism. The qualitative study involves interviews with the sports service managers of 5 national newspapers and 2 sports newspapers managers. Collected data was analyzed with the help of data analysis. Administrators of sports services in the papers and managers of sports newspapers believe that unsubstantiated news frequently occur during the transfer season and they think that there is not sufficient sensitivity towards being impartial. According to the participants, the fact that the three most important football clubs (Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş) which are the main source of sports newspapers closed their gates to the sports journalists left the sports media in a difficult situation. The obstruction of the football clubs towards the sports newspapers and services have led these sources to unsubstantiated news. According to sports service administrators, the underlying reason behind all this is the fact that media shows favoritism to big football clubs due to financial concerns. In order for the newspapers to break free from this vicious cycle we can suggest that people should focus on sports branches other than football. We can also state that the sports media, acting with social responsibility, can contribute to the solution of the problems of impartiality and unsubstantiated news

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