twitter -- media relations

8/11/2019 Twitter -- Media Relations

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O R I G I N L R E S E R C H

International journal

o

Sport Comm unication 2013 6 394-408

2013 Human Kinetics Inc.

Phenom enological Investigation

Into How Twitter Has Changed

the NatureofSport Media Relations

hris Gibbs Richard Haynes

Ryerson University Canada Stirling University Scotland

This article uses the phenomenological method to explain how Twitter

has

changed

the natureof sport media relations.Theresearch wasbasedonsemistructured

interviews with

18

Canadian

and U.S.

sport m edia professionals having

an

average 16yr ofexperience. This exploratory study usesthelived experienceof

sport m edia professionals to identify 3 clusters that help explain how Twitter has

changedthenatureofsport media relations: media landscape, mech anical job

functions,

and

sport media relations.

The

results

of

this research

are

significant

because they help explain how the practices and norm s related to the role

of

sport

media relations are changingas aresultofTwitter.This research presentsa new

argument: that Twitter has flattened

the

sport hierarchy

and

could

be

considered

the most influential social-media platforminsport today.

eywords

social media, sport communications, phenomenology, new media

Before the Internet and digital-m edia c ultures, the distr ibutionofsport con tent

was traditionally controlled

and

managed

by

broadc asters , journal is ts ,

and

other

m e m b e r softraditional m edia (Hutch ins Rowe, 2012). After thelaunchof the

World Wide

Web and

team-based

Web

sites,

by the

late 1990s teams

had

started

to distr ibute content directly tofans rather than through traditional m edia (Boy le

& H aynes , 2004) .A further shiftin theteam distributionofsport content occurred

withtheintroduction of social-media applications suchasYouT ube, T witter,and

Facebook.Insport , the microb logging format of Tw itter has openedup anew chan -

nel of com mu nicat ion

for

athletes, team s, coac hes, fans,

and

sport media mem bers

to distr ibute their own c ontent (S anderson, 2012 ). On e corollary of Twitter has been

the instant bypassing

of

journal ism

and

sport officials

in the

circulation

of

sport

comm unica t ions , wh ichhas tbepotentialtound erm ine their gateke eping function

in

the

spor t media nexus (H utchins , 2011) .

Twitter has created new jobsandresponsibili t iesforthosewhoworkin sport

media re la t ions . However ,it has also created uncertainty and change (Boyle

Hay nes, 2011 Sand erson, 201 2). Rese archers have explored how Tw itter is affecting


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3/16

9

Gbbs and Haynes

million followers. From a management perspective, the surging popularity and use

of Twitter in sport raises new challenges for sport organizations, many of which

have introduced social-media policies to manage the flow and nature of messages

from the locker room . For exam ple, in response to a halftime tweet by NBA player

Charles Villanueva, the NBA introduced a policy on serial media that embargoed

player tweets 45 m inutes either side ofagame and mitigated against any messages

deemed to be inappropriate by the league (Stein, 2009).

To understand how Twitter has changed sport journalism , Schultz and Sheffer

(2010) surveyed 146 sport journalists in September 2009 and observed that little

had changed in the daily news routines ofmanysport journalists. However, there is

evidence that journalists have begun to use Twitterasa promotional tool for pointing

readers to their work, and broadcast journalists also value the interactive nature of

social media for communicating directly with fans. Schultz and Sheffer's survey

predated m uch of the immersion of sport journalists into the use ofTwitter which

is now increasingly central to setting the sport news agenda (Boyle, 2012; Boyle

Haynes, 2013). The increased adoption of Twitter by journalists is a reflection

of a broader amplification of Twitter's influence on the traditional media's use of

tweets as a significant source for news (Meikle Young, 2012).

Qualitative research by Kian and Zimmerman (2012) also provides insights into

the use of new online media platforms in sport communications. By interviewing

eight prominent sport journalists w ho transitioned from newsprint to the Internet,

that study revealed the need for journalists to develop new skills to adapt to new

technology and succeed in their everyday practice. Although the research did not

focus specifically on Twitter, it nevertheless demonstrated the value of phenom eno-

logical research for understanding the impacts of technology on media practitioners.

Previous research has examined the changing landscape of sport journalism

as a result of technology, yet no research has to date looked at the change in the

nature of sport m edia relations as a result of Twitter or other forms of technology.

In the this study we provide the first detailed insight into the transformation of

sport media relations in response to social-media and digital-media culture through

interviews with18sport media professionals: nine team media-relations em ployees,

five sport-public-relations/digital experts, and four sport journalists

Twitter has been the subject of empirical studies related to athlete tweets

(Browning Sanderson, 2012; Clavio, Burch, Frederick, 2012; Clavio Kian,

2010; Frederick, Lim, Clavio, Walsh, 2012 ; Hambrick, Simmons, Greenhalgh,

Greenw ell, 2010 ; Lebel Danylchuk, 2012; Pegoraro, 2010; Shockley,2 11),

athlete-fan interaction (Kassing Sanderson , 2010), sport journalism (Schultz

Sheffer, 2010; Sheffer Schultz, 2010), and team use of Twitter (Clavio et al.,

2012; Gibbs O'Reilly, 2013), but less is known about Tw itter's overall role in

present-day sport media relations. This phenomenological study will draw on the

lived experiences of sport media professionals.

etho ology

This study focused on understanding how Twitter has changed the nature of sport


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Spo rt Med ia Relations and Twitter 97

Due to the limited previous research available about the topic, an inductive approach

was deemed appropriate for this study. The use of phenomenology was selected

because insights are extracted from the lived experiences ofthe people involved in

the phenomenon that is being researched (Goulding, 2005). Phenomenology has

been used to understand participation in extreme sports (Willig, 2008), Internet

sport bloggers (Kian, Burden , Shaw, 2011), the transition of sport journa lists

from newspaper to the Internet (Kian Zimm erman, 2012), and the culture of

sport comm unication in college athletics (Battenfield, 2013). Due to the emergent

nature of Twitter in sport, the lived experiences of people who work in different

roles in sport media appear to offer the best source for identifying and dem onstrat-

ing the impact of the technology. The research started unhindered by hypotheses

or preconceptions about the work of sport media professionals and was therefore

particularly effective at bringing relevant experiences to the forefront that were

used to create new conceptions of sport media practice.

Each respondent was asked a range of questions in a semistructured interview

that probed the extent to which Twitter had had an impact on their work and sport

media relations more generally. Respondents were asked to provide examples

wherever possible from their lived experience. In this respect, questioning focused

on the following: what practitioners believed to be the most disruptive social-media

platform for sport media relations; how Twitter changed the daily ac tivities of their

job;the ways in which Twitter enhanced, amplified, or intensified their work; what

is made obso lete or replaced by the use of

Twitter

their views on how Twitter has

changed media relations in their particular sport; and, in connection with this,

respondents were asked to provide their best example to describe how Twitter has

changed media relations.

ampling election

At the start of this project, the subjects of the interviews were primarily media-

relations managers. However, after several interviews at the start of the research

process , three problems with this process were identified, (a) The fact that a person

works in a media-relations role does not guarantee that he or she had any prior

knowledge about sport media relations before Twitter. A person who has worked

in media relations for 2-3 years only knows the post-Twitter media role and lacks

the historical perspective needed to explain the change that Twitter caused, (b)

Interviewing only team med ia-relations staff narrows the expertise and knowledge

available, (c) Collecting data from different types of informants such as sport jour-

nalists, who are the traditional gatekeepers of sport news, would allow for

form of

data triangulation that incorporates input from different perspectives (Groenewald,

2004 ). Thus, the interviews conductedwithjournalists were an important resource

that broadened the understanding of how Twitter has changed the overall nature

and job responsibilities in sport media relations.

From these considera tions, two sets of criteria were established for informants.

First, they had to have worked in sport media before 2008. As usage of Twitter in

sport became popular around 2009 , this stipulation would ensure they had experi-


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398 Gibbs and Haynes

Eighteen informants were recruited through a mix of personal contacts and the

snowball technique (one interviewee nominates others). At the end of each inter-

view with a primary informant or personal contact of the researchers, additional

informants were recommended, which helped identify an informal professional

network of sport media practitioners inU.S.and Canadian sport organizations. The

use of the snowball technique enabled us to recruit an additional eight interview

participants, which gave the study a more diverse set of informants who were

highly relevant to the study and extended beyond our geographic and professional

boundaries.

The informants were contacted via

e mail

and asked to schedule hour of time

for the interview. A total of 18 people who work in sport media were interviewed,

with the average length of sport media work experience being 16 years (Table

).

Consequently, most ofthe informants had worked for multiple different teams and

leagues , and their experience spanned multiple different roles. From the interview

group, 9 were currently working for a team or league in a mediaOrelations capac-

ity, 4 were sport journalists, and 5 were sport or public-relations/digital-media

experts. With the exception of the sfKjrt journalists, all informants worked for

Table

Sport Media Relations Interview Summary

Informant

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Date of

interview

May 2

June 21

July 12

July 18

July 21

May 30

May 31

June 4

June 5

June 6

June 6

June 7

June 8

June 8

June 8

June 11

June 12

June 18

Role

Team media relations






Sport journalists

Sport PR/digital

Sport PR/digital

Sport PR/digital

Sport journalists


Sport journalists

Sport journalists



Sport PR/digital

Sport PR/digital

Sports organization

working with

NHL and NBA

CFL

CFL

CFL

CFL

NHL

Newspaper

NHL

NBA, NFL, and NH L

Broadcast

Newspaper + Broadcast

NHL

Newspaper

Broadcast

NBA

NBA

NBA , NFL, and NHL

NBA

Years of

experience

12

4

4

10

9

6

17

27

7

16

17

17

19

36

32

24

24

30

ote

NHL = N ational Hockey Leagu e; NBA

=

National Basketball Association; CFL

=

Canadian Football Leagu e;

PR = public relations; NFL = National Football League.


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Sport Media Relations and Twitter 99

professional-league teams or league offices in Canada and the United States during

their career. Generally, team media-relations informants only worked for one or

potentially two different teams, whereas the sport or public-relations/digital-media

experts consistently worked for multiple teams.

Data Collection and nalysis

A formal interview protocol was used to ensure that the interviews were conducted

using standard procedures. The interviewer asked a preset list of questions, as well

as additional probing questions. In keeping with the pbenomenological approach,

probing questions were directed at the participants' feelings, beliefs, and experi-

ences related to the question (Welman & Kruger, 1999). During the interviews,

the researcher would frequently follow up with more questions or ask for further

explanation to probe deeper into the phenomenon. All interviews were conducted

by telephone between June and July 2012, recorded, transcribed, and coded for

analysis in Nvivo.

analyze the transcribed interview s, four steps for data explication were used:

(1) bracketing and phenomenological reduction, (2) delineating units of mean-

ing, (3) clustering of units of meaning to form themes, and (4) extracting general

and unique themes that make a composite summary (Groenewald, 2004; Hycner,

1985). The only modification to the steps created by Hycner was the review of the

interview summary by the interviewee. Time limitations made the possibility of

a second interview not feasible. To offset this missing step, the researchers spent

extra time in the review and coding process to ensure that the lived experiences of

the informants were captured.

Results

Twitter and Sport Media Practitioners

In this study. Twitter emerged as the most used and influential social-media plat-

form in sport media relations. Even after probing questions related to Facebook

or YouTube w ere asked. Twitter was still considered the most disruptive platform.

Though the literature review alluded to this aspect of Twitter, the interviews con-

firmed that Twitter was the most influential form of social media for sport media

relations. A digital-media expert who works with multiple teams commented,

The most disruptive I suppose it would have to be T w it te r. .. . Probably gotten

the most headlines and caused tbe most challenges just because it's real-time and

so convenient and can travel with players in the locker room or on the sidelines

(Informant #9 sport PR/digital expert NBA, NFL, and NHL). This viewpoint was

also shared by someone w ith more than 32 years of sports experience: Twitter,

because it has given a direct voice for the athlete, the coach, and the manager to

the fans (Informant #15 team media relations, NBA).

With the identification of Twitter confirmed as the most disruptive social-media

platform, three themes of change emerged from the interviews: media landscape,


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4 Gibbs and Haynes

Media Landscape

The category media landscap e includes the lived experiences that changed as a

result of Twitter and other media. This category was labeled and segmented out

from other categories because it provides general insights into lived experiences

that are relevant to all forms of media relations and technology not limiting the

experiences of respondents to sport or Twitter. Overall, two clusters of concepts

emerged from the informants' experiences: speed and media competition.

peed

The speed of Twitter as a news-distribution platform was one ofthe expe-

riences mentioned most by informants, several of whom frequently highlighted

Twitter in comparison with other forms of media: It's an avenue to break things

much, much faster than traditional media (Informant #6 team media relations,

NH L); Twitter is faster to access things (Informant #18 team media relations,

NBA). When sharing experiences about Twitter, many informants discussed the

speed of Twitter in comparison with the past: Where in the old days . . . (Infor-

mant #14sport journalist). The results of this increased speed of media com-

munication means that media-relations staff must react more quickly to issues as

they arise in real time.

Media Competition The media-competition category consists of comments

about how Twitter has increased the competition among traditional media outlets

and how teams now compete against traditional media for exposure. The experi-

ences discussed by the informants are also relevant to media relations in a nonsport

context because journalis ts are often in competition with other forms ofnewmedia.

The increased competition among journalists was common in comments by team

media-relations informants: Twitter nowadays is like the biggest source of competi-

tion for mem bers oftheprint media (Informant #6team m edia relations, NHL).

Time Demands One of the interesting comments from a digital-media expert,

which was echoed by other informants, was related to the shifts in the work sched-

ule for people working in sport media. Twitter creates an environment wherein

media-re lations staffs constantly follow Twitter to be aware of issues: It's changed

the rhythm of sports, where it was already bad enough. It now truly is 24/7 365

(Informant #17 sport PR/digital expert, NBA, NFL, and NH L).

Mechanical Job unctions

The mechanical job functions category was derived from comments related to

new job functionsnow performed by sport-media-relations staffthat did not

exist before Twitter. Unlike media-landscape category items, which could have

been caused by other forms of digital technology or could be applicable to media

relations in other verticals or industries, the category of mechanical job functions

is specific to Twitter.

This category includes a summary of the new tasks performed as a result of

Twitter. The termmech nic lcame from one of the informants with more than 21

years of experience,whodescribed how Twitterhaschanged sport communications:


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Sport Media Relations and Twitter 4 1

MonitoringTwitter Importance By far the most-reported changes in the lived

experience of sport m edia relations are related to the function of monitoring Twitter.

What was particularly interesting about these monitoring activities was the cross-

monitoring between the different informants: In addition to monitoring players,

both team media relations and Sportjournalist informants reported m onitoring each

other. Informants continuously expressed the importance of monitoring Twitter:

Twitter is the first place that I go when I get off

plane to know w hat's going on

(Informant #7 Sportjourna list); It makes us follow social media a lot during the

da y (Informant #12 team m edia relations, NH L). Twitter has become so impor-

tant to some sport journalists that it has become their primary monitoring tool. One

informant, who spends 5 hours a day online and used to follow four or five Web

sites every day, now only monitors Twitter; if

story or content is interesting, the

informant will then go to Web sites. For team med ia-relationsstaff the importance

of m onitoring Twitter is similar to that of sport journalists. The lived experiences

demonstrate the necessity of monitoring a multitude of groups for different purposes

at all times of the day, providing further insight into how Twitter has changed the

job functions of sport media relations.

Monitoring

Twitter

an

Service Before Twitter, sport-media-relations staff had

very limited contact with individual sport fans, as their primary focus was the

relationships with traditional-med ia outlets and the team. With the onset of Twit-

ter, media-relations staff must now monitor fan activity and respond to fan issues:

I'll k ind of monitor the Twitter account during g a m e s . . . . It's just such an easier

form of communication and it is very informal and everybody can see it. . . . [I

can respond to] questions that are answered easily (Informant #3 team media

relations, CF L).

The action of monitoring fan tweets has become necessary due to the impor-

tance of

speedy response and the increased significance of

this

mode of fan inter-

action. Several informants shared experiences in which monitoring Twitter during

a game enabled them to respond to pressing fan issues. In some cases, the issues

were related to the television broadcast, and one example even concerned game

officiating. The media-relations staff understand the importanee of direct contact

with individual fans to meet their expectation of receiving an immediate response.

Monitoring

Twitter Players All team media-relations staff reported monitoring

the players' Twitter activities. One team media-relations informant used Twitter

to monitor and flag and did not use it to regulate because I want them to do it and

I treat them as brand ambassadors (Informant #3team media relations, CFL).

Most of the players are on Twitter, so it's kind of hard to keep

real close watch

during nonbusiness hours and weekends. We see a good tweet by a player,

and we'll say that's very smart, that's the way you should be using it; and if

someone sends us something that is a little off side we will certainly be there

to say you can't be doing that. (Informant #12team media relations, NHL)

The general tone of the experiences with Twitter and m onitoring athletes was


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4 2 Gibbs and Haynes

Rather than seeming frustrated at the new activity, which was hypothesized to

be the case as a result of increased workload , informants typically did not consider

it burdensome, considering the act of monitoring Twitter a new job function. We

posit that this positive attitude toward increased responsibilities could be linked

to several motivations: (a) People working in sport media are often also devout

fans,

which may lead them to find these insights into a player's life interesting

and noteworthy; (b) managing a player's brand through Twitter may have made

their job more streamlined, as it offers a single platform by which sport media

personnel can manage a sport brand in real time. For example, many sport

media staff reported spending less time on the phone and face-to-face with other

media professionals, which many would see as a significant advantage of Twitter;

and/or (c) being proactive with this new media platform may give media-relations

staff an advantage over colleagues who have not embraced this new communica-

tion tool, which could help in their career advancement.

onitorin

Twitter

Media

The last group that team media relations frequently

monitor was sport journalists. They monitored sport journalists to keep aware of

issues on which to brief

pl yers

or coaches. Team media-relations staff commented,

It really will enable the media relations department to stay one step ahead of the

media, . . . to be as prepared as possible (Informant #6 ^ te a m media relations,

NHL), and W e're always following on tweet deck and just trying to be a step

ahead of the media or on the same step at least (Informant #12 team media

relations, NH L). This monitoring o fthe media is related to the increased speed of

communications and the need for the media-relations staff to prepare their coach

or players before the media have an opportunity to meet with them .

Tweeting Press Release

Team media relations all monitor Twitter and tweeted

information. Two common techniques emerged from the team media-relations

informants: reduced emphasis on the press release and timely game updates. Sev-

eral informants reported that the traditional press release was no longer important

because of

Twitter

Although these organizations still produce press releases, they

may use Twitter first and, if given a choice, will tweet versus a press release due

to its immediate, broad exposure to fans and other stakeho lders. While many com -

ments were related to reduced emphasis on the press release,twocomm ents by team

media-re lations staff really stood out: Press releases are pretty useless because

by the time you send it out, the news is already out there on Twitter (Informant

#2 team media relations, CFL ) and We continue to e-mail newsletters and press

releases and still deal w ith the media on daily basis, but Twitter probably reduced

the emphasis on it (Informant #4 team media relations, CF L).

Tweeting: Updates

Before Twitter, sport-media-relations staff would be in

contact with the traditional-media outlets to update them on roster issues related

to injuries, trades, or other items. Now these updates are simply tweeted out.

One NBA executive with 24 years of experience commented that Twitter has

affected what we do prgam e: We tweet out our starting lineup; we tweet out

any injuries. . . . Same thing within games with the records or anything that is


10/16

Sport Media Relations

nd

Twitter 403

of traditional communication. Similar to the decrease in importance ofthe press

release, informants have experienced a decrease in the use of phone calls as a

form of comm unication w ith sport journalists. One informant reported spending

less and less time on the phone than I ever have be fore (Info rm an t # 6 team

media relations, NHL). And another

said.

In some cases it reduces face-to-face dialogue with reporters. Instead of me

go ing around to 25 reporters spread throughou t the arena watch ing p ractice to

relay an item o f in form ation , I can just send out a tweet. . . . So, it does take

away the face-to-face dialogue. (Inform ant #12 team media relations, NH L )

Specific to Sport edia Relations

The category specific to media relations consists of the lived experiences related

to how Twitter is changing the nature of sport media relations. Three clusters of

concepts emerged from the informants' experiences: direct access, management

control,

and changing hierarchy.

Direct Access The direct-access cluster o f concepts is related to how T witter is

eliminating the traditional intermediary in the sport communications paradigm.

Although it can be argued that the Internet and team Web sites were the first

platforms that helped reduce the importance of intermediaries in sport communi-

cations over time, the category of direct access supports the greater importance

of Twitter based on informant experiences. Within the category of direct access,

two clusters of concepts support the statement that Twitter was the first platform

to actively prom ote a closer connection between media-relations staff

nd

the fan :

filter elim ina tion and direct fan access.

The concept of filter elimination is based on the experiences of team media-

relations staff that demonstrate how Twitter enabled them to speak to a sport fan

without using traditional media

s

an intermediary. Before Tw itter, the facilitatio n

of com mu nication between media-relations staff

nd

sport fans was lim ited to in-

person experiences

nd

Web-based com mu nication platforms like chat

rooms.

Team

media-relations staff reported an un filtered connection to our fans. We do n't have

to worry about newspaper writers or radio guys putting their own spin on things

or misinterpreting things (Informant #5team media relations, C FL ), and We

were the ones that gave the info rm atio n to the m edia, and the media communicated

to the fans. Now the teams can directly comm unicate wit h the fans (Inform ant

#16team media relations, NBA).

It is interesting that team media-relations informants reported that they were

aware Twitter has changed the sport media paradigm, allowing them to actively

engage in dialogue with fans. One team media-relations informant spoke about

having lim ited direct access to fans before Twitter: We did n't have many opportuni-

ties to be directly engaged w ith our fans, even at a game. We can wander around a

game and shake hands w ith people, but it's only a sm all percentage o f the people

that are there (Inform ant #5team m edia relations, C FL ).

The direct access to fans has brought about a change in sport entities' com-


11/16


informants have modified how and what they tweet to increase intimacy between

the fan and the particular sport franchise that they work for:

We will retweet fun things. Or just humorous fun for our fa n s .. .. Sometimes

we will retweet reporters who have written really good stories about our guys,

and we want the fans to see it (Informant #4^team media relations, CFL), and

It really enhances the return of engagement; I can now

tru y

engage with fans

(Informant #3team media relations, CF L).

ManagementControl Throughthisdirect access with fans, it could be argued that

team media-relations informants are using Twitter to enact more control. H owever,

experiences of

the

sport-media informants would suggest that Twitter can be tough

to control during a conflict. Although some elements of Twitter make communica-

tions more controllable, other elem ents m ake it more erratic. A review of the lived

experiences will identify these conflicting viewpoints. Two examples that identify

Twitter as a controllable communications tool include, Trying to set the record

straight with tweets that prevent the coach after the game from having to answer a

speculative question from the media (Informant

12team media relations, NHL)

and We are our own publicity tool now, where in the past we weren't. And that

is one of the good things about also being in Twitter, is you control your message

a little bit more (Informant #16 team media relations NBA). Two examples

that identify Twitter as a com munications tool that can become uncontrollable for

sport teams include, Oh, it's created an unpredictable environment. You know, a

guy could tweet out something long after I've gone to bed, and I could wake up,

turn on the radio, and it's leading off the newscasts on all sports radio (Informant

#12 team media relations, NH L), and We always joke too that your iPhone or

your Blackberry should have a breathalyzer with it (Informant #8 sport PR/

digital expert, NHL).

Twitter presents

a

complex form of communications to manage. Some feel that

it provides m anagement w ith m ore control, and others find that it makes comm uni-

cations less manageable. To manage Twitter effectively, teams need to understand

the nuances of the system that make it controllable and uncontrollable. Without an

understanding of these nuances, it makes the sport communication process much

more challenging for media-relations staff

ier rchic l

Change Another theme from the interviews indicated how Twitter

is changing traditional hierarchical roles in sport. Traditionally, team sports have

represented a very hierarchical business. The players must follow the coach's

instructions or risk losing playing time, and the coach follows the general m anager's

instructions or risks losing

his

job.Team managem ent is tightly con trolled, and the

actors in the business stay on course for fear of being fired, released, suspended,

fined, or punished internally. Lived experiences of the informants suggest that

Twitter is changing hierarchical roles:

[Twitter] exponentially changes their workload. It changes the coloration of

what their work is; they no longer have the control, and this is something I

talk about often. In sports, it's a very hierarchical culture. The GM tells the


12/16

Sport Media Relations and Twitter 405

DiscussionandConciusion

Twitter has opened up comm unication channels

for

athletes, coaches, sport-organi-

zation

staff,

and fans (Sanderson, 2012). Long-standing practices and norms related

to sport media relations are changing

140

characters

at

a

time.

The unfiltered access

that Twitter provides

the

sport community

is

slowly diminishing

the

gatekeeping

functions related

to the

nature

of

traditional media relations.

The

empirical

evi-

dence presented in this research supports the statement that Twitter is the dominant

social-media platform

in

sport, causing paradigm shifts

in

the m anagement of sport

media relationsandflatteningthe sport media hierarchy.

Similar

to the

paradigmatic change from paper

to

electronic communication

identified by Battenfield (2013), Twitter represents the next step

of

transformation

in sport comm unication. Those

in

sport media relations have successfully adapted

their strategiesto incorporate Twitterbyrespondingtoathletes use, giving fans

direct access to their teams and creating new job responsibilities that have changed

the nature

of

media relations

in

sport. Twitter has made the role

of

media relations

in sport more complex, requiring its people to learn a new communication platform,

as well

as

nuanced strategies

to

manage this platform (Hutchins

Rowe, 2012).

The model

of

sport media relations and Twitter

in

Figure

1

represents

a

visual

representation

of

the findings from this research. Though

the

press-agentry-pub-

licity model

of

public relations (Grunig

Grunig, 1992)

has

been considered

the

most relevant model

for

understanding sport media relations (Stoldt

et

al., 2011),

the direct access teams have

to

fans through Twitter is changing

the

nature

of

sport

media relations. This research also provides empirical evidence to support the role

of Twitterincausing aparadigmatic changein thenatureofsport m edia relations.

As such, future versions

of

sport communication textbooks

may

need

to

consider

updating their definitions

and

descriptions

of

media-relations responsibilities.

Although some of these changes could be predicted based on previous research

and observations,the most notable shift thathasbeen undocumented is thehier-

archical change

in

sport media organizations.

The

findings from this research

support

the

statement that Twitter

is

making

the

sport media hierarchy

flatter.

The

SPORT

ME I

R E U T I O N S

MEDIA LANDSCAPE

Speed

Media Competition

Time Demands

MECHANICAL

JOB FUNCTIONS

Monitoring Twitter

Tweeting

HO W

TWIHER

HAS CHANGED

THE NATURE OF

SPORT MEDIA

RELATIONS

SPORT MEDIA RELATIONS ^ \


13/16

6 Gibbsand Haynes

choice of the word

flat

is derived from Thomas L. Friedman's book

The World

Is Flat

(2006), in which he presents a convergence of forces to support his argu-

ments about globalization. The content of sport is no longer solely controlled and

distributed by traditional-media organizations. What was once a one-way mode

of communication as explained by the modern model for sports-media-audience

com munications (Schultz, Caskey, Esherick, 2012) is now a two-way mode of

communication that represents a form of departure from traditional media models.

Limitations

This research can claim new contributions to sport-media-relations literature,

but they cannot necessarily be generalized to all people who work in sport media

relations. Although the informants had a considerable amount of experienceall

had more than 5 years of experience in professional sport roles and averaged 16

years of experience in sport mediathe results of this study were based only on

18 interviews with a varied mix of sport media experiences: team media relations,

sport journalists, media consultants, and league staff This mix of sport media

experiences helps to triangulate the research findings.

uture Research

This study represents one of the few investigations into how Twitter is changing

the nature of sport media relations. Future studies could look at Twitter's impact

on other industries or the impact of other potentially game-changing, disruptive

platforms of communications. The empirical results ofthisstudy dem onstrate that

Twitter is a paradigm-shifting platform for sport media relations, but would it also

prove to be paradigm shifting for more traditional media relations roles such as

corporate communications?

Since the first investigations into Twitter from a sport-media-relations jjerspec-

tive.

Twitter has also started to play a significant role in celebrity and entertainm ent

culture. Has Twitter changed celebrity and entertainment culture in a similar or

different way?

A study of the use of Twitter as a form of revenue generation by sport teams

could also prove significant. Professional sport has found a way to monetize most

forms of traditional media; can sport teams also monetize Twitter?

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C o p y r i g h t o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f S p o r t C o m m u n i c a t i o n i s t h e p r o p e r t y o f H u m a n K i n e t i c s

P u b l i s h e r s , I n c . a n d i t s c o n t e n t m a y n o t b e c o p i e d o r e m a i l e d t o m u l t i p l e s i t e s o r p o s t e d t o a

l i s t s e r v w i t h o u t t h e c o p y r i g h t h o l d e r ' s e x p r e s s w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . H o w e v e r , u s e r s m a y p r i n t ,

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twitter -- media relations

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