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

International journal of Sport Communication, 2013, 6, 394-408

2013 Human Kinetics, Inc.
A Phenomenological Investigation
Into How Twitter Has C hanged
the Nature of S port Media R elations
C hris G ibbs R ichard H aynes
Ryerson University, Canada Stirling University, Scotland
This article uses the phenomenological method to explain how Twitter has changed
the nature of sport media relations. The research was based on semistructured
interviews with 18 Canadian and U.S. sport media professionals having an
average 16 yr of experience. This exploratory study uses the lived experience of
sport media professionals to identify 3 clusters that help explain how Twitter has
changed the nature of sport media relations: media landscape, "mechanical" job
functions, and sport media relations. The results of this research are significant
because they help explain how the practices and norms related to the role of sport
media relations are changing as a result of Twitter. This research presents a new
argument: that Twitter has flattened the sport hierarchy and could be considered
the most influential social-media platform in sport today.
Keywords: social media, sport communications, phenomenology, new media
Before the Internet and digital-media cultures, the distribution of sport content
was traditionally controlled and managed by broadcasters, journalists, and other
members of traditional media (Hutchins & Rowe, 2012). After the launch of the
World Wide Web and team-based Web sites, by the late 1990s teams had started
to distribute content directly to fans rather than through traditional media (Boyle
& Haynes, 2004). A further shift in the team distribution of sport content occurred
with the introduction of social-media applications such as YouTube, Twitter, and
Facebook. In sport, the microblogging format of Twitter has opened up a new chan-
nel of communication for athletes, teams, coaches, fans, and sport media members
to distribute their own content (Sanderson, 2012). One corollary of Twitter has been
the instant bypassing of journalism and sport officials in the circulation of sport
communications, which has tbe potential to undermine their gatekeeping function
in the sport media nexus (Hutchins, 2011).
Twitter has created new jobs and responsibilities for those who work in sport
media relations. However, it has also created uncertainty and change (Boyle &
Haynes, 2011 ; Sanderson, 2012). Researchers have explored how Twitter is affecting
Gibbs is with the Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada. Haynes
is with the Stirling Media Research Institute, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland.
394
Sport Media Relations and Twitter 395
sport journalism (Schultz & Sheffer, 2010) and how social-media platforms such as
Twitter are having an impact on the practice of public relations (Wright & Hinson,
2010). To date, a limited amount of research has explored how Twitter is affecting
sport media relations (Boyle, 2012; Boyle & Haynes, 2013), specifically the inter-
relationships between sport gatekeepers and sport journalists. This study provides
new insight on contemporary sport media relations, with a specific focus on the
changing nature of sport communication management and the use of Twitter. Our
contention is that Twitter has usurped the hierarchy of sport media in profound ways.
Following Friedman (2006), we suggest that media sport relations have become
flatter because of convergent, interactive digital-media environments such as Twitter.
Literature Review
Role of Sport Media Relations
According to Stoldt, Dittmore, and Pedersen (2011), the goals of sport media
relations are to manage relationships with the mass media to generate positive
publicity for the sport product or organization. Core features of this role include
building relationships, maintaining communication, creating public relations plans,
making pitches, managing the story, creating talking points, and managing crises
(Mullin, Hardy, & Sutton, 2007). Media-relations responsibilities include "culti-
vating publicity, managing statistical services, managing the media at games and
competitions, and managing Web sites" (Stoldt, Dittmore, & Branvold, 2012, p.
12). Other responsibilities of media relations include writing news releases, plan-
ning news conferences, arranging interviews with players, preparing media kits,
and managing the press boxprofessional practices in keeping with the nature
of the press-agentry-publicity model of public relations set out by Grunig and
Grunig(1992).
To achieve positive feedback from fans, sport officials, and sport journalists,
teams provide assistance and services to the mainstream media to facilitate research
and the writing of stories. Most professional sport organizations now employ spe-
cialist communications personnel for this specific purpose. Sport media relations
are therefore viewed as a key strategic management function, mainly because of
the intense media focus on teams, stars, coaches, and owners. Although the emer-
gence of social media has not necessarily altered these core communications, it
has arguably transformed both the tools and the processes of communication for
many sport organizations.
Twitter and the Changing Sport Media Environment
Since its introduction in 2006, Twitter has become an integral part of sport media.
It has been reported that Twitter has over 200 million active users (Golijan, 2013).
As of June 15, 2013, there were over 7,400 athletes with verified user accounts. It
is reported that global superstar athletes Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James have
21.4 and 9.8 million followers, respectively. Twitter is the predominant social media
used by athletes, teams, and leagues for directly engaging with their wider publics.
The Web site www.sportsfangraph.com reports that, as of June 15, 2013,
almost all professional teams use Twitter, and combined they have over 107
396 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 example, in response to a halftime tweet by NBA player
Charles Villanueva, the NBA introduced a policy on serial media that embargoed
player tweets 45 minutes either side of a game 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 of many sport journalists. However, there is
evidence that journalists have begun to use Twitter as a 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 much of the immersion of sport journalists into the use of Twitter, 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 who 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 phenomeno-
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 media 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 with 18 sport media professionals: nine team media-relations employees,
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,
& Greenwell, 2010; Lebel & Danylchuk, 2012; Pegoraro, 2010; Shockley, 2011 ),
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 Twitter's overall role in
present-day sport media relations. This phenomenological study will draw on the
lived experiences of sport media professionals.
Methodology
This study focused on understanding how Twitter has changed the nature of sport
media relations. A qualitative research approach was used to develop the theoretical
framework (Corbin & Strauss, 2008; Miles & Huberman, 1984). The study used
semistructured long interview questions and a phenomenological research design.
Sport Media Relations and Twitter 397
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 journalists
from newspaper to the Internet (Kian & Zimmerman, 2012), and the culture of
sport communication 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 demonstrat-
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 activities of their
job; the ways in which Twitter enhanced, amplified, or intensified their work; what
is made obsolete 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.
Sampling Selection
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 media-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 a form of
data triangulation that incorporates input from different perspectives (Groenewald,
2004). Thus, the interviews conducted with journalists 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 considerations, 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-
ence before Twitter and could comment on the change. Second, they had to have
worked in sport media in a team, league, broadcast, news-publication, or athlete
capacity.
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 in U.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 1 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 1 ).
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 1 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
Team media relations
Team media relations
Team media relations
Team media relations
Team media relations
Sport journalists
Sport PR/digital
Sport PR/digital
Sport PR/digital
Sport journalists
Team media relations
Sport journalists
Sport journalists
Team media relations
Team media relations
Sport PR/digital
Sport PR/digital
Sports organization
working with"
NHL and NBA
CFL
CFL
CFL
CFL
NHL
Newspaper
NHL
NBA, NFL, and NHL
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
Note. NHL = National Hockey League; NBA = National Basketball Association; CFL = Canadian Football League;
PR = public relations; NFL = National Football League.
"All interviews conducted in 2012. These organizations represent the current category of sporting organization
that the informant is working for or with at the time of the interviews. In most cases they work for a team in a
league. 'Calculated based on the interview occurring in 2012.
Sport Media Relations and Twitter 399
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 Analysis
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.
To analyze the transcribed interviews, 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 were 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 disruptiveI suppose it would have to be Twitter.... 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 #9sport PR/digital expert NBA, NFL, and NHL). This viewpoint was
also shared by someone with 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 #15team 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,
mechanical job functions, and changes specific to sport media relations. Together,
these three categories provide insight from the lived experience into how Twitter
has changed the nature of sport media relations.
400 Gibbs and Haynes
Media Landscape
The category "media landscape" 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 technologynot limiting the
experiences of respondents to sport or Twitter. Overall, two clusters of concepts
emerged from the informants' experiences: speed and media competition.
Speed. 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 #6team media relations,
NHL); "Twitter is faster to access things" (Informant #18team 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 journalists are often in competition with other forms of new media.
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 members of the print media" (Informant #6team media 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-relations 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 #17sport PR/digital expert, NBA, NFL, and NHL).
Mechanical Job Functions
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 term mechanical came from one of the informants with more than 21
years of experience, who described how Twitter has changed sport communications:
"I can say the mechanics ofthe communications job has changed" (Informant #15,
team media relations NBA). Two clusters of concepts emerged from the informants'
experiences: monitoring Twitter and tweeting.
Sport Media Relations and Twitter 401
Monitoring Twitter: Importance. By far the most-reported changes in the lived
experience of sport media 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 monitoring each
other. Informants continuously expressed the importance of monitoring Twitter:
"Twitter is the first place that I go when I get off a plane to know what's going on"
(Informant #7Sportjournalist); "It makes us follow social media a lot during the
day" (Informant #12team media relations, NHL). 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 a story or content is interesting, the
informant will then go to Web sites. For team media-relations staff, the importance
of monitoring 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: Fan Service. Before Twitter, sport-media-relations staff had
very limited contact with individual sport fans, as their primary focus was the
relationships with traditional-media 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 kindof monitor the Twitter account during games. . . . 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 #3team media
relations, CFL).
The action of monitoring fan tweets has become necessary due to the impor-
tance of a 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 a 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 monitoring athletes was
positive. Comments generally focused on good tweets that players have made rather
than watching for risks. Team media-relations staff also used past tweets as a way
to coach and encourage players to connect with fans.
402 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.
Monitoring 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 players or coaches. Team media-relations staff commented,
"It really will enable the media relations department to stay one step ahead ofthe
media, . . . to be as prepared as possible" (Informant #6^team media relations,
NHL), and "We'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 #12team media
relations, NHL). This monitoring ofthe 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 stakeholders. While many com-
ments were related to reduced emphasis on the press release, two comments by team
media-relations 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
#2team media relations, CFL) and "We continue to e-mail newsletters and press
releases and still deal with the media on a daily basis, but Twitter probably reduced
the emphasis on it" (Informant #4team media relations, CFL).
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 prgame: We tweet out our starting lineup; we tweet out
any injuries. . . . Same thing within games with the records or anything that is
interesting. . . . We never did anything like that before" (Informant #16team
media relations, NBA). By tweeting out these updates, the experience ofthe team
media-relations staff suggests a change in the amount or importance of other forms
Sport Media Relations and 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 communication with sport journalists. One informant reported spending
"less and less time on the phone than I ever have before" (Informant #6team
media relations, NHL). And another said.
In some cases it reduces face-to-face dialogue with reporters. Instead of me
going around to 25 reporters spread throughout the arena watching practice to
relay an item of information, I can just send out a tweet. . . . So, it does take
away the face-to-face dialogue. (Informant #12team media relations, NHL)
Specific to Sport Media 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 of concepts is related to how Twitter 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 promote a closer connection between media-relations staff and the fan:
filter elimination 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 as an intermediary. Before Twitter, the facilitation
of communication between media-relations staff and sport fans was limited to in-
person experiences and Web-based communication platforms like chat rooms. Team
media-relations staff reported "an unfiltered connection to our fans. We don't have
to worry about newspaper writers or radio guys putting their own spin on things
or misinterpreting things" (Informant #5team media relations, CFL), and "We
were the ones that gave the information to the media, and the media communicated
to the fans. Now the teams can directly communicate with the fans" (Informant
#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 limited direct access to fans before Twitter: "We didn't have many opportuni-
ties to be directly engaged with our fans, even at a game. We can wander around a
game and shake hands with people, but it's only a small percentage of the people
that are there" (Informant #5team media relations, CFL).
The direct access to fans has brought about a change in sport entities' com-
munication strategies. A review ofthe lived experiences of sport communications
informants would suggest that Twitter promotes a closer connection between the
sport entity and the fan. Recognizing this function of Twitter, team media-relations
404 Gibbs and Haynes
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 fans.... 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 truly engage with fans"
(Informant #3team media relations, CFL).
Management Control. Through this direct access with fans, it could be argued that
team media-relations informants are using Twitter to enact more control. However,
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 elements make 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 #16team media relations NBA). Two examples
that identify Twitter as a communications 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
#12team media relations, NHL), and "We always joke too that your iPhone or
your Blackberry should have a breathalyzer with it" (Informant #8sport PR/
digital expert, NHL).
Twitter presents a complex form of communications to manage. Some feel that
it provides management with more control, and others find that it makes communi-
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.
Hierarchical 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 manager's
instructions or risks losing his job. Team management is tightly controlled, 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
coach to do x, tbe coach tells the players to do y, tbe coach tells the trainer to
do z, et cetera, and then you had to follow because they had. They could send
you away, they could freeze you outwhatever the case may be. (Informant
#15team media relations, NBA)
Sport Media Relations and Twitter 405
Discussion and Conciusion
Twitter has opened up communication 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 management of sport
media relations and flattening the 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 communication. Those in sport media relations have successfully adapted
their strategies to incorporate Twitter by responding to athletes' 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 Twitter in causing a paradigmatic change in the nature of sport media 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 that has been undocumented is the hier-
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
MEDIA
R E U T I O N S
MEDIA LANDSCAPE
Speed
Media Competition
Time Demands
MECHANICAL
JOB FUNCTIONS
Monitoring Twitter
Tweeting
HOW
TWIHER
HAS CHANGED
THE NATURE OF
SPORT MEDIA
RELATIONS
SPORT MEDIA RELATIONS ^ \
< Direct Access \
' (Un) Controllable by Management i
' Hierarchical Change ^,.<^'
Figure 1 Model of sport media relations and Twitter.
406 Gibbs and 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
communications (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.
Future 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 of this study demonstrate 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 entertainment
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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