Abstract

Professions in the communication realm are affected by Twitter’s rapidity, agenda setting, and myriad utilization possibilities. This study addresses potentials of Twitter for journalists in the sport context and assessed journalists’ Twitter activity, as well as journalists’ Twitter networks and their change in the course of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The sample was composed of the accounts of 30 sports journalists who were accredited officially, and who reported their journalistic profession in their individual Twitter profile. Results indicated a considerably higher usage in the context of a major sports event, journalists favoring personal communication instead of retweeting or replying. Regarding percentages of tweets retweeted or favorited, users rated the journalists’ tweets worthwhile above-average. Networks shifted towards the event itself as well as relevant national winter sports federations and athletes.

Key words: Sports journalism, Twitter, social media, networks, Olympic Games.