384
International Journal of Sport Communication, 2012, 5, 384-402
© 2012 Human Kinetics, Inc.
www.IJSC-Journal.com
CASE STUDY
Sanderson is with the Dept. of Communication Studies, Clemson University, Clemson, SC. Hambrick
is with the Dept. of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY.
Covering the Scandal in 140 Characters:
A Case Study of Twitter’s Role
in Coverage of the Penn State Saga
Jimmy Sanderson
Clemson University, USA
Marion E. Hambrick
University of Louisville, USA
This case study explored how sports journalists used Twitter to cover allegations
about former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky
sexually abusing young boys. A content analysis of 1652 tweets from 151 sports
journalists was conducted. Analysis revealed that sports journalists used Twitter
in the following ways: a) offering commentary, b) breaking news, c) interactivity,
d) linking to content, and e) promotion. The results suggest that Twitter serves as
an additional venue for sports journalists to frame stories; however, their behav-
ior in this venue blurs professional and personal boundaries as they mock fans
and promote their competitors. The analysis further suggests that the immediacy
with which news breaks on Twitter places sports journalists and sports media
organizations into a dialectic between “being rst” and “being accurate” when
reporting news.
Keywords: Twitter, sports journalism, social media
On November 5, 2011, the sports world was rocked by news that former
Pennsylvania State University (PSU) assistant football coach Gerald “Jerry” San-
dusky was being charged with sexual abuse of minors. Testimony from a grand
jury investigation revealed numerous accusations against Sandusky—specically
that he had molested 10 boys during a 15-year period—with some of the abuse
alleged to have occurred at Penn State facilities (Chapell, 2011). One of the more
prominent allegations involved assistant football coach Mike McQueary (then a
graduate-assistant) who reported that in 2002 he personally witnessed Sandusky
engage in sexual activity with a young boy in the football facility’s showers.
McQueary reported the incident to head football coach Joe Paterno, who in turn
disclosed this information to PSU Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice-President
of Finance and Business Gary Schultz. Curley subsequently demanded Sandusky’s
Journalists and PSU 385
locker room keys and prohibited him from inviting children to the football facility
and campus, but neither Curley nor Schultz reported the alleged abuse to the police
(Chapell, 2011). On November 6, 2011, the University Board of Trustees red
both Curley and Schultz. The trustees also terminated Paterno and PSU President
Graham Spanier, but placed McQueary on administrative leave (Chapell, 2011).
During a tumultuous two-week period from November 5–18, 2011, media
outlets across the nation covered this developing news story in extensive detail.
However, via Twitter messages, or “tweets,” sports journalists broke the latest
news, shared information, and discussed the story immediately as events unfolded
(Daniels, 2011). For instance, NBC’s John Clark noted the football team’s reaction:
“Joe Paterno spoke to team today and broke down in tears. He is very upset and sad.
Players gave him standing ovation.” ESPN’s Buster Olney argued for Paterno to step
down: “The right thing to do: Joe Paterno should offer his resignation. Penn State
would have opportunity to accept or decline, when it deems necessary.” Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review writer Dejan Kovacevic speculated about President Spanier’s fate: “I
don’t see how Graham Spanier lasts the day. Really don’t. He’s next. #PSUcharges.”
Yahoo! Sports columnist Pat Forde weighed in on students marching in support of
Paterno: “Sensing a massive disconnect between the feelings of Penn State students
and fans here vs. the rest of the nation when it comes to Paterno.” These tweets
depict the variety of sports journalists (e.g., Olney covers Major League Baseball
for ESPN) covering and weighing in on this story (Daniels, 2011).
Previous research has examined the growing use of Twitter within the sports
industry, although most work has focused on professional athletes (Hambrick, Sim-
mons, Greenhalgh, & Greenwell, 2010; Pegoraro, 2010) and their Twitter followers
(Clavio & Kian, 2010; Kassing & Sanderson, 2010). Fewer studies have examined
sports journalists’ Twitter use (for exceptions, see Schultz & Sheffer 2010; Sheffer
and Schultz, 2010). This case study explores how sports journalists used Twitter
as a sports crisis was unfolding and discusses shifts in journalistic standards that
arise as social media becomes more prominent in sports reporting.
Literature Review
Social Media and Sports Media
Sports fans’ consumption of sports news has shifted from traditional outlets such as
television and newspapers to digital resources such as blogs, mobile applications,
and social media sites (Kian, Burden, & Shaw, 2011; Sanderson, 2011). This real-
location has ushered in an era of “on-demand” sports news, characterized by three
factors: 1) the rapid speed with which information is transmitted, 2) the numerous
channels facilitating this information exchange, and 3) the democratic nature of
information dissemination processes (Hutchins, 2011). Digital media have attened
sports media hierarchies, offering publication and distribution tools to those outside
mainstream sports media circles. Hutchins and Rowe (2009) posit that this transfor-
mation constitutes a shift from “broadcast scarcity” to an era of “digital plentitude”
(p. 354) and that this digital plethora, “demands adjustment and reorganization in
both media and sports industries” (p. 355). As a result there is not longer a scarcity
of sports media channels and sports media organizations are now competing with
athletes and bloggers in the race to break news (Sanderson & Kassing, 2011).
386 Sanderson and Hambrick
Social media has shifted sports news from a one-way to a two-way avenue.
Traditional one-way ows designated news providers as the single authoritative
source, leaving consumers with little means to engage in a discussion. Yet, these
capabilities are now possible via Internet and social media technologies, as con-
sumers can respond to information as well as create and disseminate content of
their own (Galily, 2008; Hutchins, 2011). In response, sports journalists have been
forced, out of necessity to move into digital spheres—most notably Twitter.
Twitter and Sports Journalism
Twitter started in 2006 and has grown to 462 million registered users; it is expected
to reach 500 million users by the 2nd quarter of 2012 (Bennett, 2012). At the pres-
ent time, Twitter has 100 million active users (dened as accessing the account
at least once per month) with 250 million active users expected by the end of
2012 (Bennett, 2012). Twitter is a microblogging site that allows users to create
messages, termed “tweets,” that are no more than 140 characters in length. One’s
Twitter account is linked to a username preceded by the @ symbol. Twitter users
connect to one another by electing to “follow” another Twitter user. Each tweet
a person sends is transmitted to their “followers,” who can reply to the tweet by
adding their own commentary, or “re-tweeting” (retransmitting) the message to
their individual followers. Twitter has become the social media tool of choice for
athletes and, increasingly, sports reporters (Hambrick et al. 2010; Sanderson &
Kassing, 2011; Schultz & Sheffer, 2010; Sheffer & Schultz, 2010).
For sports journalists, Twitter represents both an information source (e.g.,
citing an athlete’s tweet in a news story) and a means for transmitting information
(e.g., posting a tweet that promotes an upcoming story; Hutchins, 2011). While
Twitter is becoming more integral to sports journalists, few researchers have
conducted empirical studies to examine how these media members employ Twit-
ter. Schultz and Sheffer (2010) completed a two-part study by surveying sports
journalists working in print and broadcast outlets and identifying their reasons
for using Twitter. In the rst study, the researchers asked journalists open-ended
questions about their Twitter use, and discovered that Twitter was used in the fol-
lowing ways: a) breaking news, b) providing personal opinions, c) promoting media
outlets, d) connecting with fans and others, and e) becoming a better journalist.
The journalists rated breaking news and promoting their media organizations as
the chief reasons for using Twitter, while assigning lower rankings to the other
categorical areas. Schultz and Sheffer (2010) noted that these journalists and
their afliated media organizations used Twitter in similar ways. As such, they
observed that social media may enhance rather than truly transform sports news
coverage. They suggested future studies should examine this “emerging hybrid of
journalism” (p. 237) to better understand the interplay between Twitter and more
traditional news communication outlets.
As a follow-up, Sheffer and Schultz (2010) revisited their previous study
results by conducting a content analysis of tweets posted by sports journalists.
They sought to determine differences between sports journalists described versus
actual Twitter usage. They collected 1008 tweets over a three-week period from
297 journalists. The results revealed divergences from the previous study. Most
Journalists and PSU 387
notably, sports journalists frequently used Twitter to offer commentary as more
than half of their tweets contained personal commentary about an athlete, team, or
other sports-related content. The researchers concluded these differences in reported
versus actual usage suggested a Twitter-based transformation in sports media,
as sports journalists appeared to be comfortable sharing their opinions in social
media forums as opposed to the more impartial representations they displayed in
traditional outlets. Sheffer and Schultz (2010) suggested that future studies should
explore Twitter’s role in sports journalism by reviewing a wider range of tweets
over a specic time period and/or conducting qualitative interviews with journalists
who tweet. That sports journalists regularly use Twitter to dispense commentary
indicates that Twitter is a venue where sports journalists can frame sports stories
to inuence audiences by dispensing commentary that is easily consumed and
retransmitted by their peers and sports media consumers.
Sports Media and Framing
Framing is a common practice in the mass media. Framing occurs when mass
media outlets report news items in ways that guide and shape audience interpreta-
tions (Kuypers & Cooper, 2005; Paxton, 2004; Tian & Stewart, 2005). Framing
has been conceptualized as a) strategically emphasizing certain aspects of a story
to promote particular denitions, interpretations, evaluations, or recommenda-
tions; and b) invoking socially shared meanings that are consistent over time that
symbolically structure and organize the social world (Entman, 1993; Reese, 2001;
Tian & Stewart, 2005). Through these techniques news stories become vehicles to
reinforce ideology (Carruthers, 2000; Wolfsfeld, 1997).
Framing processes are prominent within sports media (Eagleman, 2011; Kian
& Hardin, 2009; Sanderson, 2008). For instance, Bishop (2005) chronicled local
press coverage of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Joey Galloway during his 1999
holdout as he attempted to renegotiate his contract. His analysis revealed that media
accounts framed Galloway as an immature individual who, by holding out, was
abdicating his team responsibilities. Conversely, these stories positioned the head
coach as a revered organizational gure whose authority is never to be questioned.
Thus, readers were prompted to think about Galloway as a selsh and sophomoric
individual, with little prompting to consider the rationale behind his holdout. In
addition, consider National Basketball Association (NBA) player LeBron James,
who in 2010 announced that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to sign with
the Miami Heat (joining two other premier players, Dwyane Wade and Chris
Bosh). James received widespread criticism for his decision (some of which was
attributable to the grandeur of his nationally televised broadcast announcing his
plans), and reporters suggested that James’ decision would ultimately tarnish his
legacy. For instance, “as a legacy guy, he needs to know: His decision to spurn the
Cavaliers for more talent and hope in Miami forbids LeBron from ever being one
of those all-time greats” (Wise, 2010, p. D1); and “Time will no doubt, heal many
of the wounds James opened last Friday. However the deepest ones will last, and,
most importantly, leave scars on his legacy regardless of his achievements from
here on end” (Cuaycong, 2010, p. S6).
388 Sanderson and Hambrick
As these brief examples demonstrate, sports journalists routinely frame sports
stories to guide specic audience interpretations, a task that translates into digital as
well as traditional forums. Indeed, social media is a growing platform for framing
prominent news stories (Hamdy & Gomaa, 2012) and social media platforms such
as Twitter provide audiences with immediacy that often supersedes traditional media
formats. Given the wide scope of the PSU saga and the volume of sports journalists
covering the story as it progressed, this case provides a rich opportunity to explore
how sports journalists used Twitter to cover a prominent sports story. Twitter and
other social media outlets are transformative forms of communication (Sanderson
& Kassing, 2011), and changing the way sports journalists gather information and
report news (Hutchins, 2011; Kian et al., 2011). Consequently, it is imperative that
researchers investigate how social media tools inuence sports media processes.
As Kian et al. (2011) note, “academic research on Internet sports journalism is in
its infancy” (p. 32); and this research seeks to contribute to the growth of this area
by investigating how sports journalists used Twitter as a national sports crisis was
unfolding.
Method
Data Collection
Data were obtained from sports journalists’ tweets about the PSU story. Tweets
were cultivated by targeting and collecting the tweets of 151 sport journalists using
Twitter from November 4–18, 2011. The journalists represented major media outlets
in television (e.g., CBS Sports, ESPN), newspapers (e.g., Chicago Tribune, USA
Today), magazines (e.g., Sports Illustrated, Sporting News), and blogs (e.g., Rivals.
com, Deadspin). Sports journalists were identied using snowball sampling, “an
approach for locating information-rich key informants or critical cases” (Patton,
2002, p. 237). One of the authors rst learned about the PSU story after Dana O’Neil
of ESPN posted a tweet in response to tweets about the PSU story from peers Pat
Forde of Yahoo! Sports, Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated, and Bill Rabinowitz
of the Columbus Dispatch, and O’Neil’s tweet started the data collection process.
The authors collected information from these four journalists’ Twitter accounts,
paying close attention to whom these journalists followed on Twitter. From the
list of the combined 2321 Twitter users they followed, 146 sports journalists were
identied, and the authors collected tweets from these journalists. This iterative
process was completed four times until a total of 236 sports journalists were iden-
tied; however, sports journalists who were not followed by at least three other
sports journalists were removed from the sample. This resulted in a nal sample
of 151 sports journalists.
Every tweet posted by these 151 journalists from November 4–18, 2011 was
downloaded. This time period encapsulated the PSU story initially breaking and
additional noteworthy events such as Joe Paterno’s ring and Jerry Sandusky’s
interview with Bob Costas. The sports journalists wrote a total of 62,742 tweets
during the two-week period, with 6608 devoted to the PSU story. Given the large
number of tweets, a stratied random sample was selected for analysis with every
fourth tweet selected for inclusion, providing a sample of 1652 tweets.
Journalists and PSU 389
Data Analysis
To ascertain how sports journalists used Twitter in covering the Penn State story,
a thematic analysis of the sports journalists’ tweets was conducted using constant
comparative methodology (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Each tweet served as the unit
of analysis. The tweets were initially read to gain a sense of how the sports jour-
nalists were using Twitter. After this initial immersion in the data, the tweets were
microanalyzed and classied into emergent categories (Strauss & Corbin, 1998)
based on the primary way that the sports journalist was using Twitter. After this
initial categorization of data, the authors returned to the data to gain insight into
the usefulness of developed categories (Suter, Bergen, Daas, & Durham, 2006).
Through this process, development, clarication, and enhancement of categories
continued until new observations failed to add signicantly to existing categories.
Both authors reviewed all tweets independently, and then discussed emergent
themes until reaching consensus regarding the content and nature of themes.
Analysis revealed that sports journalists used Twitter in the following ways: a)
offering commentary, b) breaking news, c) interactivity, d) linking to content,
and e) promotion. Table 1 provides an illustration of each theme along with the
frequency of each theme in the data. Each of these themes along with exemplars
drawn from data are now discussed.
Table 1 Sports Journalists Twitter Usage Themes
Theme
# of
Occurrences Example
Offering commentary 467 “At the end of the day PSU’s exemption to
open records laws is ultimate hammer lock of
secrecy. & it sticks out like a sore thumb right
now” (Charles Robinson-104)
Breaking news 424 “No lie at least 500 students marching toward
Old Main. Also saw 2 dozen cops in riot
gear” (John Walters-1364)
Interactivity 374 “@playonenote There’s nothing wrong with
reacting with emotion there. The grand jury
report was enough. And Joe admitted he
didn’t do enough” (Andy Staples-2)
Linking to content 233 “Statement from Scott Paterno: [link]” (Jon
Wilner-528)
Promotion 154 “To anyone who’s doubted the role of news-
papers in modern society, witness the Patriot-
News of Harrisburg. #pennstatejustice” (Chris
Jones-1472)
390 Sanderson and Hambrick
Results and Interpretation
To indicate where a tweet fell in the data set, a number is attached to each exem-
plar. The name of the journalist also is included before the number of the tweet.
For example, a tweet with the code (Andy Staples-200) indicates the tweet was
posted by Andy Staples and represented the 200th tweet in the data set. Tweets are
reported verbatim from the data, spelling and grammatical errors were left intact.
Many of the tweets were embedded with links to other places on the Internet. For
ease of reading, the notation [link] has been inserted to denote where the link was
located in the tweet, rather than providing the text of the hyperlink.
Offering Commentary
Twitter functioned as a convenient channel for sports journalists to instantaneously
disseminate commentary about the PSU story. This occurred in the following ways:
a) speculation, b) criticism, c) balancing coverage, and d) empathy.
Speculation. Sports journalists both contemplated about and proposed actions
that various Penn State stakeholders should undertake. This included, “Depending
on what comes next, I can absolutely see Penn State taking Paterno’s name off its
library” (Darren Rovell-275); “Tad early to start thinking about it, but expect Penn
State to reach out to MSU’s Mark Dantonio if/when it engages in a coaching search”
(Charles Robinson-656); and “FWIW, my employment law buddy says (depending
on contract language) PSU may want to decline Spanier’s reported resignation,
re him instead” (Andy Glockner-884); and “Mike McQueary can ght it, but
I think there’s an argument to be made that he’s much better off not showing up
Saturday” (Darren Rovell-667). They also weighed in on the ramications of the
PSU story and its place in the annals of sports scandals, “In 2010, State College
Pa. was ranked 3rd safest metro area in the US by CQ Press. Tonight, it might be
the most dangerous” (Darren Rovell-974)’ and “Is PSU already the greatest US
sports scandal of our time? I think so” (Clay Travis-59); “Wondering now with a
friend: has there ever been a bigger story in sports history than what has transpired
at Penn State?” (Adam Schefter-447).
Criticism. A number of sports journalists devoted tweets to lambasting various
players in the PSU story. Penn State administration received sharp criticism for
their apparent cover-up of Sandusky’s behavior, “You know [what] action PSU
took when they found out Sandusky was raping 10 year olds in locker room? Took
away his locker room keys. Not kidding” (Clay Travis-1508); and “PSU’s presi-
dent has to be gone. Every single person in authority who knew and did nothing
has to be gone. Clean house” (Clay Travis-1285). Critique also extended to Penn
State’s press conference management, “One last time. I agree w/Board of Trustees
decision. However that news conference w/a joke. Someone from their PR school
should have helped” (Tim Brando-1196); “Lemme get this straight, Penn State
ur FB program’s embroiled in child abuse scandal & media’s not supposed to ask
Paterno abt it? #Ignorance” (Bonnie Bernstein-1259); and “Going to Jo Pa press
conference. Was told not to ask non-football questions. I didn’t come here to
talk fullbacks” (Gregg Doyel-1398). Penn State’s crisis management efforts also
incurred wrath, “For anyone who would like to break into sports media relations
Journalists and PSU 391
take not of how Penn State is handling this situation…and do the opposite” (Matt
Kramer-1341); and “Penn State gets an “F” in crisis management [link]” (Darren
Rovell-1303).
Joe Paterno also was rebuked: “If Paterno never even questioned Sandusky
about incident & allowed him to continue to use facilities he’s even more culpable
than I thought” (Arash Markazi-154); and “Gee, poor Joe all upset he was red
via a phone call. Had he made a phone call to police to prevent rapes he wouldn’t
be in this spot” (Jay Glazer-730). PSU students who demonstrably protested after
Joe Paterno was red were similarly scorned, “Love NY post headline about penn
state students demonstrating for paterno and still deifying him: Nitt Wits” (Jon
Heyman-1476); “And there goes the rst ipped news truck. Doing your school
proud. You are . . . Penn State” (Gregg Doyel-718); and “Would PSU students cheer
on any man who met bare minimum legal requirement for protecting a child rape
victim, or just a legendary coach?” (Desmond Howard-1318).
As terse as these aspersions were, they paled in comparison with the ire directed
at Jerry Sandusky, particularly after his interview with Bob Costas. Examples
included, “Sandusky: It was just horseplay. Horses: Leave us out of it asshole”
(Gerald Mulligan-227); “Sandusky repeating the ‘are you sexually attracted to young
boys’ question and awkward pause seemed telling” (Bruce Feldman-261); “San-
dusky’s answer when asked if he was sexually attracted to young boys proves that
he is sexually attracted to young boys. Good Lord” (Clay Travis-269); “Sandusky
sounded like Michael Jackson describing his love for children” (Dan Wetzel-271);
and “Sandusky says he did nothing wrong but regrets showering w little boys. If
any man showered w my son I’d slit his fucking throat” (Jay Glazer-293).
Outside the realm of Penn State, other popular targets included ESPN and
media personalities who appeared to be supporting PSU/Joe Paterno. With respect
to ESPN, columnists observed, “Watch ESPN and see how long talking heads go
without uttering words ‘victims,’ ‘children,’ etc. It’s far too infrequent” (Jason
Whitlock-1213); “Tom Rinaldi is reporting from the only place on campus where
no news is taking place. Well done ESPN” (Clay Travis-962); and “The miserable
fail of ESPN’s Penn State coverage last night. Paging Tom Rinaldi. [link]” (Clay
Travis-658). For their contemporaries who appeared to be withholding condemna-
tion, scathing commentary included, “I love you @JPosnanski, but if that’s your
kid in the shower, you don’t write what you wrote today. That was somebody’s
kid” (Andy Staples-588); “Note to Posnanski: junk your book unless you re-report
it get the Joedust out of your eyes. Your post was pathetic justication of JoePa”
(Buzz Bissinger-646); “Trevor Matich says people ‘had reason to want to put
blame on JoePa’ Says he doesn’t see enough to ‘put this on Joe’ . . . Pull him,
ESPN” (George Dohrmann-1026); and “Wow. Matt Millen breaking down on live
TV trying to defend Joe Paterno. This whole thing gets more maddening by the
moment” (Bruce Feldman-1241).
Balancing Coverage. Whereas criticism was a popular opinion, some journal-
ists suggested that more balance was needed in media coverage of the story and/or
cautioned that it was unwise to paint Penn State with a broad brush. For instance,
“and again, remember the bright side, paterno’s program never was busted for a
major ncaa violation. that’s important!” (Bomani Jones-392); “The absolutism
w/ which ppl are judging Joe Paterno, knowing what we do at this stage, is pretty
392 Sanderson and Hambrick
stark. Ignoring all his good is silly . . . (Andy Glockner-587); “Thought police has
also been out in force. Any opinion expressed contrary to stampede’s wishes is
equated with defending child molestation” (Seth Davis-367); and “Rioting Penn
Staters getting the press, but let’s not condemn entire student body. More are likely
appalled by scandal on campus” (Bonnie Bernstein-629).
Empathy. Twitter also served as a platform to advocate for the abuse victims and
promote healing. These messages were typied by tweets such as, “to the veterans
and to the victims of child abuse who speak out, thank you for your courage” (J.A.
Adande-506); “Feel compelled to constantly keep the Penn State victims and their
families in prayer. So many layers to heal from” (Jason Romano-1017); “Hoping
Penn St. game is about more than football. Time to focus on healing. And long
overdue, time to focus on & remember the victims” (Dana O’ Neil-395); “Off to
bed, Tweeps. Thx as always, for being so engaging. Appreciate ur opinions. Please
say a prayer for the victims. #PennState” (Bonnie Bernstein-628); and “Nebraska
fans have waded into the most hostile arenas in the country. This is about the vic-
tims, their parents, Senior Day and healing” (Dennis Dodd-492).
Sports journalists offered a variety of commentary relating to the PSU story and
Twitter enabled them to conveniently distribute these views to sizeable audiences.
One striking feature of this commentary was the passion and intensity underpinning
it. This suggests some sports journalists possessed a level of personal involvement
and identication with the story that perhaps went beyond professional boundaries.
Although it is difcult for journalists to be entirely impartial (Fox & Park, 2006;
Hack, 2003) standards still remain. With this particular story, sports journalists
offered fervent opinions and in some cases, derided their counterparts whom they
perceived to lack the requite indignation this story warranted.
This apparent lack of impartiality was typied by this comment from Sports
Illustrated’s Andy Staples, “I probably would have looked at this lens three years
ago, but the protective instinct is insane” (AS-1228). The prevalence of sports
journalists using Twitter to disseminate commentary and opinion has been noted
(Sheffer & Schultz, 2010) and this behavior seems to magnify when journalists
become personally involved in a story. This emotional investment resulted in terse
commentary about PSU that promoted negative interpretations of the university.
While these framings may have been warranted, it was interesting that some sports
journalists noted the uneven direction the story was taking and opined for more
balance to be applied. Twitter then served as a forum where sports journalists
unabashedly dispensed personal opinions and also where their peers advocated
tempering the vitriol. As sports journalists opined and criticized various people
in the PSU story, they also engaged in a traditional reporting function—break-
ing news.
Breaking News
Social media has accelerated the sports media culture (Hutchins, 2011), in particular
news-breaking has intensied and grown more immediate. This trend was apparent
in the data as sports journalists used Twitter to convey breaking news in the PSU
saga. Examples included, “Penn St BOT announces Joe Paterno out immediately.
So is PennSt Pres Graham Spanier”(Bruce Feldman-912); “Pennsylvania senator
Journalists and PSU 393
calls for full investigation, blasts Penn St prez [link] (Dan Wetzel-1605); “Big Ten
removes Joe Paterno’s name from championship trophy” (Brett McMurphy-315);
and “NCAA has launched an investigation into Penn State [link] ‘institutional
control’ questioned” (Dan Wetzel-13).
Breaking news also encompassed offering tidbits to audiences, “State Col-
lege resident: ‘There were rumors for a couple years’ Penn State student: ‘There
were always rumors and stuff’ [link]” (SBB-1528); “Pa Atty General Linda Kelly:
Sandusky had unrestricted access to PSU locker rooms as part of retirement agree-
ment” (Darren Rovell-1566); and “According to a report, a grad assistant/eyewit-
ness reported incident to JoPa. He notied his superior, Curley, who never alerted
authorities” (Stewart Mandel-1684). With the urry of information percolating
about this story, journalists also broke news by clarifying apparent incorrect reports,
“Bradley also discredits rumor that seniors may choose to sit out on Saturday”
(Wayne Drehs-702); “paterno son scott says father has not been contacted by anyone
on board of trustees about retirement” (Dick Weiss-1409); and “The upstate South
Carolina tweet refers to a hoax making the rounds concerning Sandusky scandal.
A Greenville TV station got hoodwinked” (Andy Staples-458).
Sara Ganim of the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Patriot-News demonstrated a
unique way to use Twitter to break news by tweeting comments from Sandusky
as his interview with Bob Costas unfolded. “#Sandusky says he was only hors-
ing around in the shower, boy was sliding across oor” (Sara Ganim-331); and
“#Sandusky: 2000 locker room incident witnessed by janitors is made up” (Sara
Ganim-332). She also used this tactic when reporting comments by PSU interim
president Rodney Erickson during his press conference, “#PSUcharges Erickson:
‘It certainly appears from what we know’ that some indivs were afraid to make
known what they might have seen” (Sara Gamin-546); and “#PSUcharges Erick-
son: Lives have been severely impacted by this and that is my rst consideration”
(Sara Ganim-547).
As the PSU story progressed, news broke at rapid rates, as such, Twitter
enabled journalists to immediately distribute this news and provide information
to audiences. In bringing audiences information as it was occurring, journalists
established a telepresence (Hutchins, 2011) for the audience by offering them
information that was only available at the actual event. Audiences certainly could
have obtained this information eventually, but Twitter allowed them to receive
information directly, offering them immediate access as key events were evolv-
ing. Sport journalists, via Twitter, provided “insider” information (Kassing &
Sanderson, 2010) to audiences, giving them a “front-row” seat to important news
about the PSU saga. Given that many of these sports journalists maintained an
active presence on Twitter during this story, it was not surprising that audience
members began to engage them, leading to interaction and exchanges that rarely
occur in traditional news outlets.
Interactivity
Social media has heightened interaction opportunities between athletes, sports
gures and fans (Sanderson, 2011; Sanderson & Kassing, 2011) and sports jour-
nalists have adopted this practice as well (Sheffer & Schultz, 2010). The nature of
the PSU story coupled with the intense commentary emanating from many sports
394 Sanderson and Hambrick
journalists precipitated seemingly inevitable clashes with audience members. In
some cases, sports journalists defended their reactions to the story, “@bartmanpsu
Dude, a grand jury report is a pretty strong piece of evidence. Put it this way, nobody
is under oath when we interview them” (Andy Staples-43); “@spencerjsteel Read
grand jury report. Read dozens. Won Pulitzer for investigating Philly courts. This is
the worst, not some PR document” (Buzz Bissinger-54); “Not pro or anti anybody.
Just want to know the truth RT @ MikeSwags: its pretty obvious you arent pro Joe
Paterno, we get it dude” (Michael Smith-531); and “@JeffPack arrogant? Dude, its
child rape. I know what I wouldn’t have done” (Michael Smith-773).
Sports journalists also invited interaction through comments such as, “Any
lawyer out there able to provide a viable reason why you’d want a client to be open
to such an interview as Sandusky gave?” (Bruce Feldman-249); “A query about
McQueary: If his testimony is key in putting away Sandusky, is employing him
worth it for Penn State? #PleaseRespond” (Jemele Hill-747); and “If u are a Penn
St. ticket holder/donor tweet @ me. What are you doing w/your tickets your/$?
Wait & see or are you already making a move?” (Darren Rovell-1516). They also
answered questions posed by audience members, “@kujoatc75 Really hard to say.
I do think we’ll get more revelations out Penn State in the upcoming weeks. People
will talk” (Richard Deitsch-325); “@traverseread5 I can’t indict McQueary as
much . . . who knows how anyone would react to seeing something that shocking”
(Dan Wolken-661); and “This PennSt story looks like the worst one linked to coll.
sports in a long time. @leahslevel, what’s worse, osu situation or psu situation?”
(Bruce Feldman-1630).
Whereas some of exchanges with fans were pleasant, there were times when
journalists openly criticized and mocked fans. For instance, “@bartmanpsu Keep
on spinning. Your hero screwed up” (Andy Staples-44); “Charles Manson called.
He thinks you’re psycho RT @MargieJPhelps: Did you know about raping coaches,
Greg? (Gregg Doyel-405); “Hey look! A tweet from an idiot. RT @clvlandsteemer:
Mine is “Let he who is without sin cast the rst stone’” (Andy Staples-866); “Comi-
cal RT @dmswat3 I think it’s pretty clear you have a personal vendetta against Joe
Paterno” (Darren Rovell-968); “@farzyness I’m sorry that you can’t see that you
are defending a man who enabled child rape. But you are. God forgive you” (Keith
Olbermann-1084); and “Blocked on account of you’re an idiot RT @Legal_Knievel:
Are you hoping Sandusky did that to these kids?” (Gregg Doyel-1612).
Although fans were the primary recipients of interaction, journalists also
engaged their contemporaries via Twitter. Examples included, “@richarddeitsch
How about McQueary claiming he stopped the rape, which implicates Sandusky
and removes his doubt/deniability?” (Andy Glockner-151); “Yo @darrenrovell,
prosecutors don’t need any witnesses. Just tape of Sandusky’s interview with Costas.
It’s over bro.” (Jason Whitlock-348); “@jeffpearlman Interesting. And also stupid.
Problem is: if you are the man Paterno was said to be, you don’t do the minimum”
(George Dohrmann-709); “@RonnieRamos Also for context, more than reputations
were ruined. Lives of defenseless children were ruined. And all involved failed
them” (Jay Bilas-729); and “@BryanDFischer Don’t you see? Failure To Monitor
IS the poster child for compliance” (Ray Ratto-793).
Involving fans in social media discussions brings both prosocial and prob-
lematic outcomes for athletes and sports personalities (Hambrick et al., 2010;
Sanderson, 2011), which also extend to sports journalists. In this case, journalists
Journalists and PSU 395
invited fans to offer commentary and responded to inquiries from them, yet they
also tersely criticized audience members and labeled them in ways that crossed
professional decorum. While certain media platforms encourage this behavior
(e.g., sports talk-radio) it is plausible that if journalists made comments of this
nature during a broadcast or in a column, it would result in censure. To some
extent, these reactions were driven by the nature of this story, yet the propensity
to mock fans raises questions about how sports journalists navigate the personal/
professional continuum in social media domains. Confrontations between athletes
and fans via social media have become more prevalent (Sanderson & Kassing,
2011; Sanderson, 2011), and sports journalists appear to be following suit. When
sports journalists were not occupied with providing commentary, breaking news,
and engaging others, they served as information sources by directing audiences to
pertinent content about the PSU story.
Linking to Content
Via Twitter, sports journalists connected audience members to content about the
PSU story to satiate their informational demands. This included pointing people
to sites where they could obtain “inside” looks at details of the Penn State case,
“Here is a copy of 3-page letter NCAA sent to Penn State, notifying school of
pending investigation [link]” (Brett McMurphy-31); “Reading the Grand Jury
Report for the Penn State child abuse case. Here is the document [link]” (Bonnie
Bernstein-924); “Don’t believe any PSU ofcial when they say they’re shocked
by Sandusky charges. Check out what was written in April: [link]” (Teddy Green-
stein-999); and “Penn State’s soon-to-be-ex-coaches lives here. Back porch. [link]”
(Gregg Doyel-1035).
As events unraveled, readers were linked to pertinent data, “Here’s some
new biographical info on David Joyner, #PennState’s newly-announced interim
athletic director: [link]” (Bonnie Bernstein-101); “Here’s the full interview with
Sandusky from NBC [link]” (Dan Wetzel-177); “Here’s a Photo of Jerry Sandusky’s
Lawyer With the Girl he Allegedly Got Pregnant When She Was 16 [link]” (Jason
McIntyre-230); and “Here’s Jerry Sandusky Taking 17 Seconds to Answer Whether
or Not He’s Attracted to Young Boys [link]” (Jason McIntyre-243). In providing
access to content, sports journalists substantiated their commentary with photo-
graphs and video, cultivating “insider” perspectives (Kassing & Sanderson, 2010)
with audience members. For example, a journalist reporting the scene at protests
augmented their description with multimedia content. Audience members then had
the capability to distribute this content to their followers, exponentially increasing
information ows. Given the volume of sports journalists covering this story, it
was necessary to maintain a visible prole to capture audience share. In that vein,
sports journalists used Twitter to publicize and direct audiences to their columns
and interestingly, to laud their competitors.
Promotion
Given the character limits Twitter imposes, journalists often tweeted links to
more lengthy commentary about the PSU story by “teasing” audience members.
Examples included, “I’ve spent two days thinking about this. Cannot summarize
my thoughts on Joe Paterno any better: [link]” (Bonnie Bernstein-627); “Culture
396 Sanderson and Hambrick
of indifference at Penn State ultimately costs Paterno his job. My column [link]”
(Matt Hayes-764); and “If Sandusky stuff is true, Penn State should/will pay.
But it’s not NCAA business. My column [link]” (Gregg Doyel-25). Sports
journalists also praised their coworkers and encouraged people to follow their
work, “Needless to say, if you are following Penn State then Pulitzer winner
@Jo_Becker is now a must follow” (Pete Thamel-77); “Solid piece by L. Jon
Wertheim on the Penn State scandal in SI. Worth your time . . .” (John Wal-
ters-129); and “Great take on Joe Pa’s legacy from @DennisDoddCBS [link]”
(Brett McMurphy-1577).
Social media has escalated the competiveness in breaking stories and this task
no longer resides solely in the hands of journalists (Sanderson & Kassing, 2011;
Sheffer & Schultz, 2010). Nevertheless, there was a notable propensity for sports
journalists to promote their competitors. For instance, “Very good piece by @
PeteThamelNYT & others at NY Times on how break in Sandusky investigation
came via internet [link]” (Brett McMurphy-74); “Kudos to NBC News’ @PeterAl-
exander (who lived 2 doors down from me in college) for obtaining McQueary’s
e-mail to former teammates” (Stewart Mandel-338); “Here is the Twitter handle for
the British chick who is kicking ESPN’s ass on Penn State @IshaSesayCNN” (Clay
Travis-959); “For the scene from the ground tonight at Penn State, I recommend @
DailyCollegian” (Richard Deitsch-1138); and “Also, kudos to @PeteThamelNYT
for breaking the news 2 days ago that the board was working on getting rid of
Paterno” (Michael Rosenberg-1155).
Although different journalists at times received compliments, Sara Gamin and
the Patriot News garnered frequent commendation. For instance, “The @Patriot-
News continues with dramatic fronts regarding the case against Jerry Sandusky
[link]” (Richard Deitsch-35); “Once again, I continue to bang the drum for @
sgamin. If you are interested in the Penn State story, she is your essential follow”
(Richard Deitsch-215); “Make sure you read @sganim’s latest special report on
the PSU investigation” (Andy Glockner-242); “I think the Patriot-News will win
journalism awards for great work on PSU; I think @sganim & @ben_jones88 will
have many job offers” (Jason McIntyre-834); “Another great story from @sganim,
speaking to current PSU student whose brother was an alleged Sandusky victim:
[link]” (Stewart Mandel-1129); and “Sara Ganim of Harrisburg Patriot-News is an
absolute force on Sandusky story @sganim” (Dan Wetzel-1292).
Twitter was a tool for sports journalists to entice audience members to consume
their work on the PSU story. This was not surprising as sports media organizations
must augment traditional media offerings with digital content (Butler & Sagas, 2008;
Schoenstedt & Reau, 2010). What was striking, however, was the frequency with
which journalists lauded their competitors. Whereas sports journalists do credit their
competitors when reporting stories, it is difcult to imagine a columnist devoting
space in his/her column to promote a reporter at a competing paper. Social media
enables consumers to conveniently access competing media outlets and this kind
of promotion, while perhaps, collegial, also seem to be pro bono. This nding
offers further evidence that sports journalists operate under different professional
expectations and standards when using social media. These referrals essentially
serve as free marketing for the recipients and when one considers the audience size
of Twitter, a promotional tweet is quite a valuable gesture.
Journalists and PSU 397
Discussion
This case study explored how sports journalists used Twitter when covering a
prominent sports story. Beyond the emergent themes, this research offers several
important implications. First, Twitter appears to be an arena wherein journalistic
standards maintain diminished salience. Sheffer and Schultz (2010) observed
that social media technologies such as Twitter are beginning to reshape media
communication. One aspect they identied to support this claim was that Twitter
facilitated personal dialogue and conversation, communication characterized by,
“rumor, gossip, innuendo, and other techniques that are typically discouraged by the
professional journalistic community” (p. 481). In the current study, sports journalists
willingly participated in each of these behaviors and in some cases, aggressively
critiqued fans. Sports journalists may have deviated from professional scripts as a
result of becoming invested in the story, but such attachment seems to preclude, or
at a minimum, damper impartiality. Indeed, while the allegations against Sandusky
were atrocious, they remain (at least as of this writing) allegations. That many of the
sports journalists openly displayed strong emotions in covering the story certainly
inuenced their commentary and subsequently, their framing (Entman, 1993) of
it. Such behavior seems to be incited by the immediacy of social media and blends
personal and professional boundaries for sports journalists.
Twitter also seems to elevate sports journalists’ willingness to step outside
professional spheres. Many of the journalists uttered commentary that would be
unlikely to appear in more traditional platforms, and in this respect, sports jour-
nalists seem to be mimicking athletes in creating social media controversies. For
instance, in January 2012, Tony Grossi, a longtime (almost 20 years) Cleveland
Browns beat writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, tweeted that Browns owner
Randy Lerner was a “pathetic gure, the most irrelevant billionaire in the world”
(Diadiun, 2012). Grossi was immediately removed from covering the Browns.
Consider also that several of the journalists in the study used profanity in their
tweets. Had they used this language on television broadcasts or in columns, they
likely would have been disciplined. Using profanity in Twitter suggests that sports
journalists perceive Twitter to be a personal, dialogical channel more than an ofcial
news platform. Nevertheless, many sports journalists visibly identify their employer
on their Twitter accounts.
A second implication emanating from this study as it pertains to journalistic
standards is the frequency with which sports journalists promoted their competi-
tors. Certainly sports journalists share a bond, but as sports media hierarchies have
attened (Hutchins & Rowe, 2009) and sports media consumers have seemingly
limitless options for sports information, sports journalists could be, perhaps unin-
tentionally, diminishing their relevance with audiences. Granted, media titans such
as ESPN and Sports Illustrated are unlikely to experience signicant viewership
losses, but one can imagine that ESPN would frown upon an anchor who openly
encouraged viewers to follow Fox Sports coverage of a story. Perhaps Twitter is a
way for veteran sports journalists to publicize up-and-coming contemporaries who
stand to benet from the endorsement of a tenured sports media personality. This
dialectic bears watching in the future and it will be interesting to observe if sports
media organizations encourage their employees to curtail this behavior.
398 Sanderson and Hambrick
A third implication of this study is that it demonstrates Twitter’s relevance when
news breaks. When the PSU story broke and as events evolved, Twitter was the hub
for real-time information and commentary. News was certainly still obtained from
television and print sources, but this information was already outdated by the time
it hit these platforms, placing them further in Twitter’s rear-view mirror in the race
for news immediacy. Twitter is arguably the preeminent exemplar of the emerging
sports media hierarchy that is characterized by accelerated information ows and
expanded communication networks (Hutchins, 2011; Hutchins & Rowe, 2009). No
longer are there a nite number of content producers upon whom sports audiences
depend for information. Both sports media and sports organizations cannot be afraid
of Twitter, but must embrace the ability to shape information ow, as Darren Rovell
noted, “Organizations have to understand that the speed of info dictates that there
be a swifter response” (Darren Rovell-1607).
However, with the volume of information available on Twitter, validity ques-
tions emerge. This uncertainty stems from the dialectic sports media organizations
face between “being rst” and “being accurate.” Consider that mainstream news
outlets must satisfy source verication procedures before news can be reported,
yet, many independent, digital-based news sites do not subject themselves to
these requirements (Sanderson, 2011). The PSU story offers a telling example
of this dialectic. On Saturday, January 21, 2012, editors at Onward Slate, an
independently run student publication at Penn State, tweeted and wrote an online
article that Joe Paterno had passed away. This report stemmed from two staff
writers who “heard” that an e-mail had been sent by Paterno’s family to PSU
informing the school of his passing. Onward Slate’s report was immediately
picked up by CBSSports.com and links to the reports, via Twitter, were shared
by a contingent of journalists (Stelter, 2012). Shortly after this story broke, two
of Paterno’s sons refuted the story—via Twitter. Onward Slate and CBSSports.
com publicly apologized and acknowledged that they had failed to verify the
reports of Paterno’s death. Paterno did pass away the next day, but this premature
reporting depicts the struggle over “being rst” or “being right” when reporting
a story as well as the ramications that result when being rst results in report-
ing an inaccurate story.
Twitter has clearly changed the conguration of sports journalism. When
sports news breaks, Twitter is the place where the “action” resides and sports
journalists must maintain a viable presence in this realm, or risk becoming irrel-
evant with sports media audiences. As sports journalists increasingly populate
Twitter when covering sports stories, fans have access to a wealth of commentary
and opinions and also have the opportunity to engage and debate sports journal-
ists. As social media continues to entrench itself in sports media, there will be a
host of exciting opportunities for future research. We address some of these in
the following section.
Limitations and Directions for Future Research
As with all studies, this research has some limitations that must be recognized.
First, the analysis was conducted from the journalists’ point of view. It would be
important to incorporate how audiences are affected by the ways journalists use
Journalists and PSU 399
social media and which functions audiences endorse or criticize. Second, the analy-
sis was cross-sectional. While the dates we used to truncate the tweets generated
a signicant amount of data, longitudinal approaches may shed more insight on
how journalists’ social media use shifts over time. Perhaps some journalists remain
assertive in commentating on the story while others move on to other topics. Which
direction a sports journalist goes may be a function of his/her perception of social
media’s value in performing his/her job (Schultz & Sheffer, 2010).
In looking to the future, there are a number of compelling opportunities
for future work. First, more clarity is needed in determining the professional
and personal boundaries for sports journalists in social media realms. Where do
journalists perceive the boundaries to be and to what extent do these perceptions
align with their employers? How do traditional journalistic practices translate to
social media? Consider a recent debate between CNBC’s Sports Business col-
umnist Darren Rovell and the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir. On February
17, 2012, Rovell tweeted that he had conrmed Sandomir’s report that Madison
Square Garden (the parent company of the NBA’s New York Knicks) had settled
a cable dispute with Time Warner. Sandomir took exception and their disagree-
ment played out via Twitter (Sports Business Reporters, 2012). Sandomir argued
that Rovell’s conrmation created unfriendly perceptions about the veracity of his
story, whereas Rovell argued he was merely verifying the story (as journalistic
standards require). Sandomir ended up telling Rovell to no longer give him credit
when reporting stories, to which Rovell agreed. Apparently, there is a divergence
of opinion between sports journalists about conrming stories via social media.
Similarly, does a retweet of another sports journalist’s story equate to giving
source credit? It is likely that there is incongruence among sports journalists on
this topic as well.
Second, how do journalists use social media to drive stories? Clearly the PSU
story received coverage across all media platforms, but with the popularity of
social media, journalists have another tool to drive agendas. Consider the case of
NBA player Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks. In late January 2012, as a result
of injuries, Lin, a little-used reserve was inserted into the Knicks starting lineup.
Lin led the team on an impressive winning streak and became the rage in social
media. Forbes magazine contended that Lin’s popularity was largely attributable
to the publicity he received in social media, and as a result, his brand was valued at
$14 million dollars (Ozanian, 2012). Social media offers sports journalists access
to sizeable audiences who through retransmitting messages can coparticipate in
driving agendas.
Third, how do media organizations adjust traditional delivery systems to com-
pete with social media? As this research suggests, social media is at the epicenter
when sports news breaks and where media consumers turn to obtain the most cur-
rent information and commentary. This competitive gap was again reinforced by
the death of singer/actress Whitney Houston, whose death was reported on Twitter
one hour before the press reported the story (Bennett, 2012). As mainstream sports
media outlets face increasing competition from adversaries who do not follow
established journalistic rigor and protocol, this constitutes a sizeable challenge. In
large part, how sports media organizations respond may well be dictated by which
side of the “being rst”/“being correct” continuum they lean toward.
400 Sanderson and Hambrick
Conclusion
Social media continues to exert tremendous inuence in sport, and this was evident
in the reporting of the PSU story. The commentary and interaction that emerged as
sports journalists reported this story offers a number of compelling outcomes. It
is imperative that sports media organizations, sports journalists, and sports media
researchers pay strict attention to social media and harness the power that these com-
municative channels provide. In other words, social media can no longer be ignored
when sports news unfolds, and given the ability to frame messages, sports stake-
holders must capitalize on these forums to competitively promote their agendas.
Case Questions
1. Why might sports journalists behave differently when using Twitter?
2. Is it problematic for sports journalists to mock fans via Twitter? Why or Why
Not?
3. Given the nature of the Penn State story, many sports journalists appeared to
be emotionally invested in the story. Is that an issue? Why or Why Not? In
addition, if sports journalists do become emotionally invested in stories, should
they be conscious of this before jumping on Twitter?
4. Much of the information during the Penn State saga was breaking on Twitter.
For sports media consumers, Twitter provides instantaneous access to the
latest news. How can other sports news delivery systems (e.g., local sportscast,
newspaper) remain relevant with sports media consumers?
5. How credible is information reported on Twitter? How might sports media
consumers discern between “fact” and “ction”?
6. What are potential advantages/drawbacks to sports journalists promoting
competitors via Twitter?
7. How might sports journalists use Twitter to boost their readership and/or public
prole? Is Twitter an essential tool for sports journalists? Why or Why Not?
8. Twitter makes athletes and sports journalists more accessible to fans. Is this a
positive outcome? Why or Why Not?
9. The dialectic of “being rst” and “being accurate” was magnied in the Penn
State story when premature reports of Joe Paterno’s death were reported on
Twitter and picked up by CBS Sports and reported as fact. How do sports
journalists navigate this dialectic?
10. If you were asked to develop a “best practices” for sports journalists when
using Twitter, what would be included?
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the peace process. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 2, 52–70.
doi:10.1177/1081180X97002004005
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