International Journal of Sport Communication, 2013, 6, 446-463 © 2013 Human Kinetics, Inc.

www.IJSC-Journal.com ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Reflections of German Football Journalists on Their Relationships With Bundesliga Club Public Relations Practitioners  Christoph G. Grimmer University of Tübingen, Germany

 Edward M. Kian Oklahoma State University, USA

This article examines German print sport journalists’ perceptions, experiences, and relationships with Bundesliga clubs’ public relations (PR) staffers and each club’s designated press spokesperson, as well the impact of a competitive, multitier 21st-century media environment on their jobs. All Bundesliga clubs are now disseminating more multimedia content on their own through official Web sites and social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Meanwhile, the German newspaper industry is in a state of transformation and decreased prominence among mediums in German sport journalism. A survey of print journalists who cover Bundesliga clubs showed that these changes have affected the historic symbiotic relationship between the sporting press and Bundesliga clubs. Power and media autonomy have increased for Bundesliga clubs and their designated press spokespersons, while print reporters are more dependent on the clubs’ PR staffers to provide access. The surveyed journalists recognize the increasing power of television in German sport journalism, but nearly half do not consider this as negative for their jobs. These print sport journalists are called on to find new ways and types of media content to begin restoring the needed balance in a symbiotic relationship between independent press and PR, while also distinguishing their work from televised media content. Keywords: journalism, soccer, German Bundesliga, newspapers, social media

Sport journalism and revenue-producing spectator sports have long coexisted and prospered. Journalists needed to fill pages with topics of interest to media consumers, while sport organizations required media coverage for public awareness of their products. Hilliard (1984) described this nexus between mass media and sport organizations as “a symbiotic relationship. Each depends on the other and economic interests govern both” (p. 202). The fields of journalism and public relations (PR), however, have historically clashed over competing interests (Bentele, 2006). Journalists claim to strive for objectivity and truth, whereas PR professionals desire media content that frames their organizations and clients in positive ways (Sallot & Johnson, 2006). However, Grimmer is with the Dept. of Sport Economics, Sport Management & Sport Media Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. Kian is with the School of Media & Strategic Communications, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK. 446

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relationships between sport journalists and sport PR staffers have generally been less contentious than with other sectors of journalism such as news and business (Pincus, Rimmer, Rayfield, & Cropp, 1993). Among possible reasons for these more affable interactions are that many sport PR practitioners are former sport journalists themselves, as well as the overarching symbiotic relationship between mediated sport and revenue-producing sport organizations (Hardin & McClung, 2002; Jhally, 1989). However, this historic symbiotic relationship between sport journalists and PR practitioners for sport organizations, teams, and athletes has been altered in recent years. First, financial losses in the newspaper industry—the oldest and generally the largest employer among all sport media sectors—have reduced the number of full-time print sport journalists in many countries (Kian & Zimmerman, 2012). Furthermore, the advent of new and social media enables sport teams and organizations the opportunity to bypass traditional, external media (e.g., newspapers, radio, television) while attempting to shape news and events by disseminating their own stories, comments, information, et cetera (Hutchins & Rowe, 2010).

Purpose Changing dynamics have been evident in the relationships between German sport journalists who cover Bundesliga club football teams and the PR practitioners who work for these clubs. How German football (soccer in the United States) journalists perceive their professional and personal relationships with Bundesliga club PR practitioners is the focus of this study. Few international scholars have studied sport journalists’ experiences with and perceptions of sport PR practitioners (Coombs & Osborne, 2012; Pincus et al., 1993), and none have done so in Germany. Furthermore, a detailed survey in this area is lacking in the literature. This exploratory study attempts to fill those voids.

Literature Review German Sport Journalism and Sport PR The symbiotic relationship between sport journalists and sport PR practitioners has long been commonplace in the German sport media complex. In a media model developed around the interdependence between PR and journalism, Ruß-Mohl and Fengler (2007) noted, “PR experts compete with their messages to catch the attention of journalists and the media. Journalists compete for marketable, and if at all possible, exclusive, information” (p. 81). Historically, though, PR practitioners needed journalists more than vice versa (Löffelholz, 1994), in part due to the scarcity of space or airtime to disseminate mass-media messages (Ruß-Mohl & Fengler, 2007). Faulstich (1992) theorized that a “concept of PR without the media” (p. 49) is unconceivable, implying a dependence of PR on journalism, even though PR professionals provided journalists with content and access to individuals to quote. For example, among the primary duties of PR professionals are to organize, publicize, and conduct press conferences, events that historically were only held to generate publicity from external media (Merten, 2004). That was true until the emergence of the Internet as

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a dominant medium in Germany, but now media members may be more dependent on PR professionals and the companies or organizations they represent, because PR professionals can theoretically transmit video of their own “press” conferences without inviting any press. The influence of sport PR professionals in Germany has grown considerably in conjunction with what Schnedler (2006) dubbed “flagging journalism” (p. 18). German media organizations—newspapers in particular—have elected to cut full-time positions and modify their content strategies in recent years to economically survive (Schnedler, 2006). Meanwhile, the PR profession in Germany continues to expand its numbers. The likes of top-ranking politicians, elite athletes, and CEOs of publicly traded companies have the financial means to largely control their own news and the ability to decide what messages are conveyed, when, and by whom, particularly through the use of advertising, the Internet, social media, and—in some cases—their own television programming. Therefore, PR practitioners representing the wealthy and powerful are less dependent on traditional German media than in previous years (Jungels, 2007). Accordingly, “PR has experienced a prospering position” (Höhn, 2005, p. 55) in its symbiotic relationship with traditional German sport media. In his model, Schaffrath (2002) placed print sport journalism third among the utilization of sport mediums in Germany, largely because unlike television and radio, newspapers and other printed publications do not finance sport organizations and teams through the purchase of broadcasting rights. Therefore, print media now have relatively weak prestige among the major multitier German sport journalism sectors. Nevertheless, Förster (1994) noted that newspapers remain relevant for institutions and specific stakeholders for four reasons: Accessibility: Access to daily newspapers and magazines is possible in a variety of public settings where use of other mediums is prohibited or limited (e.g., work, plane, train, waiting room, etc.). Diversity of perception: All readers can handle, read, underline, and cut out something of interest to them in newspapers. Value of message: People have to make concerted efforts to read, so print-media content is more likely to be remembered. More important, print journalism is generally viewed as more credible and accepted by the German populous than television journalism. Diversity: German print journalism offers different types of publications and sections for a wide range of target groups. Thus, newspapers remain an important medium in German sport journalism. However, their economic losses, combined with a lack of prominence due to the rise of new media, make print journalists an excellent group to survey on the increasing power of PR professionals.

German Bundesliga Clubs’ Relations With Media Football is the most popular sport in Germany, and the German Bundesliga by far the country’s most popular and powerful sport league (Gerhard, 2006). The top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga consists of 18 professional teams representing different cities, with seasons running from August to May.

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The two worst teams in the Bundesliga drop to Bundesliga’s second division, 2 Bundesliga, for the next season, while the two best clubs in 2 Bundesliga move up to the Bundesliga the following season. Founded in 1962 and led by perennial superpower club FC Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga is the number 1 football league in the world based on average attendance (Cutler, 2010) and is telecast in more than 200 countries (Bundesliga.com). With such widespread popularity of their sport and association, it is no surprise that Bundesliga clubs are the primary focus of German sport media outlets (Calmund, 1999). The special position of professional football is essentially assured by national television coverage that consistently delivers high ratings and is heavily desired by prospective advertisers. “No other sports discipline seems to be as convenient as football for TV broadcasting” (Gerhard, 2006, p. 465). However, the rise in popularity of Bundesliga clubs over the past 50 years can largely be attributed to the prominence and extent of media coverage the association has received since its onset (Schwier & Leggewie, 2006). Increased media coverage and occasional criticisms mean more potential disputes between journalists and club representatives, coaches, and athletes. The interactions of the actors from the clubs with the journalists who cover them can be compared with an iceberg: Only a smart part of it is visible above the water surface and identifiable by the general public, while the majority of their interactions are conducted in private. Nevertheless, a few well-publicized spats between Bundesliga club representatives and journalists reveal that disagreements resulting in confrontations do occur (Horeni, 2010). Because players and coaches are the most recognized and publicized of all Bundesliga club employees, their differences with media generally receive more attention. Accordingly, each club designates an official press spokesperson to handle much of the team’s media interactions, thus reducing the amount of direct contact coaches and athletes have with journalists, which lessens the chance of confrontation. But PR officials and club spokespersons cannot prevent all public blowups between journalists and club representatives, especially the coaches who interact with journalists on a regular basis. PR staff and spokespersons, however, can attempt to place restrictions on what content can be published from interviews. For example, the weekly German newspaper ZEIT interviewed German men’s national team manager Oliver Bierhoff during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa (Dobbert, 2010). Afterward, though, the German Football Association requested that the interview not be published, whereupon the Hamburg publishing company released only the interview questions. Nebel (1992) noted that while such actions are relatively rare, they are not anomalies in the interactions between German football clubs—including the national team—and external media: It is not seldom that a press spokesman—one, who takes care that no information from within the company becomes public—intervenes in an interview and corrects an executive board’s commentary or at least makes clear that the information must not appear in the reporting. Often interviews, which the interviewee is given to proof, go through hands—and heads—of those press spokesmen. Often nothing of the original text remains—not because the interview partner can or will not remember what he said, but rather the press spokesman wants to apply the emergency brake. (p. 61)

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The Bierhoff example and Nebel’s research both illustrate that PR in professional German sports differs from PR in other societal sectors (Schnedler, 2006). Sport PR reps for high-level sport organizations can at times serve as a regulative authority rather than just trying to increase media publicity for their teams and assisting journalists with their jobs (Merten, 2004). That such actions could occur and a free-press organization’s agreeing not to publish an interview that one of its journalists conducted with Bierhoff are primary reasons why more studies on the relationships between sport journalists and sport PR are needed.

Research Questions The following broad research questions were formed to guide this exploratory study: RQ1: How do sport journalists characterize their professional and personal relationships with the PR spokespersons for the Bundesliga clubs they cover? RQ2: How do sport journalists evaluate the professionalism of Bundesliga clubs’ PR staff? RQ3: Through what channels do these sport journalists have to go to obtain and publish interviews with Bundesliga club players and coaches? RQ4: How do sport journalists perceive their vocational dependency on Bundesliga PR staff/press spokespersons and vice versa? RQ5: How do sport journalists perceive their interactions with Bundesliga PR staff/press spokespersons in comparison with those in other sport organizations they cover? RQ6: How does an increasingly competitive multimedia workforce featuring different mediums affect these journalists’ jobs as print reporters?

Methods Despite their decreasing influence in the overall German sport journalism profession, print media still have the most regular and intensive contact with Bundesliga clubs. Many of them are present at the club’s practice venue on a daily basis and thus are dependent on information disseminated from Bundesliga clubs’ PR staffs to provide publishable content. Accordingly, print sport journalists are most suitable to assess and evaluate media perceptions and interactions with Bundesliga clubs’ PR staffs and spokespersons. Therefore, an online survey was designed and distributed to print sport journalists who cover the top division of the German Bundesliga to evaluate their perceptions of Bundesliga clubs’ PR staff and spokespersons.

Survey Design The online survey was developed based largely on previous literature and research on publicists (Bentele, Großkurth, & Seidenglanz, 2005; Goos, 2009; Jungels, 2007; Loosen, 1998; Pauli, 1993). Due to structural reasons, the questionnaire

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included mainly closed questions. Dichotomic (yes/no answers) questions, as well as scale proficiencies (nominal and interval scales), were used. Some of the questions contained residual categories. Four-point scales, with two possible answers on each side to reveal tendencies in the positive or negative direction, were used for evaluative questions. Before the launching of the actual survey, a pretest was conducted with journalists known personally by the lead author, none of whom had questions or made comments or criticism about the questions, their ordering, or the purpose of the survey.

Sampling Selection and Response Rate The sport journalism profession in Germany is well organized due to the German Sports Journalists Association. The annual book of the association, Sports and Media (Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten), contains a list of association members, as well as a list of full-time journalists who are not members of the association. Furthermore, all editorial staff in newspaper, radio, and television sports departments, among other media sectors, are listed in the book, including those professionals who do no actual reporting (e.g., copy editors, some editors and producers, etc.) The overall population consisted of all German sport journalists from traditional print sources who had direct contact with representatives from at least one Bundesliga football club in the previous calendar year. It did not matter if the reporter worked as a permanent employee or as a freelancer. Via the reference book Media and Sports, e-mail addresses from 2,364 male journalists and 175 female journalists were obtained. All the journalists were e-mailed the criteria for eligibility to complete the survey (i.e., print journalists who covered Bundesliga clubs within the past year), along with a password to access the online survey. After journalists who responded that they did not work for print media and those whose listed e-mail address was not functioning were eliminated, the mailing list still contained 1,887 addresses of male journalists and 142 female journalists. All from the revised mailing list were sent a follow-up e-mail 4 weeks later asking for their participation. Approximately 254 journalists used the survey link that was provided in both e-mails and entered the password (included in e-mails) required to complete the survey. However, data sets from 80 respondents were eliminated from the sample due to unfinished questionnaires or because a journalist who completed the survey cited no interactions with representatives from any first-division Bundesliga club over the previous year, leaving a relevant response of 174 print journalists. Neither the German Football League nor the Sports Journalist Association was able to specify an exact number of print journalists who cover the Bundesliga. To determine the response rate, all first-division Bundesliga clubs were asked for the number of their permanently accredited journalists. Eight clubs named a precise number of print-media journalists accredited by the club. By extrapolating the arithmetic mean to 18 first-division clubs, we estimated that 803 different print journalists are accredited on a permanent basis. When we used the median for statistical analysis, the population added up to 819 print journalists who had interactions with Bundesliga clubs over the previous year. Thus, the response rate of the median was 21.2%, with the arithmetic mean a little higher (21.7%).

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Results The average age of participants was 44.6 years, and 93.4% were men. On average, respondents had worked in print sport journalism for 20.5 years and had been writing about the German Bundesliga for 15.7 years. By interrelating the stated data, one can assume a journalistic career entry at around age 24 and then 5 more years before the average print journalist in our sample started reporting on the German Bundesliga.

RQ1: Sport Journalists’ Characterization of Their Relationships With Bundesliga PR Spokespeople Independent of the concrete field of collaboration with club PR staffers in the German Bundesliga, journalists were asked their expectations of and to evaluate performances of press spokespersons for the clubs. More than half the journalists viewed press spokespersons as mediators between the organization and media personnel (56.9%). It should be noted that much like other countries throughout the world (Hardin & McClung, 2002), occupational change from journalism to PR has historically been common in German sport media (Bentele, 1992). Reporters evidently appreciate such changeovers. Of all respondents, 75.9% held the opinion that press spokespersons need journalism experience as a job requisite for their lofty positions. Furthermore, only two (1.1%) of 174 survey respondents believed that press spokespersons can do a good job of serving media interests if they have no practical journalism experience. As shown in Figure 1, most reporters (76%) assessed their relation with club spokespersons as somewhat or very professional and distanced, compared with less than a quarter who described such relationships as friendly and personal. Few writers (9.2%) ask advice from spokespersons in matters they do not deem urgent or converse with them about nonprofessional topics (3.3%).

Figure 1 — Relation to the spokesperson. N = 154.

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To better understand relationships between journalists and club spokespersons, survey participants were presented the four statements shown in Table 1. Almost two thirds of respondents emphasized a professional collaboration with the spokesperson. It seems likely that press spokespersons are tempted to brighten issues and possibly even manipulate truth for the betterment of their clubs’ publicity. Therefore, journalists were asked if they believe that spokespersons from the club they cover have told an untruth. More than half of the journalists believed that the press spokesperson they interact with is honest at all times, with 47.1% contending that the speaker would only hold back special information.

RQ2: Sport Journalists’ Evaluation of Bundesliga PR Staff’s Professionalism When asked about the overall quality of professionalism of Bundesliga clubs’ PR practitioners, more than 80% of respondents rated the PR staffers in the middle two categories on the 6-point scale in Figure 2. Essentially, journalists rated the PR efforts of Bundesliga clubs as neither great nor bad but, instead, essentially average. Table 1  Attributes of the Relation to the Spokesperson (N = 153; Multiple Responses Allowed) The relation between the spokesperson and me is characterized by . . . . . . give and take. . . . knowing the other’s demands. . . . a friendly contact without any problems. . . . a professional collaboration.

Figure 2 — Evaluation of German Bundesliga public relations (PR) staff. N = 174.

Proportion 20.9% 43.1% 28.1% 62.1%

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A survey question more qualitative in nature allowed potential multiple responses for journalists to describe overall PR efforts by German Bundesliga staff. The vast majority of respondents (87.4%) believed that PR staffers attempts to frame their organizations in a positive light is legitimate, while journalists must remain objective in how they respond to the PR staffers’ efforts. The next-most-selected category also showed that some journalists thought that the PR professionals lack objectivity, with 43.7% of all respondents contending that Bundesliga PR staff try too strongly to influence reporting. A surprising finding, one that does not bode well for the future of the symbiotic relationship between sport journalists and sport PR, was that less than one in five writers believed that the efforts of Bundesliga club PR staffers actually help the journalists who cover their clubs (Figure 3). Of course, the objectivity of journalists should also be examined by specifically analyzing for potential biases toward the clubs they generally cover. A majority opinion on this question was not found. Approximately 40.2% described themselves as totally impartial about Bundesliga clubs, but only one out of five claimed to support no Bundesliga clubs, calling into question the journalists’ collective ability to objectively report on a football league where they admit to rooting interests (Table 2).

RQ3: Channels Sport Journalists Must Go Through to Obtain Interviews Bundesliga clubs vary in ways they disseminate information and handle interview requests from working press. Nearly two thirds of respondents said that spokespersons for the German Bundesliga clubs they cover provide different information and handle interview requests differently depending on the specific journalist or media outlet he or she represents. As shown in Table 3, these journalists expressed

Figure 3 — Intentions of public relations (PR). Multiple responses allowed; N = 174.

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Table 2  Personal Affinity Toward Bundesliga Clubs (N = 174; Multiple Responses Allowed) What is your personal affinity toward the club you report on?

Proportion

Totally impartial. I keep my fingers crossed for the club, but I’m no fan. Every sport journalist is fan of a club; I love the club I report on. My favorite club is not the club I report on. I don’t support any club.

40.2% 27.6% 9.8% 36.2% 19.0%

Table 3  Press Spokesperson’s Reaction to Media Inquiries (N = 146) How does the press spokesperson handle your inquiries? Gives brief answers. Answers explicitly and comprehensively. Answers the inquiry and gives background information. Not specified.

Proportion 42.5% 30.8% 25.3% 1.4%

disappointment in their media inquiries with Bundesliga PR staffers through the press spokesperson, with the highest percentage of respondents (42.5%) stating that the press spokesperson provides brief answers. Logically, PR staffs and press spokespersons want positive reporting about the clubs that employ them. Accordingly, it seems an obvious suspicion that they would try to influence the content that is written about the club in daily newspapers and magazines. But only 12.3% of journalists believed that their reporting is influenced by the clubs’ PR efforts, with 2.7% admitting to a high influence. The fact that 85% of the writers see no (40.4%) or little influence (44.5%) implies that most professional journalists view themselves as unbiased despite the increasing power of PR staffs and spokespersons in their symbiotic relationship. Required authorization before the publication of quotes from interviews is a major area of conflict between journalists and spokespersons for Bundesliga clubs. It is easier for PR staff to place such demands on print reporters because proofreading and modification of textual interviews can be easily completed before publication (Hilgenstock, 1996). Approximately 73.3% of journalists viewed the club’s authorization of interviews as modern censorship. Only 17.8% of journalists agreed that their reporting receives a qualitative upgrade by proofreading and modifications after going through a required authorization check by the clubs. Of course, clubs are not the only ones who try to prevent negative interviews from being publicized. Players’ agents also occasionally intervene, including some who require their consent before interviews are granted or published. However, as shown in Figure 4, only 3.7% of reporters stated they had to go through players’ agents during the interview process. With nearly three quarters of the journalists classifying the authorization of interviews as modern censorship, it was surprising that nearly two fifths of journalists responded that they must adhere to criteria set by club spokespersons before or after the interview process (Table 4).

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Figure 4 — Person responsible for authorization. N = 135.

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RQ4: Sport Journalists’ Perception of Their Vocational Dependency on Bundesliga PR Staff When seeking information, journalists do not regularly turn to the clubs’ spokespersons and PR staffs. The majority of respondents (58.7%) do most of their research without assistance from the clubs’ PR staffs or spokespersons. In terms of dependency, the journalists’ responses in Figure 5 show that they clearly recognize they need the club spokespersons much more than vice versa. Of our sample of journalists, 41.2% state that their dependence on the spokesperson is greater than vice versa, while only 11.1% thought the spokesperson depended on them more. Just under half cited the equal dependence of journalism and PR that is normal in any true symbiotic relationship. At the end of the online survey the journalists were asked to predict and state if they think that pressure by the clubs and influence on journalistic reporting will Table 4  Authorization Feedback (N = 129; Multiple Responses Allowed) When I submit interviews for authorization, . . . . . . I mostly get the agreement to publish it in its present form. . . . more frequently the spokesperson or one of the public relations employees calls me to discuss formulations and proposals for modification. . . . publishing the interview was prohibited. Not specified.

Figure 5 — Evaluating dependency. N = 153.

Proportion 60.5% 39.5% 3.1% 9.3%

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increase. Moreover, the reporters were given the opportunity to declare specific wishes for the further collaboration in an open-ended question. An overwhelming majority (87%) of journalists expect the pressure and influence exerted by clubs on journalists to increase in the future. Nearly a fourth of the journalists took the opportunity to express wishes for further collaboration with the clubs. Their responses varied, but among the requests were a desire for more off-the-record conversations and exclusive interviews. Moreover, these journalists seek far more transparency in the clubs’ PR efforts, particularly in handling interview requests, as well as treatment from the PR staffs equal to that of other media members (e.g., television reporters).

RQ 5: Sport Journalists’ Comparison of Their Interactions With Bundesliga PR Staff and Those in Other Sport Organizations Most of these journalists do not write only about soccer but also report on other topics and sports. Therefore, journalists can compare their interactions with Bundesliga clubs’ spokespersons, PR staffs, players, and coaches with those with other sports and sport organizations. As shown in Figure 6, the majority of the surveyed journalists perceive cooperation with players and officials in other sports as easier and more open, personable, and relaxed. However, a majority (58.2%) of writers assess the PR staffs in the German Bundesliga as more professional than those in other sporting organizations (Figure 6).

RQ 6: How a Competitive Multimedia Workforce Affects Journalists’ Jobs as Print Reporters Several questions were developed to examine how print journalists perceive their place in an expanding multimedia German sport media workforce and their views on intermedia competition with reporters from other mediums. Just 14.4% of survey participants said other media have no effect on their jobs, whereas exactly two thirds indicated that they had to find niches not used by television. Ironically, more than half of these print reporters (52.3%) viewed more competition from other mediums as positive for their jobs and roles as print journalists. Nevertheless, 77% agreed that the expanding influence of television in German sport journalism has made their jobs more difficult.

Discussion Whereas clubs want to see positive headlines and limit negative media content, journalists occasionally need to criticize players, coaches, and officials to provide accurate reporting and maintain objectivity. Therefore, conflicts are bound to occur. The primary media contact persons in the German Bundesliga are the clubs’ official spokespersons. Independent from other PR staffers employed by German Bundesliga clubs, the majority of the respondents of this survey regarded a designated club spokesperson as mediator between the clubs and media. The surveyed print reporters seemed to claim the press spokespersons for themselves—although all spokespersons are employees of their own clubs. Roughly five out of six print

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Figure 6 — Comparison of public relations in soccer with public relations in other sports. N = 122.

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journalists viewed the spokesperson’s primary function as a service provider for media affairs. Therefore, it was not surprising that print reporters want club spokespersons to have journalism experience, seemingly believing that this would help them understand journalistic concerns, interests, norms, and deadlines. Most respondents described their relationships with club spokespersons as professional and personally distant. Moreover, most journalists claim to not use the spokesperson or PR staff in most of their reporting. These print journalists generally rated Bundesliga club PR staffs’ efforts as fair or average. However, it should be concerning to sport PR professionals that many of these journalists viewed PR practitioners as lacking objectivity and criticized them for trying to influence reporting too strongly, and less than one fifth of survey respondents believed that the PR efforts of Bundesliga clubs’ PR staffers aided them in their coverage of those teams. A requirement of authorization by PR staff for interviews and in some cases before publishing comments taken from interviews was perceived as censorship and overwhelmingly opposed by print sport journalists. Nearly two thirds of respondents said that all interview requests of Bundesliga club players and coaches are approved and arranged or rejected solely by the club’s spokesperson, which means that that individual has a great deal of power over print journalists who cover the club regularly and must fill pages with content. Accordingly, more journalists recognized that their dependence on club spokespersons for interview access and content is now greater than the clubs’ need for publicity from their reporting, particularly since clubs can now convey content directly to their followers via official Web sites, social media, and friendly television partners. This increasing autonomy of Bundesliga clubs threatens the balance print journalists have long enjoyed in their symbiotic relationship with revenue-producing spectator sports (Jhally, 1989). Moreover, the vast majority of surveyed journalists expect increasing future pressure from clubs on writers to report positively or risk losing interview access. Although the surveyed journalists described their interactions with Bundesliga PR staff and spokespersons as professional, they assessed those from other professional sports as more personable, likeable, and positive. Finally, these reporters recognized their loss of power due to the prominence of televised coverage of Bundesliga clubs, but most did not view television reporters as direct competitors in their jobs.

Conclusion With decreasing prominence among a multitier sport media workforce and now seemingly more dependence on sport PR staffers than vice versa, German sport print journalists are called on to find new ways to generate content and find new types of content to remain relevant. They also need to begin restoring equilibrium in their symbiotic relationship with sport PR staffs and club spokespersons, many of whom now have more media autonomy and are thus less dependent on external media, especially print reporters. However, print reporters still have strengths to focus on. Research has shown that German daily newspapers in comparison with television media are better able to structure topics hierarchically in order of societal importance (Kappe & Schönebeck, 1988). More important, media consumers place

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greater credence and ascribe more journalistic independence to print journalists than those from other mediums (Haller & Hiller, 2005). German print sport journalists, therefore, should reassert more independence from Bundesliga club PR staffs and spokespersons, while providing in-depth and important news that other mediums are incapable or unwilling to cover.

Limitations Results from this exploratory study should not be generalized. Sport reporters from only one medium (print journalism), who reside and work in one country (Germany), and who must cover one professional sport (football in most of the world, soccer in the United States) and one specific sport league (German Bundesliga) were the primary focus of this research. Whereas this survey did include open-ended questions and some statements were qualitative in nature, the true underlying meanings of print journalists’ perceptions of PR staffers can best be obtained through more qualitative research.

Guidelines for Future Research This study only examined the perceptions and experiences of German print sport journalists toward German Bundesliga PR staffs and spokespersons. The most logical follow-up study would be to do the reverse—study the attitudes, experiences, and perceptions of PR staffers with print journalists. However, many more studies are needed at all levels and types of sport and media coverage to examine the inner workings of the symbiotic relationship between sport journalism and sport PR.

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