From Newsroom to Newsfeed: Journalistic Legitimacy in Modern Football Reporting
Author
Simonsen, Lukas Kjærgaard
Term
4. term
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-06-02
Pages
73
Abstract
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan journalistisk legitimitet bliver skabt, udøvet og udfordret i digital sportsjournalistik med fokus på fodboldens transferrapportering. Gennem et komparativt casestudie af to profilerede reportere—Fabrizio Romano, en platform-native influencerjournalist, og Farzam Abolhosseini, en dansk reporter forankret i legacy-medier—belyses, hvordan troværdighed forhandles, når redaktionelle rutiner møder platformenes målelogikker. Med afsæt i feltteori om sportsjournalistik og kritisk diskursanalyse udvikles en analytisk ramme, der forbinder makroniveauets brancheforandringer med mikroniveauets sproglige strategier. Datagrundlaget er et semistruktureret forskerinterview med Abolhosseini og et offentliggjort longform-interview med Romano fra Rising Ballers, analyseret med fokus på modalitet, interdiskursivitet, metadiskurs og legitimering. Studiet finder, at legitimitetsstrategierne adskiller sig markant i en fælles hybrid medieøkologi: Abolhosseini fremhæver verificering, sammenhængende kildepraksis og institutionel forankring, mens Romano bygger autoritet gennem synlighed, hastighed og et konsistent personligt brand med høj sikkerhed i formuleringerne. Tre centrale skillelinjer identificeres: institutionel versus personlig-brandet legitimitet, redaktionel sammenhæng versus algoritmisk synlighed, samt professionel pligt versus publikumsskabt personaarbejde. Samtidig trækker begge selektivt på både legacy- og influencerrepertoirer for at opretholde troværdighed. Afhandlingen bidrager med et insiderorienteret, komparativt blik, der nuancerer skellet mellem journalist og influencer og peger på en kompleks realignment, hvor redaktionel autoritet og platformlogikker sameksisterer, konkurrerer og til tider konvergerer—med konsekvenser for etik, praksis og offentlig tillid.
This thesis examines how journalistic legitimacy is constructed, performed, and contested in digital sports journalism, focusing on football transfer reporting. Through a comparative case study of two prominent reporters—Fabrizio Romano, a platform-native influencer-style journalist, and Farzam Abolhosseini, a Danish reporter embedded in legacy media—it explores how credibility is negotiated as newsroom routines meet platform metrics. Drawing on field theory of sports journalism and critical discourse analysis, the project develops an analytical framework linking sector-level change to reporters’ micro-level language and positioning. The analysis uses two interviews as data: a semi-structured researcher-conducted interview with Abolhosseini and a long-form public interview with Romano published by Rising Ballers, examined with attention to modality, interdiscursivity, metadiscourse, and legitimation. The study finds distinct legitimacy strategies within a shared hybrid media ecology: Abolhosseini emphasizes verification, coherent sourcing, and institutional anchoring, while Romano builds authority through visibility, speed, and a consistent personal brand marked by high-certainty framing. Three axes of divergence are identified: institutional versus personal-brand foundations of legitimacy; editorial coherence versus algorithmic visibility; and professional duty versus audience-driven persona work. At the same time, both selectively draw on legacy and influencer repertoires to sustain credibility. The thesis offers an insider-focused comparative account that complicates the journalist–influencer divide and argues that sports journalism is undergoing a complex realignment in which editorial authority and platform logic coexist, compete, and sometimes converge, with implications for ethics, practice, and public trust.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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