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This project investigates how sports journalists engage with social media content from women athletes to understand their decision-making processes.

January 26, 2026

The Ethics of Embedding: Journalists’ Engagement with Athlete Social Media Content in Women’s Sports Reporting

Key Points

This project investigates how sports journalists engage with social media content from women athletes to understand their decision-making processes.
Conducted 19 qualitative semistructured interviews with sports journalists covering women’s sports.
Explored journalists' perceptions about embedding athlete content in their reporting.
Analyzed the relationship dynamics between journalists and athlete content creators.
Journalists find athlete social media content selectively complimentary in their reporting.
Highlights a complicated relationship, contrasting previous adversarial views of journalists and athlete content creators.
Unpacks the decision-making process regarding the embedding of content in reporting.

Abstract

Using the theory of boundary work, this project explores journalists’ relationship with women athletes’ social media content and if, how, and when they elect to embed such content in their reporting. Previous research has emphasized the adversarial relationship between journalists and athlete content creators. Through 19 qualitative semistructured interviews with sports journalists covering women’s sports, this article, however, demonstrates that journalists perceive athlete social media content to be selectively complimentary in their reporting. This finding complicates understandings of the practice of covering women’s sports by unpacking this decision-making process regarding embedding within the context of blurred journalistic boundaries.

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The Ethics of Embedding: Journalists’ Engagement with Athlete Social Media Content in Women’s Sports Reporting

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