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Aim of thesis: The aim of this thesis is to study how the covid-19 pandemic has affected the
Swedish sports journalism.

Method: Qualitative in-depth interviews with ten Swedish sports journalists, both reporters
and editors-in-chief. The interviews were carried out during the autumn of 2020, when the
covid-19 pandemic was still ongoing. The interviews were transcribed and analysed, based
on the theoretical framework.

Theoretical framework: The results were compared to Richard J. Peltz’s as well as Galtung
and Ruge’s theories about news values. We also compared our results to Kevin Hull and
Miles Romney’s study about the experiences among sports broadcasters in the USA in the
early stage of the covid-19 pandemic. The same comparison was done with Maja Björklin’s
findings. To see whether Swedish sports journalism has changed in quality the results were
compared to Gavin Weedon’s findings. Finally, the interviews involved a question about
whether our subjects find it true that sports newsrooms are seen as a ‘toy department’. This
question was inspired by Richard J. Peltz’s study.

Results: There is a concern among several Swedish sports journalists regarding the potential
of less accessibility to some clubs, first and foremost to the largest and most elite clubs in the
country. The Swedish sports journalists had to be more creative than before due to the pause
of live sports. That meant more in-depth reportages, economical coverage and interview
series for example. Some new technical solutions appeared as well. Video call programs may
have a positive effect on the accessibility. Some sports journalists were transferred to the
regular news desks, and even some transmission times decreased for a period of time.