Sportswriters Talk about Themselves: An Attitude Study

This study, based on a summer 1989 mail survey of 68 sportswriters from 10 Southwestern newspapers, used Likert scales to measure attitudes toward such topics as accuracy, ethics, and writing styles. The sportswriters, who had a median age of 35, 12 years of sports writing experience, and (mostly) earned college degrees, judged themselves more often ethically tested than were other reporters. They regarded their work as creative, liked it, and generally felt good about themselves. Many aimed eventually to write sports columns.