Sports journalism is often presented as a toy department of the news media where journalists do not engage in investigative journalism or address topics of the highest importance to the public. This master's thesis seeks opportunities to intertwine sports and investigative journalism on the case of FIFA Football World Cup in Qatar. The event was controversial from political and social standpoints as its hosts used it to gain soft power and wash their tarnished reputation through sports in order to cover up the terrible human rights situation in the country. This master’s thesis uses a qualitative empirical approach (grounded theory) to analyse in what capacity Slovene media (RTV Slovenija, a publicly owned television, POP TV, the largest commercial television, and Delo, one of the main newspapers) report on these matters and on the levers used by Qatar to use sports for its own gain. The research revealed that reporting on social and political wrongdoings of Qatar was in minority compared to sports reporting. However, even though this field was covered, there was little to no reporting on soft power and sportswashing, the levers that Qatar used to gain international reputation hosting one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
|
