Recruiting Reporters’ Perceptions of Ethical Issues

Abstract

In the Internet era, a substantial online media industry dedicated to covering the recruitment of high school athletes to college sports programs has developed in the United States. The current study explored the perceptions of football recruiting reporters with respect to their ethical responsibilities and the issues they face in their jobs. In doing so, the study builds on the work of Yanity and Edmondson, who explored the perceptions of journalists from other fields about ethical dilemmas they perceived as relevant in the budding high school football recruiting media industry. Through analysis of interviews with 15 people who have worked as reporters for major recruiting websites such as Rivals.com or 247Sports.com , we contend that several key ethical issues must be addressed by online college football and basketball recruiting outlets to protect athletes and to promote responsible journalism. These issues include (a) incessant contact of high school athletes by media members; (b) lack of institutional oversight by parent companies over school-specific sites; (c) ambiguous methodology behind player evaluation; (d) conflicts of interest inherent in recruiting media outlets hosting evaluation camps; and (e) lack of institutional protection from unethical pressures by members of college athletic departments.