<p>Sports journalists can act as agents of change in society since they have a unique and powerful platform to influence public opinion, raise awareness, advocate for various issues through their reporting and commentary and overall promote positive change in society. This is perhaps more obvious when looking at recent research from the Nordic countries (ref: <em>Special Edition) </em>But are sports journalists able to be, or even desire to be, agents of change in countries like Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Germany, and Israel? Based on both academic and popular writing, as well as online interviews with media and sports scholars and journalists, this article aims to assess to what extent sports journalism may be professionalized in a select number of countries in the European Union and Middle East. Respondents were asked to speak to how they perceived the extent to which sports journalists in each country have substantial autonomy from the economic and/or political systems, and most importantly to what extent do sports journalists consider themselves agents of change.</p>