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Julia Catalina Serrano Cordero, Mar Binimelis-Adell
E
EDITORIAL
Why research sports communication?
¿Por qué investigar sobre comunicación deportiva?
Julia Catalina Serrano Cordero
Universidad del Azuay
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6248-1925
Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC)
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2746-4326
Mar Binimelis-Adell
Sports communication, closely linked to sports
journalism, has proven relevant in contem-
porary society. Sports around the world are
a source of leisure, distraction, and entertain-
ment for millions of people. This assertion is
backed by decades of history, but it has be-
come even more evident following the return
of sporting events to the screen after the COV-
ID-19 pandemic subsided in the mid-2020s. In
this context, communication from the dierent
actors involved in sporting events becomes in-
dispensable.
Sports communication becomes an informa-
tion tool for the public and a resource for at-
tracting new followers of a sport, a team, or
an athlete. Likewise, the communication man-
agement that athletes give to their networks
has also proven essential to bring them closer
to their fans and even to manage and obtain
sponsorships that boost their careers.
In this sense, this issue of Obra Digital aims to
put the spotlight on this eld of communica-
tion, which has gained prevalence at a global
level in recent years. This edition seeks to un-
derstand better the communication dynamics
that revolve around sporting events and actors
in a liquid, immediate world that demands con-
stant entertainment.
To this end, sports communication and jour-
nalism will be observed from dierent per-
spectives, such as economic, technological,
content creation and engagement with the
public, and gender perspective, among others.
The multidisciplinary voices from dierent are-
as of knowledge and various actors within the
world of sports will give us a clearer picture of
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Why research sports communication?
how sports communication is in contemporary
times, especially in America and Europe.
In sports communication, it is also essential to
understand that a media conuence combines
elements of traditional communication with
aspects of digital communication. This issue
attempts to reect that reality, as the research
presented here spans a spectrum from media
such as television to cutting-edge social net-
works such as TikTok.
In addition, it is essential to mention that the
magazine has managed to compile a collec-
tion that studies dierent sports with very dif-
ferent fan and spectator bases. In that sense,
the studies concentrate on extremely popular
sports, such as football, and show how commu-
nication develops in sports further away from
the media spotlight, such as fencing. This allows
readers to learn about and compare the reali-
ty of sports communication in disciplines with
large audiences, constant media presence, and
disciplines that require more signicant eorts
to reach their followers.
In addition to reviewing sports-related subjects,
this issue will address topics related to current
communication matters. In this sense, gender
issues are examined in the world of transla-
tors and interpreters in the article Communi-
cation Mediated by Conference Interpreters: age
and gender stereotypes by Lucila Christen. In
addition, a study analyzing how print media in
Spain are moving to a social network such as
TikTok is presented in the article TikTok activi-
ty in the print media in Spain by Galindo-Rubio,
Fuentes-Nevado, and Suárez-Carballo. Finally,
the topic of fake news and its propagation will
be addressed in the article Fake News: propaga-
tion and communities, how are they related? by
Pereira, Mendes, da Silva, Bez and Czrnhak.
“En garde!” fencing judges would say before a
duel begins. This French cry indicates to the
fencers that the ght is about to start; it is an
invitation to get ready. “En garde!” we say to our
readers. Get ready to read academic papers
that will bring you closer to the eld, the pis-
te, and the sports center. The game is about
to start.
