Sportskandale in der Presse

Scandal research questions the normative social corrective function of scandal coverage. For political scandals, a correlation between coverage and disenchantment with politics has been proven. Similar effects can be expected in other domains. However, empirical evidence for this is yet missing. This study examines whether the coverage of sport scandals displays those characteristics known from the coverage of political scandals and considered to be a condition of negative effects on the recipients. To this end, the press coverage of two recent German sport scandals was analysed. Results show that the presumed characteristics known from political scandals also appear in sport scandal coverage. Finally, the extent of these negative effects and their possible consequences for journalism are discussed against the background of additional external survey data about one of the analysed scandals.