Committee for the Development of Sports Media

Fanaticism has taken over the sports media, and some sports media programs have become verbal battles between fanatical fans whose criticism and opinions are subject to their preferences, they do not seek the truth, but question everything that is not in accordance with their preferences.

It was reported in the news that the Shura Council is discussing the issue of sports fanaticism, and this trend did not come from a vacuum, but because this issue has reached an unacceptable stage that is not appropriate for the status of the Kingdom and the development it is witnessing in all fields. There is a big gap between comprehensive development in the Kingdom and sports media. Sports fanaticism exists and is visible almost every day through certain sports programs, means of communication, and certain articles. The problem is that the sports media has become a space for unprofessional, non-objective and non-constructive criticism, because some members of this media who participate in its programs and dialogues play the role of fans. individual clubs, not critics or journalists, which, unfortunately, also happens in the treatment of the national team.

It is obvious that when we talk about sports fanaticism, we are not talking about inclinations, enthusiastic cheering and excitement. Man is free in his inclinations and cheering, but there is no absolute freedom and no country in the world allows chaos in that field. they did not positively invest in the space of freedom available to sports media. We certainly do not mean to generalize and that sports fanaticism is not the source of sports media only, but the responsibility of the media and their educational role and the superficial thought presented in some of its different means make this media necessary to review and develop because sport is a soft power that must be purified from fanaticism and the media have a responsibility to play that role and not do the opposite.

Constructive criticism, objective discourse and professional opinion are mandatory principles, but what we see in some sports programs and what some publish on social networks is not relevant for criticism.

It is a sad reality that fanaticism has taken over the sports media, so some sports media programs have become verbal fights between fanatical fans whose criticism and opinions are subject to their preferences. They do not search for the truth, but question everything that is not. agree with their tendencies. One of the noticeable reasons for the phenomenon of chaos in the sports media is that some media workers entered this area through the door of incentives, and not through the door of specialization and general culture and sports culture, which is contrary to the preferences of the clubs, and there are accusations of the account of the official authorities, and sports criticism in general does not keep up with the comprehensive development system that the Kingdom is going through.

Sports media is actually a club media; Therefore, we find some of his programs and heroes who contribute to the spread of the ideology of skepticism and conspiracy theory, align themselves with the club and not with the truth, defend failure and fight against success and successful people.

I touched on this topic in several texts, directing the conversation to the authorities, and the situation is still the same and did not change until sanctions were started to be considered. In my opinion, the problem is bigger than the imposition of sanctions, the problem needs to be developed, which I talked about in previous articles. For this reason, I consider it appropriate to repeat some suggestions that I believe will contribute to the development of sports media, namely:

Recognizing the existence of a problem, analyzing its causes, and developing and applying practical solutions.

We view sports media as a system and part of the culture of society. This system includes press articles, social media, radio and television interviews, sports commentary and media clubs.

Review and development of rules and regulations.

Creating a charter for sports media and promoting a culture of objective criticism and sportsmanship.

Attracting new media competences with different ideas.

Identify the sports media reference.

Creation of academic and training programs specialized in sports media at institutes and universities.

Enforce rules and regulations and prevent exceptions.

Investing educational institutions in early awareness and establishment of a culture of dialogue and objective critical thinking.

Using the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue in training and developing the skills of positive dialogue and constructive criticism.

Honor and respect for those who adhere to objective criticism and dialogue etiquette.

Review the qualifications required to take responsibility for club media centers and develop these qualifications.

Review the criteria for selecting sports dialogue leaders.

Abolition of classification and hosting of media workers according to their preferences. The viewer is now, unfortunately, a continuous discussion of club media workers. There is something useful.

Finally, I propose the formation of a committee representing the Ministries of Information, Sports, Culture and Education and the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue, not only to study this issue and make recommendations; Rather, it is to propose a system and organization for sports media that keeps pace with the modern and advanced phase that the Kingdom is experiencing.

* Quoted from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia