New network for German sports journalists sparks off vivid debate

Hoping to involve sports journalists, scientist, students and sport officials in debates on the role of sport in society, sportnetzwerk also wants to raise the quality of journalism by encouraging the discussion of topics largely unpopular within sport business.

So far, more than 200 people have expressed their interest in joining the network and/or receiving the newsletter.

However, not all journalists have been enthusiastic. When the founder, sports editor Jens Weinreich from Berliner Zeitung, and a dozen of colleagues launched the initiative in mid-December, they also announced their withdrawal from the Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten (VDS) – the federation of German sports journalists.

There have been angry reactions from the VDS and hints that journalists entering the new network might fear for their future accreditations to big sports events, as VDS is often handling these accreditations. However, the German Olympic Committee as well as the soccer federation have later dismissed such fears, and VDS itself have sent out an official statement that VDS membership is no prerequisite for accreditation.

If you read German, you can find a lot of information about the new network and reactions to it on the network's website. There is also an interesting debate about the value of such a network and the state of German sports journalism.

Inspired by Play the Game

Sportnetzwerk refers to Play the Game as an important source of inspiration.

For its part, Play the Game does not want to take a position on the internal German dispute between the network and VDS.

However, Play the Game has welcomed the “sportnetzwerk” warmly in a letter stating that Play the Game want to “support any initiative - inside or outside the collegial associations - that can bring sports journalism closer to the ideals of being a watchdog for public interest rather than a smooth operator in the global entertainment industry.”