The Royal Television Society is staging a debate on the state of sports reporting next month.
Although it no longer stages its sports broadcasting awards, the RTS has clearly been influenced by recent controversies over the “entrapment” of then FA chairman Lord Triesman, the Sunday Times‘s investigation into corruption at FIFA, and whether Panorama played a role in the England World Cup bid’s ultimately futile efforts.
Expect a broadcast-biased discussion, although the RTS’s panel includes author and journalist Tom Bower, whose much-anticipated Bernie Ecclestone book is due out in February.
Other panellists include the BBC’s Olympic director, and former head of sport, Roger Mosey, and Andrew Jennings, the controversial frontman of Panorama‘s decade-long coverage of FIFA, and something of a lightning-conductor for complaints from sports news correspondents.
The discussion will be chaired by former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell.
“Is there something wrong with our sports reporting?” the RTS bumpf asks.
“Are we better at reporting what happens on the pitch than what goes on behind the scenes and does patriotism cloud our journalistic judgement?
“In the run up to the Olympics, a panel of Britain’s leading experts will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of sports reporting.”
The debate will be staged on Tuesday, Jan 18, from 6.30 to 8pm, at Cavendish Conference Centre, 22 Duchess Mews, London, W1G 9DT.
Tickets cost £12.50. To book a ticket, visit www.rts.org.uk.