Inside the Sports Pages explores the working world of contemporary sports journalism through the eyes of the reporters, editors, athletes and media-relations people who inhabit it.

In this first comprehensive study of the work routines and professional ideologies involved in the manufacture of sports news, Mark Douglas Lowes presents a detailed and richly textured ethnographic account of life on the sports desk at a major Canadian daily newspaper. His wide-ranging analysis considers the role of the 'audience commodity' in sports news production, the dynamics of the newsroom, and the complex relations between reporters and their routine sources on the sports beat. The book concludes with an assessment of the ideological nature of sports news, and argues that sports coverage functions primarily as a promotional vehicle for the North American 'major league' sports industry. It will be of interest to anyone concerned about how the media report sports news- and the way they leave some of it unreported.

Mark Douglas Lowes is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Ottawa.

Mark Douglas Lowes' profile page

'The most compelling sports book I've read in some time.'

Monday Magazine

'Lowes' book is a pioneering work that sets the standard for future studies in the area of sports print journalism ... This book would be a marvellous addition to a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate classes.'

Canadian Journal of Sociology Online

'This study adds considerably to the literature on the sports-journalism process.'

Choice

'Inside the Sports Pages will prove to be of immense interest to sports fans, and students of popular culture, media, and journalism.'

Midwest Book Review