Journalistic Routines and Social Networks: Covering Women’s Football in an Integrated Newsroom

This paper aims to analyze the changes in the journalistic routines of a sports editor in an Integrated Newsroom of a communication vehicle located in Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Concepts linking issues related to journalism, football and gender are discussed. The research was carried out based on a case study (Braga, 2008; Yin, 2005) in the sports newsroom, particularly involving those responsible for covering women’s football. The methodological procedures were as follows: participant observation (Winkin, 1998; Angrosino, 2009), the development of observation protocols for production routines and semi-structured interviews (Duarte, 2012). The latter technique was used to interview two journalists. Results include journalism changes after introduction of social networks as a strategy to expand the circulation of information. Furthermore, it was observed that journalists are recognized by the public that follows the women’s football coverage, thus generating prominence and action (Fausto Neto, 2012). The observation and interview highlighted the precariousness of journalistic work, whether for producing content in various formats or because production occurs after the journalists work in the newsroom.