The media sector has evolved significantly and rapidly in recent years due to the current convergence between traditional media — TV, press and radio — and digital services. Technical advances have created new types of services and user experiences, and consumer habits have changed substantially. The world of sports media is leading that evolution and one of the most visible consequences is the change in the ways of telling stories about athletes and competitions. Now the content transcends the mere broadcasting and dissemination of news, chronicles and highlights with which we were satisfied until a few years ago. That’s not enough anymore. Streaming platforms are filled with sports documentaries that show us what athletes are like beyond the competition; social networks content creators are accredited to cover major sporting events as if they were traditional media; the press, radio and TV reinvent themselves daily to remain competitive and broadcasters conceive new ways to extract the human dimension in live sports. All these trends come together every two years to create a global story during the celebration of the Olympic Games — both Summer and Winter.
In this course, we will analyze the different ways of sports storytelling, future trends, the panorama of sports media and its comparison by region (Europe, USA, Latin America, Asia, Middle East) and how all of this is integrated into the broadcast of the largest sporting event on the planet. At the same time, we will understand the huge power of sport to transmit values, make ourselves aware of other cultures and other realities and disseminate complex or abstract ideas in a simple and powerful way. Ultimately, we will learn how to identify and apply the tools of storytelling through the example of what sports media do today.
This course will be important to students five years from the time they take it because…
They will understand the details of the organization of a major sporting event and will also be able to apply storytelling techniques to sports content and other disciplines regardless of technological changes and the evolution of media and formats.
Department: Communications
Location: Madrid
Semesters: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3