The Treatment of Saudi Newspapers of the Sports News: An Analytical Study

Abstract

This study aims to identify the content and format of the treatment of  Saudi daily newspapers of the sports news and the nature of the treatment used by these pages in presenting the issues and topics of sports. The researcher analyzes the content of the sports pages in Riyadh, Okazh, Alwatan, and Alyaum newspapers, from November 21, 2012 to April 17, 2013.  The news article represents the unit of analysis in this study.

The results of the study shows that there is a considerable interest in the sports news by the newspapers under study. The results also indicates that the interest of the sports pages in Saudi newspapers in the sports topics is weak. The greatest interest in the treatment of sports news focuses on two issues, namely: news of Saudi clubs and news of sports competitions. As shown by the results of the analytical study, football is the most popular sport, on which sports pages in the four newspapers focused, while the interest in the other sports is weak. The study results also shows that the sports pages in Saudi newspapers deals with the local sports news only and they used few of linear images and highlighting elements.