AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1.Knowledge outcome: to know the evolution of sports journalism. 2.Competence outcome: to be able to identify the main historical and historiographical issues, and the use of the relative sources to investigate them. 3.Behavioral outcome: to be able to elaborate a critical reflection on the relationship among communication, information, disinformation and society.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Ability to understand the main historical and cultural turning points in sports journalism, with particular focus on the evolution of football reporting and media transformation.

• Ability to critically analyse and interpret sports journalism texts, evaluating their historical context, narrative choices, and cultural, political or ideological implications.

• Ability to communicate, using appropriate language and critical awareness, contents and issues related to the history and evolution of written and audiovisual sports narratives.

• Acquisition of basic tools for reading, writing, and contextualising sports journalism texts, and the ability to apply them independently in study, research, or in professional fields related to journalism, communication, and sports culture.

TEACHING METHODS

Lessons will be mainly lecture-based, but will also include participatory teaching activities through the presentation, analysis, and discussion of articles, journalistic sources, and audiovisual materials.
Slides and other materials will be shared via Aulaweb and/or Microsoft Teams.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course explores the evolution of sports journalism from a historical perspective, with a focus on football and the Italian context, but also with references to international experiences. Topics covered will include:

• The origins of sports journalism

• The role of the press during the Fascist regime and in the Italian Republic

• Leading journalists and stylistic evolution in the late 20th century

• The relationship between sport and media: radio, television, internet

• Sports journalism in England, France, and Spain

• Coverage of other sports (cycling, Formula 1, Olympic Games)

• The impact of digitalisation and social media

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The instructor will provide, via AulaWeb and/or Microsoft Teams, the lecture slides and other materials useful for individual study.

For optional further reading, the following works are recommended:

• I. Cucci and I. Germano, Tribuna stampa. Storia critica del giornalismo sportivo da Pindaro a Internet, Rome, Il Minotauro, 2003.
• P. Facchinetti, La stampa sportiva in Italia, Bologna, Edizioni Alfa, 1966.
• A. Biscardi, Da Bruno Roghi a Gianni Brera. Storia del giornalismo sportivo, Florence, Guaraldi, 1973.
• A. Ghirelli, “La stampa sportiva”, in V. Castronovo and N. Tranfaglia (eds.), La stampa italiana del neocapitalismo, Rome-Bari, Laterza, 1976.
• G.P. Ormezzano, “La stampa sportiva”, in V. Castronovo and N. Tranfaglia (eds.), La stampa italiana nell’età della TV. 1975-1994, Rome-Bari, Laterza, 1994.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LEONARDO SCAVINO (President)

GIUSEPPE RUSSO (President Substitute)

SALVATORE BRUNO BARBA (Substitute)

LUCA DOMIZIO (Substitute)

LUCA LO BASSO (Substitute)

LARA PICCARDO (Substitute)

RENZO REPETTI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

30th September 2025

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of a 90-minute written test.

The test covers the topics addressed during the course and the materials provided or indicated in the “Course contents” section of the course syllabus.

The written test consists of six open-ended questions, each worth a maximum of 5 points, for a total of 30 points. The questions require concise but well-argued answers and are designed to assess not only knowledge of the main chronological developments, but also the ability to understand the transformations of sports journalism, contextualise sources and forms of language, and establish connections between events, media, and historical contexts.

During the course, students will also have the opportunity, on a voluntary basis, to give an oral presentation in pairs on a topic agreed with the instructor and related to the subjects covered in the course.

A maximum of nine presentations will be scheduled during classes specifically devoted to this activity. Each presentation should last approximately 15 minutes and must include a substantial contribution from both members of the pair.

The presentation should take the form of a short research project in the history of sports journalism. It may focus, for example, on a case study, a publication, an event examined through its journalistic representation, a written, audiovisual, or digital source, or a relevant issue in the evolution of sports media. It should therefore not be limited to reconstructing a sporting event, but should focus on the ways in which that event was reported, represented, or interpreted by the media.

The identification of sources and essential bibliography is an integral part of the activity and must be carried out independently by the students. No preliminary written paper is required.

The presentation will be awarded a maximum of 5 points and, if deemed satisfactory, will replace one of the six questions in the written test. Students who have completed the presentation will therefore answer five of the six questions, choosing which one to omit. The final grade will be calculated by adding the score awarded for the presentation to the scores obtained in the five written answers, for a maximum overall grade of 30 points.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The assessment of the written exam will be based on students’ knowledge of the main historical developments in sports journalism and on their understanding of the transformations that have affected the press, radio, television, and other media over time.

Particular attention will be paid to:

• the accuracy and precision of historical knowledge;
• the ability to place events, publications, journalists, and media transformations in their appropriate historical context;
• the ability to understand and critically use sources;
• the ability to establish connections between sporting events, journalistic practices, technological developments, and political, social, and cultural contexts;
• the ability to synthesize, argue coherently, and express ideas clearly.

The questions will therefore not require the simple memorization and reproduction of course materials, but rather the ability to use those materials to construct historically grounded and coherent answers.

For students who choose to give the oral presentation, the assessment will take into account the quality of the research carried out, the ability to identify and critically use sources and bibliography, the accurate historical contextualization of the case examined, the coherence of the argument, and the clarity of the presentation.

The presentation is not an additional assessment component, but an alternative way of assessing part of the course learning outcomes: the score awarded, up to a maximum of 5 points, will replace the score corresponding to one of the six questions in the written exam.

The written exam will last 90 minutes.

FURTHER INFORMATION

To request compensatory tools or dispensatory measures, students with disabilities or SLD must fill in the dedicated Webform available at https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa, at least 7 working days before the exam.
Students with SEN may instead send their request by e-mail to the lecturer, copying the Department Representative, Prof. Aristide Canepa (aristide.canepa@unige.it) and the Inclusion Office (inclusione.studenti@info.unige.it).
Requests from students will be assessed by the lecturer and may be approved or rejected.