World Sports Journalists Day: Origin and evolution of sports journalism in Odisha

Sports journalism has become one of the most important branches of journalism. However, it does not have a long history in Odisha. 

Initially, the mainstream newspapers in the State didn’t consider sports newsworthy till the 1980s. However, interest in sports increased manifold after India won the 1983 Cricket World Cup and sports started getting wider coverage thereafter.

Another reason for the wide coverage of sports was the arrival of offset printing, which made the printing of photographs easy and cost-effective.

Sambad started the trend of giving one full-page coverage to sports with large photographs. Soon other newspapers started following suit and it became a trend. Indian Express gave wide coverage to sports since its inception of the Odisha edition. The Samaja started publishing sports news sporadically. But gradually it devoted more space and attention to sports news in the last two decades.

Cuttack used to be the hub of sporting and publishing activities in Odisha during the eighties. Several Odia sports magazines were published from Cuttack in the early eighties.

Gradually sports journalism evolved and it is now assuming great significance in Odisha. With Odisha players starting to perform well in many international events, people of the State want to know more and more about sports. 

Leading media houses are also trying their best to cater to the sports information need of the people. All the mainstream newspapers and television channels have started a separate sports desk with dedicated personnel.

Though cricket is the staple of sports coverage, other sports have also found their way into it. Sports news, features, interviews, previews, predictions and analysis are now finding more space and attention in newspapers and more time slot in television channels.

Even tournaments in rural areas also find coverage in newspapers and television channels these days, which was unthinkable earlier. Sports pages are now the major attractions in newspapers with action-packed and big coloured pictures, tidbits about major tournaments, and columns by the experts. Similarly, lakhs of viewers remain glued to expert analysis during major sports events. Sports news and analysis are increasingly finding more space and time on television channels. Sports journalism is also finding a lot of digital space these days.

Earlier, sports journalism was always considered a male bastion in Odisha. But female journalists are also doing exceedingly well in the field these days. 

Sports and Youth Services Department of Odisha instituted the Biju Patnaik Outstanding Sports Journalist Award for distinguished sports journalists of the State from 2001.

Though sports journalism has come a long way in Odisha, sports journalists in the State still face many challenges.

“Though the sports section is a major part of every media house, sports journalists are still not considered as mainstream journalists. They are not given that much importance like the journalists covering other specific beats,” said Debasis Sundaray, Treasurer of the Odisha Sports Journalists’ Association (OSJA).

“Odisha government is giving much importance to building sports infrastructure. Sports journalists have a major role in popularizing any major events and sportspersons. However, they are neglected a lot in the State. Though the Odisha government is giving Biju Patnaik Outstanding Sports Journalist Award for distinguished sports journalists, it is irregular and the amount of cash award is meager in comparison to other disciplines. The cash amount for sportspersons has been increased several times, but the amount for sports journalists is the same. In the major sports infrastructure of the State, there is no media box from where sports journalists can report smoothly. These things are some of the examples regarding the government’s apathy towards the sports journalists in the State,” added Sundaray.