Mahboobeh Abedof Arani - Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Mobarakeh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mobarakeh,Isfahan, Iran
Hossein Pursoltani - Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Payamnoor of Alborz University

Background: Sports media are an important part of sports community that have recently become an interesting topic for research. The purpose of the present study was to develop a code of ethics for sports reporters of Iran. Materials and methods: The population of this descriptive survey consisted of all sports reporters of Tehran (N = 220). Using simple random sampling, 176 reporters were selected as the sample. Data were collected using a questionnaire developed by the researcher. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the items and components, and confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine whether the items and components are with the concept of ethical code. One-sample t-test, Friedman test, dependent samples t-test, ANOVA, and MANOVA were used for data analysis. Results and Discussions: The results showed that there was a significant difference between the hypothetical and observed means of code of ethics (t = 12.30; p ≤ 0.01). However, there was no significant difference between the hypothetical and observed means of the components of the code of ethics. There was also no significant difference between the rankings of different ethical components. There was no significant relationship between age and code of ethics. Also the results of independent samples t-test showed that there were no significant differences in the concept of code of ethics by academic degree, major, and occupation. Finally, the results of ANOVA showed that there were no significant differences in components of code of ethics with respect to gender, education, academic major, and occupation. Implications are provided for managers. Conclusion: Developing a cod such as honesty and responsibility ethics for sports reporters can serve as a useful guide for the sports media and can facilitate the process of sport development. It is recommended for officials to hold ethics courses for sports reporters and journalists to inform them about the role of truthful, responsible, and impartial reporting in the development of sports and prosperity of the media.

Code of ethics, sports reporters, Iran