https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532918806890 Newspaper Research Journal 1–15 © 2018 NOND of AEJMC Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0739532918806890 journals.sagepub.com/home/nrj Article Taking it from the team Assessments of bias and credibility in team-operated sports media By Michael Mirer, Megan A. Duncan and Michael W. Wagner Abstract Team- and league-operated media play a growing role in the sports media system. Few have looked at how audiences perceive the credibility of in-house content, which regularly mimics traditional sports journalism. An experimental analysis finds that even among fans, independent media content is rated more credible than that produced in-house. Fans view stories accusing their team of wrongdoing as biased even as they find them credible. Keywords brand content, journalism, media bias, sports journalism, hostile media perception, news credibility, sports fandom A fter months of frenzied news coverage, accusations of wrongdoing and punish- ments, a federal judge overturned an National Football League (NFL)–imposed four-game suspension for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on Mirer is visiting assistant professor, Department of Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Duncan is assistant professor, Department of Communication, Virginia Tech University. Wagner is associate professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and is affiliated with the Department of Political Science and La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Wagner is the corresponding author: michael.wagner@wisc.edu. 806890NRJ XX X 10.1177/0739532918806890Newspaper Research JournalMirer, Duncan and Wagner research-article 2018