Abstract
This analysis of 30 years of sports reporting in The New York Times finds 86.7 percent of all articles focus on men’s sports and male athletes, while just 5.2 percent focus on women’s sports and female athletes. Additionally, the articles about women are more likely to be shorter and have a smaller word count than articles about men.
Keywords
It is difficult to question the popularity of sports and sports media, in the 21st century. Financially, the industry is strong and growing stronger each year. North American media rights alone are expected to grow by 7.7 percent annually and generate to $17.1 billion by 2017. 1 In addition, the popularity of sports is also evidenced by viewership trends. Between 2003 and 2013, the amount of TV sports programming increased by a staggering 232 percent to 116,400 hours annually. 2
But not all sports and athletes have benefitted from this growth. While mainstream sports and leagues benefit from record profits and attention, less prominent sports and athletes have been neglected. 3 The disproportionate coverage of sports is especially apparent when considering women’s sports, which continue to receive limited and limiting media coverage.
Lumpkin identified three key factors that describe how media coverage continues to disadvantage and perpetuate the “‘other’ status of females in sports.” 4 The first factor pertains to the limited quantity of coverage of women’s sports. The second involves how women’s sports are given “second-class” standing. 5 The third involves the “persistent emphasis on femininity” in women’s sports coverage. 6 Significant scholarship has considered each of these three issues.
On the first point, research shows that women’s sports have received scant media recognition. Just 3 percent of newspaper sports stories are about women’s teams and 5 percent are about individual female athletes. 7 Similarly, women’s sports and athletes account for just 8 percent of televised sports coverage in local news sports segments and national sports programs 8 and less than 2 percent of broadcasting time on network news and ESPN’s SportsCenter. 9
This inequality of coverage continues even when women’s and men’s sports are similar and comparable. Research has shown that less than one-quarter of all articles in newspapers and online publications about the NCAA Division 1 March Madness basketball tournaments are about women’s teams, 10 and less than one-third of all newspaper coverage of high school sports is focused on female athletes. 11 Similarly, coverage of women’s Olympic sports continues to trail coverage of men’s Olympic sports. 12
To the second point, existing research shows there are several ways in which women’s sports and female athletes are trivialized, deprioritized and given “second-class” status. 13 Lumpkin found that female athletes are more frequently referenced by first name than are men and that the subordinate status of women’s sports is reinforced by the practice of attaching gender markings to women’s sports (e.g. “Women’s Final Four”) but not men’s sports. 14 Additionally, Messner and colleagues found television commentators frequently described female athletes as “girls,” while men were never referred to as “boys.” 15
Regarding the third point, much existing scholarship demonstrates how women’s sports and female athletes often are portrayed in a sexist manner. 16 At times this involves using sexist language 17 or focusing on physical attractiveness and appearance 18 instead of athleticism and competence. 19 Regarding visual portrayals, research by Fink and Kensicki showed women are more frequently pictured in non-sports-related poses, while male athletes are most frequently pictured within the context of their sport. 20 Similarly, Kane and Buysse found that female athletes are more often “portrayed off the court, out of uniform and in passive and sexualized poses” than are men, 21 and Duncan and Messner found that women are more likely to be posed in “deferential poses” 22 that emphasize body and emotion. 23
In other instances, women who participate in sports that are not stereotypically feminine are ignored in favor of female athletes in “sex-appropriate” sports like tennis, swimming and golf. 24 Supporting this point, Davis found 75 percent of the coverage of women during the 2008 Olympics was devoted to traditional women’s sports such as gymnastics, swimming, diving and beach volleyball. 25
Clearly, whether it is because of unequal quantity of coverage, trivializing and disrespectful coverage or sexist coverage, media attention given to female athletes and women’s sports trail that which is given to male athletes and men’s sports. This disproportional coverage serves to both disenfranchise female athletes and affect the public perception of the relationship between women and sports. 26
The limited and marginalized coverage of women’s sports does not exist in isolation; similar challenges exist for women pursuing careers as sports journalists. Research shows that women are dramatically underrepresented as sports media professionals 27 and account for just 9.6 percent of newspaper sports editors and 11.7 percent of newspaper sports reporters. 28 Yet, women remain marginalized in sports reporting despite the increasing numbers of female athletes, sports fans and professional journalists.
First, research shows that women make up 40 percent of all athletic participants. 29 Similarly, women have steadily increased their ranks in organized sports since the passage of Title IX in 1972; women now account for 43 percent of NCAA athletes and women’s teams account for 53 percent of NCAA teams. 30 Second, women now comprise more than one-third of the audience for all major professional sports in the United States, 31 and 46 percent of the audience for the Super Bowl. 32 Third, women now report nearly twice as many news stories as in the 1980s, 33 and account for 36.9 percent of all full-time newspaper staff members 34 and 60 percent of journalism school students. 35
It is unlikely that so few women are involved in professional sports reporting because of a lack of interest in either sports or journalism. Instead, the inequities associated with media coverage and professional opportunities can be explained by cultivation theory and the concept of hegemonic masculinity.
Hegemonic Masculinity and Cultivation Theory
Developed by Connell, 36 the concept of hegemonic masculinity suggests that the norms and expected behaviors that are socially associated with men become a dominant cultural force that exercises control over others. 37 Hegemonic masculinity becomes especially apparent in male-dominated environments and workplaces and research has documented its existence in a variety of settings. 38 However, this hegemony is especially apparent in the world of sports, 39 where the dominant culture frequently emphasizes a narrowly defined perspective of masculinity and athleticism that is centered around physical traits, like toughness, muscularity and a deep voice and personality traits, like competitiveness, aggressiveness and independence. 40 This prevailing culture creates a “gendered story-line or theme” 41 that affirms the dominant cultural understanding of masculinity and athleticism and marginalizes both men who do not fit the stereotype, as well as women. 42
When such traits are emphasized and perpetuated by sports media, in what Connell and Messerschmidt called a “‘pageantry’ of masculinity,” 43 the dominant, stereotypical narrative becomes even more powerful, spreads to the broader culture and results in social marginalization, disenfranchisement and uncertain self-identities for any non-conforming person. 44
The way in which media enable the perpetuation of hegemonic masculinity is explained by cultivation theory. Originally developed by Gerbner 45 and stemming from the intellectual tradition of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research and cultural scholars like Adorno, Horkheimer and Marcuse, cultivation theory suggests that mass media present narrow and restricted portrayals of people and events and that repeated exposure to such media content causes individuals to develop a world view that is consistent with these portrayals. Through the process of “mainstreaming,” 46 the views that individuals come to adopt are the result, not of conscious choice, but rather of accumulated and repeated exposure to media stereotypes. 47
Initially, this perspective was used to suggest how television depictions of violence skew the viewing public’s perception of crime and violence in society. 48 Yet, cultivation theory has also been applied to the study of how media affect the public’s perception of minorities, women in non-traditional gender roles and non-heterosexual individuals. 49
The modern omnipresence of media has only made the cultivation effect of media more dramatic. While a variety of social groups and institutions have traditionally shaped the way individuals see the world, 50 it is increasingly the case that media are responsible for creating and perpetuating a mass culture comprised of commonly shared symbols and beliefs, 51 as well as a gender schemata that “cultivates traditional views,” 52 and socializes individuals “into roles of gender, age, class, vocation and lifestyle and . . . models of conformity.” 53
Much existing research has demonstrated that gender stereotypes are common in media content. A metaanalysis of 30 studies by Herrett-Skjellum and Allen and a metaanalysis of 52 studies by Morgan and Shanahan documented the extent of male stereotypes on television. 54 Opplinger’s research built on this with a metaanalysis of 33 relevant studies that found that media exposure to gender stereotypes is associated with sex-typed behaviors and attitudes. 55
Similarly, existing research shows that sports media, in particular, help to reinforce hegemonic masculinity. For instance, Johnson and Schiappa found a correlation between watching ESPN’s SportsCenter and attitudes related to violence and women. 56 Crabb and Goldstein found a correlation between viewing sports and accepting aggression, 57 and other research also suggests that men frequently focus on violence in sports. 58 So dramatic can the effect be that Messner, Dunbar and Hunt refer to common themes in sports media as the “televised sports manhood formula” 59 that defines specific traits associated with an “idealized understanding of masculinities.” 60 Through exposure to such media content, stereotypes become “naturalized and normalized,” 61 and the hegemonic masculinity of sport is reaffirmed. 62
Literature Review
Existing scholarship has shown that women’s sports are currently covered less than men’s sports, that women are involved in the field of sports reporting less than men and that the nature of sports media content helps to perpetuate hegemonic masculinity within society. Yet, while previous research has done an excellent job of describing the state of sports media at particular points in time, or within narrow time frames, questions remain regarding what changes have, or have not, occurred regarding the coverage of women by and the involvement of women in, sports media over a longer period of time. 63
This study seeks to address these issues and involves an investigation of trends in newspaper sports coverage over the course of the past three decades. Specifically, this study is framed around two central hypotheses. Because matters of equality have gained much more attention in recent decades, 64 the first hypothesis is suggested.
H1:
Coverage of women’s sports has improved in the past 30 years.
Coverage of women’s sports involves both the extent to which female athletes and women’s sports are covered and the nature of this coverage. Accordingly, two research questions are posed related to this hypothesis.
RQ1:
To what extent has the amount of women’s sports coverage changed over time?
RQ2:
To what extent has the depiction of women in sports media changed over time?
The second hypothesis addresses the involvement of women in the field of sports journalism. Because women have become more involved in both sports 65 and journalism 66 in general, the following hypothesis is suggested.
H2:
The involvement of women in sports journalism has improved in the past 30 years.
The involvement of women in sports journalism includes both the amount of sports stories reported by women and the characteristics of these stories. Two additional research questions address these topics.
RQ3:
To what extent has the amount of sports stories reported by women changed over time?
RQ4:
To what extent have the characteristics of sports stories reported by women changed over time?
Method
Research involving media content analysis began at the dawn of the 20th century, 67 and the use of this method in the study of how women are portrayed in sports media dates back to the early 1970s. 68 Additionally, content analysis remains a popular methodology that is used in an ever-growing number of empirical studies focused on media. 69 Accordingly, a content analysis of newspaper sports articles was used to address the research questions in this study.
Sample
This study focused on sports articles published in The New York Times. This newspaper was used for several reasons. The New York Times is widely respected as a leader in the field of journalism, is the most frequently visited newspaper website 70 and has the third highest daily circulation in the United States. 71 Additionally, because The New York Times is read widely by both women and men, 72 any potential differences in the coverage of women’s and men’s sports or involvement of women and men in reporting, cannot be explained by a primarily male readership. 73
A stratified random sample of articles was collected using the constructed week method. 74 Such a practice is common in the study of media content and allows for more reliable analysis than random or consecutive day sampling which can over- or underrepresent certain types of content due to the weekly news cycle. 75 Articles from The New York Times were sampled from one constructed week per year for 30 years, stretching from 1984-2013. The sample did not include articles published prior to 1984 because incomplete digital archives made it impractical to extend the sample further into the past. All articles published in the sports section each day of the constructed weeks were included in the sample, accounting for a total of 5850 articles and an average of 27.86 articles per day.
Two coders, including the lead researcher, read and coded the articles included in this sample. To check intercoder reliability, both individuals coded an overlapping 400 articles (6.84 percent of the sample) and there was an acceptable 92.37 percent agreement. 76 Additionally, the test for Cohen’s Kappa was performed. Analysis indicated that there was substantial agreement between coders overall, Κ = .879 (p < .001), as well as for individual variables on the coding sheet. [See Table 1]
Cohen’s Kappa Values
Data were analyzed using chi-square, binomial, analysis of variance and Pearson correlation tests as appropriate. To identify overall trends, data from the first (1984) and last (2013) years of the sample were compared. Additionally, analysis was conducted to determine if incremental changes occurred within the 30-year span of time. Years were grouped into five-year periods 77 (1984-1988, 1989-1993, 1994-1998, 1999-2003, 2004-2008, 2009-2013) and chi-square analyses were conducted to determine if the proportion of coverage changed between each five-year period.
Measure
A coding sheet was developed that was partially based on Turner’s study of gender and ethnicity on ESPN and included items associated with the format, type, topic, length and sources of each article. 78 Additionally, coding involved identifying the theme of each article. To code for theme, the themes identified by Cooky, Messner and Hextrum were used: (1) respectful coverage of women, (2) sexualized stories, (3) fights, assaults and scandals and (4) women in domestic or supporting roles as wives, girlfriends and mothers. 79 Because this study also involved coding articles about men, equivalent themes that pertained to men were also added: (1) respectful coverage of men, (2) sexualized stories, (3) fights, assaults and scandals and (4) men in domestic or supporting roles as husbands, boyfriends and fathers.
Findings
Extent of Coverage of Women’s and Men’s Sports
The first research question asked about the coverage of female and male athletes and women’s and men’s sports. Data from all 30 years included in the sample showed that an overwhelming 86.7 percent (n = 5071) of all articles focused on men’s sports and male athletes, while just 5.2 percent (n = 303) were focused on women’s sports and female athletes. [See Table 2] A chi-square goodness of fit test confirmed that women’s and men’s sports were covered at significantly disproportional rates overall, χ2 (2, n = 5718) = 4229.614, p <.001.
Coverage of Women’s and Men’s Sports in The New York Times over 30 Years
Analysis also revealed that there have been only minimal incremental changes in the extent of coverage of women’s sports over time. [See Table 3] Data show that there were significant increases in the coverage of women’s sports between 1989-1993 and 1994-1998, χ2 (2, n = 974) = 59.282, p < .001 and further significant increases in the coverage of women’s sports between 1994-1998 and 1999-2003, χ2 (2, n = 1132) = 10.360, p = .006.
Incremental Changes in Coverage of Women’s and Men’s Sports in The New York Times
Indicates a significant increase in coverage of women/decrease in coverage of men from the previous 5-year period at the p <. 05 level.
Indicates a significant decrease in coverage of women/increase in coverage of men from the previous 5-year period at the p < 05 level.
Note: Other articles that were not about men’s sports, women’s sports, or both men’s and women’s sports were not included in this table or analysis.
But, the trend reversed in the following years and coverage of women decreased significantly in comparison to coverage of men between 1999-2003 and 2004-2008, χ2 (2, n = 896) = 8.987, p = .011 and between 2004-2008 and 2009-2013, χ2 (2, n = 891) = 12.559, p = .002. Such findings matched the individual year analysis, which indicated that coverage of women peaked in 1999, when 9.8 percent of all articles were about women’s sports or female athletes.
Additionally, when articles about women were published, they were more likely to be shorter and have a smaller word count (M = 451.22, SD = 357.78) than articles about men (M = 545.88, SD = 369.09). A Pearson correlation test revealed a correlation between the year of publication and the length of articles about men (.122), but no correlation between publication year and the length of articles about women (.076), thus suggesting that the average length of articles about men has increased over time but that the length of articles about women has remained static.
Women were also quoted less frequently than men. While a 64.8 percent majority (n = 3788) of articles included at least one quote from a named source, a chi-square goodness of fit test showed that women were quoted significantly less frequently than men in the sports section, χ2 (1, n = 3516) = 2981.981, p < .001. A further chi-square test showed that women were even quoted in articles about women significantly less than men were quoted in articles about men, χ2 (1, n = 3516) = 442.331, p < .001.
However, an analysis of the total number of quotes from women and men suggests that this inequality may be slowly starting to change and a chi-square goodness of fit test confirmed that the proportion of quotes from women increased significantly between the first (1984) and last years (2013) of analysis, χ2 (1, n = 251) = 10.869, p = .001.
Themes of Coverage Related to Women’s and Men’s Sports
The second research question addressed how women’s and men’s sports were covered. A chi-square test for goodness of fit confirmed that the thematic portrayal of women was significantly different than the thematic portrayal of men overall, χ2 (4, n = 775) = 2336.730, p < .001 and analysis showed that women were especially likely to be mentioned as the wives, girlfriends, or mothers of male athletes. A follow up chi-square test confirmed that women were significantly more likely than men to be mentioned in the context of such domestic or supporting roles, χ2 (1, n = 775) = 2334.503, p < .001.
Data analysis also showed that the thematic portrayal of both women and men changed very little over time. While chi-square analyses showed that respectful coverage increased significantly, when compared to all other non-respectful themes combined (sexualized stories, fights, assaults, or scandals and domestic or supporting roles), between 1994-1998 and 1999-2003 for women, χ2 (1, n = 179) = 10.750, p = .001 and between 1989-1993 and 1994-1998 for men, χ2 (1, n = 933) = 8.858, p = .003, the extent of respectful coverage either decreased or remained statistically similar between all other time periods [See Table 4] and year-by-year analysis showed that articles about women included significantly more non-respectful themes than articles about men during 18 of the 30 years in the sample.
Incremental Changes in Article Themes in The New York Times
Indicates a significant increase in respectful coverage from the previous 5-year period at the p < .05 level.
Indicates a significant decrease in respectful coverage from the previous 5-year period at the p < .05 level.
Note1: Percentages reported are of articles about women’s or men’s sports respectively.
Note2: Some articles contained themes about both women and men, some articles contained “other” themes not about women or men and some articles contained no themes.
Note3: Chi-square analysis was between respectful and non-respectful themes.
Involvement of Women in Sports Reporting
The third research question asked about the involvement of women in sports reporting. Data from this study show that the majority of articles with named authors were written by men (89.6 percent, n = 3075), while 10.4 percent (n = 358) were written by women. Chi-square goodness of fit tests confirmed that women wrote significantly fewer articles than men overall, χ2 (1, n =3433) = 2150.332, p < .001 and also during each individual year for which analysis could be conducted. [See Table 5]
Differences in Article Authorship in The New York Times
Indicates a significant difference in the proportion of articles written by women and men at the p < .05 level.
Indicates that chi-square test could not be performed because one or more categories had a value of “0.”
However, even though women continue to write significantly fewer articles than men, analysis did suggest that the involvement of women in sports writing has increased over the past three decades. A chi-square test for goodness of fit found that the proportion of articles written by women did increase significantly, from 6.5 percent of articles with bylines in 1984 to 15.2 percent of articles with bylines in 2013, χ2 (1, n =105) = 13.192, p < .001.
Additional chi-square analyses indicated that there were incremental increases in authorship between five-year periods, [See Table 6] but that the increasing involvement of women has slowed in recent years and that no significant changes occurred between 2004-2008 and 2009-2013, χ2 (1, n = 578) = .530, p = .467.
Incremental Changes in Article Authorship in The New York Times
Indicates a significant change in the proportion of articles written by women and men from the previous 5-year period at the p <. 05 level.
Characteristics of Articles Written by Women and Men
The fourth research question addressed the characteristics of articles written by women and men. Data indicated some significant differences between the content of articles written by women and men (Table 7). Notably, a chi-square test for goodness of fit showed that women wrote proportionally more articles about women’s sports than men, χ2 (1, n = 311) = 7.711, p = .005 and proportionally fewer game reports than men, χ2 (1, n = 358) = 5.665, p = .017. However, many other attributes of articles written by women and men were similar. Both women and men wrote mostly about men’s professional and college sports, devoted the majority of their articles to men’s football, basketball and baseball and framed women’s and men’s sports similarly.
Characteristics of Articles Written by Women and Men in The New York Times
Analysis revealed that these characteristics have not changed significantly over time. Aside from an increase in the number of articles that women wrote about women’s sports between 1994-1998 and 1999-2003, χ2 (1, n = 73) = 4.945, p = .026, there were no other significant changes in the characteristics of articles written by women.
Summary
Regarding the first research question, data from this study indicate that women’s sports and female athletes have received very little media attention during the past 30 years and that the amount of coverage in The New York Times has not increased significantly over time. Regarding the second research question, data suggest that female athletes were more likely to be framed in domestic or supporting roles than male athletes and that respectful coverage of women has not increased over time. As such, data did not confirm the first hypothesis.
Regarding the third research question, data from this study show that even though women still write only a small minority of all sports articles, the involvement of women in sports writing has increased significantly over the course of the past three decades. Regarding the fourth research question, data show that little has changed regarding the topic or characteristics of articles written by women; the length of articles written by women has not increased, the number of articles written by women about women’s sports has changed very little and women continue to write fewer game reports than men. Accordingly, data partially supported the second hypothesis.
Discussion
Overall, this analysis of newspaper sports articles published in The New York Times from the past 30 years suggests that, while some meaningful progress has been made by women in sports journalism, the culture of sports and sports media still remains largely unchanged.
First, data show that the sports section of the newspaper is no longer an exclusively male domain. Thirty years ago, only a handful of sports articles were written by women. In the ensuing decades, however, women have made significant progress in the field of sports journalism and now write about 15 percent of the articles in the sports section. Yet, the extent to which women participate in sports writing and the power they hold within news organizations, appears to still be very limited.
For instance, despite the increased number of female sports writers, the average length of articles written by women has not increased over 30 years and women continue to be less likely than men to write game reports. While other types of sports writing are also important and articles about sports news and human interest topics are certainly relevant, game reports remain a particularly essential component of a newspaper sports section. Accordingly, this suggests that despite the progress that women have made in the field of sports journalism, women continue to be excluded from covering some of the most important stories.
After a rise in coverage in the 1990s, women’s sports have once again been marginalized and receive no more attention today than they did three decades ago.
The situation is even more discouraging regarding the coverage of female athletes and data show that women’s sports still remain nearly invisible in mainstream media. After a rise in coverage in the 1990s, women’s sports have once again been marginalized and receive no more attention today than they did three decades ago.
Such limited coverage of women’s sports continues despite the significant growth of women’s sports over recent decades. 80 Today, both women and men compete at comparable levels in many sports; both women’s and men’s teams play most high school and college sports, most Olympic sports involve both women and men and several women’s professional leagues, like the LPGA and WNBA, operate alongside their counterparts for men’s sports. However, in every single sport in which both women and men participate at comparable levels, men’s sports receive significantly more attention and male athletes receive more recognition than their female counterparts. As such, these findings confirm previous research that has also suggested that, despite the substantial growth in women’s sports, media coverage of female athletics remains either stagnant or on the decline. 81
Furthermore, in the rare instances where women do receive attention in sports articles, the nature of this coverage is often troublesome. While this research suggests that overt sexism is uncommon, women are quite frequently portrayed within a domestic context, as wives, girlfriends and mothers. 82 The mere mention of such roles is not, in itself, problematic. However, because women receive so little other attention and because the presentation of women in these domestic roles is not balanced by a robust counter-narrative that presents women as strong, capable and skilled athletes, women often appear to be relegated to a second-class status.
The problematic nature of this issue is compounded by the fact that women are infrequently quoted as authorities in sports articles. While male coaches, mentors, officials and team executives are frequently quoted in stories about both men’s and women’s sports, women in positions of authority are rarely quoted at all. In the rare instances where women are quoted in articles about men’s sports and male athletes, it is often because of the supporting roles they played in the lives of their athletic husbands, boyfriends, or sons. Accordingly, whether intentional or not, the common presentation of women in non-athletic, domestic and supporting roles serves as a tacit endorsement of the male-dominated culture of sport in which, as Messner, Dunbar and Hunt asserted, “white men are the voices of authority.” 83
Of course, this study is not the first to identify gender inequities in sports media; other scholarship has also documented the gender imbalance and anecdotal evidence to this effect is plentiful. Yet, this study provides a new historical perspective; the comparative analysis of articles published during the past three decades demonstrates that despite the broader cultural shift towards greater gender equality that has occurred, 84 coverage of women’s sports has not improved over 30 years and female sports reporters continue to be a marginalized or token group 85 lacking the institutional clout needed to challenge group norms, move beyond male dominated 86 or patriarchal 87 newsroom practices 88 or advocate for greater equality of coverage.
Limitations and Directions for Future Research
This study focused on one newspaper, The New York Times, in order to facilitate the analysis of sports coverage from a much longer period of time than has been investigated in the past. Yet, because the enterprise of sports journalism stretches across multiple media, future research might benefit from an expanded sample that also includes other newspaper, television, radio, magazine or Web-based media content. While the limited availability of digital archives might require such future research to focus on a shorter time span, the analysis of additional sources could lead to the discovery of other, new insights regarding gender and sports journalism. Further, as existing scholarship suggests, future longitudinal studies that involve more than one source could also expand the sample to include two constructed weeks per year. 89
This study’s findings also raise new questions regarding how sports journalists and sports media consumers, feel about the nature of sports journalism. Such issues can be addressed by future survey-based research designed to measure perceptions related to the coverage of women’s and men’s sports.
Conclusion
The general lack of coverage of women’s sports and female athletes downplays the tremendous amount of effort and training that female athletes put into their sport. By privileging men’s sports and not covering women’s sports in a comparable manner, the efforts of female athletes appear less consequential. This dearth of coverage can serve as a powerful disincentive and may discourage aspiring female athletes from pursuing athletic or sports-related careers. Similarly, the limited involvement of women in sports reporting makes it difficult for aspiring female writers to enter the ranks of the professional sports journalism corps.
Yet, despite the entrenched culture within the world of sports, change is possible. As Connell and Messerschmidt noted, the prevailing “hegemony may fail” 90 and there exists the “possibility of democratizing gender relations.” 91 Steps can be taken to help bring about such change. For instance, industry professionals can focus on integrating female sports journalists more fully into the field. 92 If such changes are made and the culture of sports journalism becomes more inclusive of “a diversity of voices,” 93 it is likely that the coverage of female athletes and women’s sports will improve as well. 94 Additionally, university-level journalism educators can take steps to encourage the increased participation of women in sports journalism programs and help the next generation of reporters to be more aware of the importance of covering both women and men in a balanced and respectful fashion. 95
Changing the culture of sports journalism and improving the coverage of women’s sports, has implications beyond the sports page. Because athletes are so prominent in society, depicting strong, independent and capable women can help to change the cultural understanding of what it means to be a woman or a man and empower a younger generation for a life of possibilities beyond traditional gender roles. Yet, if such change is to happen in the foreseeable future, it is important to continue raising awareness of the value and relevance of women’s sports and actively encourage further diversification within sports media.