Gender bias in sports
- taviamidds
- Apr 1
- 5 min read
The gender gap is evident in all walks of life. For centuries women have been seen as
unequal and an accessory to men. But indeed, in the modern day, with the years of effort
made to try and even the problem out, there should no longer be a divide between women
and men. However, as much as the rights and inequalities are starting to balance out slowly,
there is still one prominent area of life where women struggle to make a name for
themselves: sports journalism.
Gender bias marginalization and discrimination is an ongoing subject of studies addressing
gender equality in journalism. The visibility of female news reporters as authors and pundits
in phrases of sports activities has been located to be below 10% in content material
evaluation that spans numerous countries.(sage journals, 2022). Research into audiences'
perceptions of authorship in sports activities journalism also states that female authorship in
sports journalism still needs to be recognized, with no giant development since 2006(sage
journals, 2022). These findings contrast with audiences' perceptions of male and female
authors, which now no longer affirm a gender byline bias. These results show that gender
discrimination in newsrooms can not be justified using target market perception.
Do not be mistaken; the support for women in sports journalism has increased immensely
with the popularity of women's sports and personalities like Alex Scott and Naomi Schiff
reporting on sports like football and Formula 1. But It was not until the last decade of the
20th century that gender equality in sports has been a strategic concern for the international
Olympic committee and many other sports organizations (sage journals, 2022).
While the representation or lack thereof of female authors in sports reporting seems
consistent, insights into whether this marginalization has changed over time have yet to be
the focus of studies. Further findings on audiences' perception of author gender in sports
coverage are inconsistent, and biases against female authors on sports coverage reported in
previous studies whether this is different in male and female sports. In the case of football,
coverage is widely popular and shown on the majority of sports channels and sites, as well
as in newspapers and online, many believe women should not be reporting on a man's
match or game, no matter their background in the sport.
Female sports reporters are a rarity in all international locations. According to a study by
Nieland and Horky (2013), which analysed eighty newspapers in 22 international locations,
only 8% of articles were solely written by female journalists. In popularity, the visibility of
male sports activities reporters outnumbered that of female sports reporters via a ratio of
simply over 43:1. This finding has been supported by research in specific international
locations.
In some other studies, Schoch (2020) only 9% of the analysed articles were entirely written
by women, and thus, women's sports activities newshounds stay nearly invisible. Also, inArgentina, a content material evaluation of more than 300-zero information articles from
eight countrywide online information websites and Their respective debts on Facebook and
Twitter sound that women writers have been maximumly underrepresented amongst all of
the subjects analysed in sports activities reporting (sage journals, 2022). Organista and
Mazur (2020) conducted qualitative interviews with women's sports activities newshounds in
Poland. Girls in sports activities and journalism aren't the only minority. However, that female
role models in sports and sports journalism no longer exist.(sage journals, 2022).
This is slowly changing as more high-end sports outlets like sky sports are introducing
women with backgrounds or interests in the sport.;
Female newshounds surveyed stated they suffered severe abuse at the hands of football
lovers and have been paid much less than their male counterparts (facts from the United
Kingdom authorities place the gender pay hole in newspapers at 5-21%). They have been
subjected to sexist comments in newsrooms and felt not noted for promotion. (The Guardian,
2022, Bennet. G.)
However, there has been good news. One woman stated the world had "come a protracted
way" withinside the beyond few decades. Several woman reporters said they believed their
gender had created opportunities, consisting of male interviewees establishing as much as
them. The upward thrust of women's sports activities has also opened doors; male sports
editors have been stated to have reacted to tips that women's tournaments need to be
blanketed through women writers. (The Guardian, 2022, Bennet. G.)
Sexism inside journalism, paired with the essential sexism in the game, offers girls little or no
possibility to be visible or heard withinside the sports activities media sphere. Women's
sports activities accounted for simply 7% of games we watched, listened to and read about
in October 2013. Some may argue that even females prefer watching men's sports, which
can be proven true as about 40% of Formula 1 viewers are female, up from 8% since 2017
(GrandPrix, 2022). As much as Formula 1 is seen as a man's sport, no rules stop a woman
from driving (Jezebel, 2022). So why is there not more of an uproar about the lack of
females in the sport, well this could be down to gender stereotypes as many see karting as a
male hobby, one for young boys to drive cars around in circles and see who can go the
fastest. The same can be said for football why is now that women's football is getting more
popular that they still don't get paid the same? This could be down to income and revenue; it
is no secret that the champions League final is one of the most significant sports events of
the year, with approximately 400 million viewers each year. Whereas female football games
do not get anywhere near that amount of fans. The only simple answer is that women's
football; is less prevalent.
In conclusion, women pundits are given a more challenging time and softer news to report
on due to gender inequality and sexism. However, this is becoming less and less the case,
and more women are being able to break these stereotypes and make a name for
themselves. Now, with more female sports reporters than ever, they are trying to make it
easier for women in sports.Bibliography
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