WUNRN
MEDIA COVERAGE OF WOMEN'S SPORTS IS IMPORTANT
By Donna A. Lopiano, Ph.D., President, Sports Management Resources
The media shapes the public's
perceptions of the accomplishments of women playing sports and whether women in
general can be strong, confident and highly skilled. The media also shapes the
dreams and aspirations of girls. Boys grow up watching television, bombarded by
heroic and confident images of themselves playing sports and being revered for
their accomplishments. They know they are expected to play sports and are
encouraged to do so by everyone around them. Girls do not receive these
messages.
Television carriage is also a critical ingredient for the success of professional women's sports and competitive professional sport salaries and purses. If women's pro sports cannot tap into big advertising dollars, athlete salaries and purses will continue to be depressed and the financial success of women's pro leagues and tours will be more difficult to achieve.
Currently, television coverage of women's sports is inconsistent at best and non-existent most of the time. While the exposure of female athletes improves during the Olympic Games and World Cup soccer where they demonstrate ratings successes, these are only quadrennial occurrences. And while ESPN does a great job during the NCAA women's basketball Final Four, at other times of the year, girls receive negative or inconsistent messages from sports television. Televised WNBA games are played during a shortened summer season by players making 10-20 times less than their male counterparts. At best, women professional athletes make half as much as male athletes (in tennis), no matter how good they are, and the media continually reinforces these differences.
Girls also see a double standard in covering women's sports. When male athletes receive media attention, such coverage is primarily focused on their skilled performance. When female athletes receive media attention, the media is much more likely to focus on their physical attractiveness or non-sport-related activities. Anna Kournikova, who has yet to win a professional tennis tournament, was one of only six women ranked among the most important people in sports. This double standard devalues the athletic achievements of female athletes compared to their male counterparts.
Implications for Sports Managers:
- Commitment
to Non-Sexist Communications. A
great resource for both sport managers and the sports media is Images and Words, a position paper published by the
Women's Sports Foundation. This should be a resource used by every sports
information director, communications officer and sports writer who is
committed to non-sexist publications and writing.
- TV
Contract Negotiations. Exposure
of all men's and women's sports programs should be a goal, even if the
carrier or third party broker is only interested in the most popular sport
program. TV carriage of events represents free advertising for the
university and the athletics program. When so-called
"minor" sports are covered, this sport promotion is an
investment in developing the value of other sports in the athletics
department portfolio.
- Coaches
Shows. Encourage coaches with TV or
radio shows to "share the wealth" by commenting regularly on
other teams, including women's sports.
- Publications.
The communications director needs to play careful
attention to photos and words in all organization communications.
Sexist language and image stereotyping is never intentional but a
reflection of culturally ingrained habits.
- Media
Cultivation. The issue of increased exposure
for women's sports is a great conversation between the athletics director
and the sports editor or reporters. Remember that newspaper
circulation is declining and the sports pages represent an important
circulation anchor. Covering all high school boys' and girls' sports
teams in the community has been a key strategy for local papers.
Parents buy newspapers. Research also shows that what gets into a
newspaper has little to do with "public interest" and is
more about what interests the sports editor.
- Media
Training. All athletes and coaches should
be media trained with regard to sexist language and proper professional
dress.
- Public
Interest Stories. All print and electronic
media are interested in public interest stories. Sports information
and communications directors should constantly remind coaches to share
story angles about student-athletes.