Introduction

Past studies of private and public media reveals findings that show sportswomen get less media coverage than their counterpart males. From the standpoint of a woman or feminist for that matter, sports is a chauvinist department, dominated by men. Yet, lately, women ventured into sports and advanced into competitive leagues. Therefore, this essay, evaluates the part the media played in terms of women sports in the past years. Despite the increase in women participating in sports, the media visibility remains an issue of great concern.

History of women sports

  The struggle for equality in sports began in 1943. For instance, during the World War II, sports were a unifying element within the American societies. Most men were busy fighting the war and women got the chance to showcase their professionalism in sports with formation of women teams participating in baseball and other games (Fink, 2015). After the war came to a halt coinciding with on-air games, women retired from sports hence giving room for male sports. However, with more women attending college, women sports teams became popular once again.

Statistics on women and sports

Perhaps the most notable element is that across different media platforms coverage reduced significantly in spite of the tremendous increased participation. For illustration, Billing (2008) evaluated summer, winter games, and unveiled that women got minimal attention although their participation was at par with male counterparts. Moreover, Billing (2008) analyzed NBC’s reporting of the Beijing Olympic and noted that men got 8.4% of the coverage compared to women and the variance increased from previous years.

Latest research by Cooky et.al. (2013)  contained disturbing information. The research made use of longitudinal examination of television reporting in the past five years. The researchers evaluated sport news and news briefs of local stations at Los Angeles and sport centers for two weeks. Women got minimal coverage while men got the lion share.

 Reason why women get minimal coverage

 The obvious reason center on the public attitude toward women and sports. Some sections of communities view women as less aggressive than men athletes thus sport enthusiasts maintain that this lack of vigor in women sports makes the games boring (Whiteside, and Hardin, 2011). Similarly, women sports get less attention from media which in turn leaves sport fans with less knowledge on competitive women sports and they might end up thinking  less coverage means that women sports is less interesting. Simply put, median may influence how the perceptions surrounding women and sports.

Sexual objectification is a major issue as reporters objectify females. Apart from commenters refraining from speaking in a demeaning sexual way, the insertions of descriptions in adverts divert attention from the fact that women can perform as well as men in sports (Whiteside, and Hardin, 2011). However, this is not an emerging trend and it existed throughout sport history.

Another problem is gender marking. For instance, ‘women basketball final’ is opposite of men sport events where the gender markers are absent from posters and other advertising merchandise (Kane, 2013). The media claims that they utilize gender markers to differentiate tournaments taking place at the same time.

 When media reports on women sports, they just make a pass at it without analyzing the moves and performance levels displayed in the game (Kane, 2013). On the other side, the media fully examines male performance, which makes it interesting and serious. Media shapes perceptions and gives a positive outlook on women and sports failure to air women tournaments tends to delay a positive outcome.

 The dominating nature of men and sports resulted to less airtime for women. Surveys carried out in America reveal that women get only 1.6% in all media outlets while men get 96.3% (Adams et.al, 2014). This survey only goes to show that the media is not doing enough to bring about equal sport coverage. The main challenge in this entire discussion is that the media does not give women athletes the same eminence in sports programs as they do for men.

 Society helps influence media coverage and forms perceptions around women sports. Culture identifies games and categorizes them as lady-like hence women can take part in. Examples of such sports are tennis and even golf (Adams et.al, 2014). In addition, when women participate in sports associated with men, the community criticizes them and blackballs those games hence getting media coverage becomes a major challenge. The underlying reason why women cannot easily succeed in games labelled masculine by members of the society is due to going against certain set standards.

 Moreover, the media manipulates the kind of games females should engage in through media framing (Adams et.al, 2014). Media framing refers to how journalists reveal highlights of a game, which goes a long way into influencing the mind of the audience on women and sports. Therefore, features of women sports may contain stories that may take a negative toll on their coverage.

The continuous exclusion of women within sports affected the consumer behavioral patterns within the media (Adams et.al, 2014). It impairs the decision making process and a fan fails to know what to watch and what to reserve.

 Role of media in women and sports

 The media is an instrument that spreads information far and wide. The media seeks to inform, educate, and create awareness on the pivotal role sports play in creating equality for both women and men athletes (Adams et.al, 2014). In every society across the world, women are more than men are. An attempt by the media to increase coverage only means implies that it will dispose of unfounded notion about women and sports and create a pathway enabling women rise in various sports.

 Radio and magazines can focus on changing the public opinion on women and sports and even support their progression. Hence, media coverage is vital and essential if the women are to succeed in the respective sports (Billings, 2008). If mass media gives enough time to women sports, it is enough to promote women, divert myths, and inspire them to physical health and general growth. In other words, media coverage has the capacity of turning the entire notion into fruitful endeavor for women athletes.

Coverage will not only bring the plight of women athletes to the limelight but also fund the games and tournament due to the massive attention they receive from the public domain (Billings, 2008). Just like any other type of coverage, media can make an effort to ensure they report positively on the women and sports and give an authentic voice to the sports.

 In summary, creating change in the sport sector begins with an increased media coverage of women sport tournaments and report on commendable performances. Women should participate in all games and dispose off false narratives pertaining games they should participate in. The media should avoid sexualizing women and isolating their tournaments from the public eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Adams, C., Ashton, M., Lupton, H. and Pollack, H., 2014. Sport is king1: an investigation into local media coverage of women's sport in the UK East Midlands. Journal of gender studies, 23(4), pp.422-439.

Billings, A.C., 2008. Olympic media: Inside the biggest show on television. Routledge.

Cooky, C., Messner, M.A. and Hextrum, R.H., 2013. Women play sport, but not on TV: A longitudinal study of televised news media. Communication & Sport, 1(3), pp.203-230.

Fink, J.S., 2015. Female athletes, women's sport, and the sport media commercial complex: Have we really “come a long way, baby”?. Sport management review, 18(3), pp.331-342.

Kane, M.J., 2013. The better sportswomen get, the more the media ignore them. Communication & Sport, 1(3), pp.231-236.

Whiteside, E. and Hardin, M., 2011. Women (not) watching women: Leisure time, television, and implications for televised coverage of women's sports. Communication, Culture & Critique, 4(2), pp.122-143.