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Study finds media still fail in quality, quantity of women's sports coverage

Gene Policinski
World Center

11.13.98

ARLINGTON, Va. — Despite increased female participation in organized sports in the past 20 years, women are still not fairly reported on in the nation's media, according to a report released yesterday by the media watchdog group Women, Men and Media.

The report included findings from interviews with more than 160 women associated with athletics. It was presented at a symposium of more than 100 scholars, athletes, editors and others at The Freedom Forum's World Center.

	Monica L. Heppel

Monica L. Heppel of Mount Vernon College, who conducted the study, said she found:

• About 50% of those interviewed found fault with the reporters with whom they had spoken, or who had reported on their teammates.
• Forty-six percent said reporters often were unfamiliar with the sport to which they were assigned, uncomfortable interviewing women athletes or dismissive of women's athletic accomplishments.
• Critics of media coverage said attitudes among reporters also were different for male and female athletes. The study noted respondents said that "male athletes were treated almost reverentially by the reporters ... while (reporters) were likely to be either patronizing or dismissive" of female athletes.
• Almost all of the athletes interviewed for the study said the more generalized the coverage, the unhappier they were with it. They expressed less satisfaction with coverage of their team than that of themselves; still less satisfaction with coverage of their sport; and least satisfying was the treatment of women in sport generally. However, Heppel noted that the higher "satisfaction" levels for personal coverage may be misleading: the athletes "may just be uncomfortable saying 'I want, I deserve, more coverage' of myself."
• Eighty-four percent said coverage of women's sports and athletes had improved in the past five years — though an equal number still saw far too little broadcast time devoted to sports involving women.
• Athletes reported that broadcasters' commentary about female athletes had improved, focusing more on skill and less on appearance and other non-athletic areas.
• Local media were rated as doing the best job of reporting on women athletes and sports involving women, except for radio — which fared badly on a local, regional and national basis. Local newspapers were rated highest by survey respondents.

The findings were based on in-depth interviews with 130 female athletes from 14 different sports, and with 33 coaches, agents, media-relations specialists and others involved in sports, said Women, Men and Media.

Several speakers at the symposium, noting that female athletes were reluctant to call for more media coverage of their own performances, said women and girls needed to shed attitudes that prevent them from publicly taking pride in being outstanding athletes.

Also, there was frustration and criticism from symposium participants at the failure of most local and national media to devote proportional space and significance to women and women's sports. Many blamed a perception among media leaders that most women are not sports fans and do not follow sports coverage.

At the last two Olympic Games, however, women were the majority of television viewers in the United States, according to Mike Moran, assistant executive director for Media and Public Affairs of the United States Olympic Committee.

Moran told the symposium that at the 1996 Atlanta summer games, "Fifty-four percent of (U.S. network TV) viewers 18 years and older were women." At the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, Moran said, 59% of viewers were women. He also noted that of the 141 news organizations accredited by the USOC for the Nagano games, "I dealt with 25 female executives" — a sizeable increase over past years.

Women, Men and Media is a project founded in 1987 to examine gender issues in media.