The only way females can be involved in the sports journalism world, is to reject the issues that display feminine power, in addition they also have to adopt the dominant ideologies of a male society. ‘They wanted the jobs: therefore played by the rules in order to get them, the rules were not changed to facilitate the progress of other female journalists after them. Long hours, drinks with the boys and a disregard for childcare remain the norm’ (Stratford, 1992, p130). Although females do break in to the media profession, this most commonly comes in the form if a television reporter. As sports journalism portrays the journalist’s personal opinions, where television reporters are presented with scripts to shape the ideals of viewers, the only important thing on television is image, which is more often than not an attractive female.
The profession of sports journalism in the print media is one of the most gender specific in modern society. ‘Sport is a male preserve and at the part it plays, relative to other sources, in the production and reproduction of masculine identity’ (Elias & Dunning, 1986, p268). The print media has always been run by a dominant male supremacy producing a masculine identity, with jobs of highest priority, which shape the views of society such as journalist, more often than not given to men. This dominance of males in the media raises issues, which are constantly raised over the treatment of females in society, especially over the stereotypical coverage they receive. Therefore, sports journalism in this light can not actually be classed as sports journalism, sports journalism is all about reproducing and portraying the views of society, and giving everyone a equal voice. However, the media is so one sided it clearly cannot achieve this successfully. ‘Although journalists, claim to be reflecting the attitudes of society rather than shaping men, recent national trends indicate that, with respect to women’s lives, they lag behind dismally’ (Stratford, 1992, p134).
Affect of Bias In Sports
One major area, which is affected by the dominance of a male hegemony is sports journalism. A large number of achievements are lost in the media concerning female athletes, due to the stereotypical coverage they receive. This negative coverage is the production of having a print media, which is run by men, as they will never be able to write about females from a female perspective. ‘Their ownership by rich, white middle aged men, and their editorship usually by the same type of men, explains the difficulties they have in reflecting recent changes in society in any but the most stereotypical ways’ (Stratford, 1992, p130).
The media frequently directs the reader away from the success and the strengths of female athletes, and towards the typical stereotypes of women. Journalists achieve this by the use of narratives, which is the forming of a story, ‘narratives provide drama, human interest and appeal necessary to attract and keep viewers’ (Higgs and Weiller, 1994, p234).
Narratives often demonstrate traditional qualities associated with females, females successes are seen to be more challenging due to the struggles of their personal lives. ‘Women’s sport is further denigrated in importance by a heightened focus on the athlete’s personal lives’ (Duncan, 1993, p234). Furthermore, females are repeatedly represented as being weak and depending on others, more often than not this figure comes in the shape of a man. This shows how narratives often reinforce inequalities in power and gender relations. These inequalities help to construct a hegemonic masculinity, which Humberstone (1990) labels ‘the reproduction of patriarchal gender relations in society’ (Humberstone, 1990, p235).
Therefore, it can be argued that the media is just a site where men are free to oppress females, and are free from criticisms. In essence, journalists can be seen as originators of patriarchy in society, as they help it develop and manifest itself on to the larger stage of society through their own accounts they present to society. ‘People are inevitably affected by what media present them, if the writers of the media are predominately of one gender, then there is potential that another side of the story or noteworthy athletic accomplishments are being neglected’ (Urquhart and Crossman, 1999, p199).
Conclusion:
In conclusion, sports journalism is a flawed profession. The whole concept journalism is to illustrate and construct an equal argument, giving no one group priority over the next. However, many accounts of sports journalism demonstrate that the majority of the time, coverage is biased towards men and their male perspective. This bias is especially evident when it comes to the case of females in the media, often females voices and opinions are lost and unequal arguments are created. Research into the absence of female journalists in sport has previously demonstrated that not one single article was written by a female until 1976 concerning articles surrounding the Olympics, in two Canadian newspapers. There was also only one article written by a female in the 1992 Olympics, this is one example of a male supremacy in the media. ‘Sports journalism is obviously a male stronghold’ (Urquhart and Crossman, 1999, p199). In addition, a recent count showed that in two popular British newspapers, female journalists still suffer from oppression due to the dominant male operated media. With 100% of sport articles written by male journalists for the Independent, and 96% written by male journalists for the Times.
This justifies the argument that sports journalism is essentially flawed, as the codes of sports journalism are rejected. ‘For example, the practice of sports journalism should revolve around a set of essentially ethical concepts: freedom, democracy, truth, objectivity, honesty, and privacy’ (Belsey and Chadwick, 1992, pXi), yet sports journalism does not. Thus, sports journalism cannot be seen as a democratic and truthful process, sports journalism simply is the production of a dominant male society, trying to hold on to one of its ever-fading male preserves.
Word Count = 1280 (Minus References).
References:
Belsey, A. & Chadwick, R. (1992). Ethical Issues in Journalism and the Media (Chp 1). New York: Routledge.
Eitzen, D. S., & Sage, G. H. (1995). Sociology of North American sport (5th Ed.). Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown.
Elias, N., & Dunning. (1986). Quest for excitement, Sport and leisure in the civilising process. Oxford: Blackwell publishers.
Duncan, M. C. (1993). Representation and the gun that points backwards. Journal of Sport & Social issues, 17, 42-46. Cited in; Higgs, D., & Weiller, K. (1994). Gender bias and the1992 summer Olympics games: an analysis of television coverage. Journal of sport and social issues, 18, 234-246.
Higgs, D., & Weiller, K. (1994). Gender bias and the1992 summer Olympics games: an analysis of television coverage. Journal of sport and social issues, 18, 234-246.
Humberstone, B. (1990). Warriors or wimps. Creating alternative forms of physical education. In M.Mseener & J. Sabo (Eds.), Sport, men and the gender order. (pp.202-204). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Cited in; Higgs, D., & Weiller, K. (1994). Gender bias and the1992 summer Olympics games: an analysis of television coverage. Journal of sport and social issues, 18, 234-246.
Stratford, T. (1992). Ethical Issues in Journalism and the Media (Chp 9). New York; Routledge.
Urquhart, J. & Crossman, J. (1999). The Globe and Mail coverage of the winter Olympic Games: A Cold Place for Women Athletes. Journal of sport and social issues, 23, 193-202.
