Blog Post 3
Ciera Rowland
Professor Jenkins
PS 101
12 April 2022
Blog Post 3
There are many inequalities faced by women in sports. Two that I have mentioned touch on the wage gap between men’s and women’s sports and title IX. Another issue that women face is coverage of their sport. According to the article “Overlooking her Shot: Women’s sports need an assist as coverage remains the same as 30 years ago”, states that women’s sports are still receiving the same amount of news coverage as they did back in the 80’s (Cooky, 2021). In a span over approximately 40 years women in sports are still being exposed at the same level which is very little compared to men’s sports. When you turn on the tv and flip through the sports channels you rarely find them airing women’s sports or talking about past games. They are more likely to be on the less viewed sports channels that a lot of people do not watch. When women’s sports are aired the coverage is normally lower in technical quality and production value compared to men’s (Cooky, 2021). Not only is the coverage on television less time and quality, but it is also like that when it comes to social media. There has been no meaningful change in the way women’s sports are covered. A main result of less coverage can result in women not being able to bring in enough revenue which would allow them to come closer to closing the wage gap. There should be more effort put into coverage and quality airtime for women’s sports.
Furthermore, there are many ways that poor coverage and airtime for women’s sports affects them. As mentioned above, if there was more coverage of women sports in a meaningful way like there is for men’s sports, they would be able to bring in more revenue. This would allow them to be paid more and be able to support themselves financially. It would help close the gap in pay between women and men that compete in sports. Along the lines of social media, if there was more effort put into posts advertising women’s sports as there is for men’s sports then it would allow more people to be aware of upcoming events, games, and competitions to allow more viewers. The article states, “For a long time, the narrative around women’s sport in the United States was one of wholesale, linear progress,” (Cooky, 2021). There have been small improvements over the years, but not enough to make a major change. There was a study in 2019 that revealed, “coverage of women athletes on televised news and highlight shows, including ESPN’s SportsCenter, totaled only 5.4% of all airtime, a negligible change from 5% observed in 1989 and 5.1% in 1993” (Cooky, 2021). Another stunning fact is that the total would drop to 3.5% of coverage if the title 2019 Women's World Cup is removed. Only elite international women’s sports receive quality airtime. Having minimal airtime can also deprive young girls in sports athletic role models (cooky, 2021). This has a major impact on the community and sends a message to women who compete in sports that they are not “good enough” to watch.
Essentially, the stakeholders involved would be the news coverage stations for the sports. There is a stigma that women’s sports are not as “fun” to watch as men’s sports and that these stations such as ESPN would lose viewers which would result in less money. “Women’s coverage is absent, largely, of the elements that we know make watching sports highlights compelling and interesting: exciting commentary, colorful, descriptive, animated delivery, and thoughtful, high-production value interviews and game footage,” (Cooky, 2021). A major solution to the issue of coverage in women’s sports would be to improve the airtime and the quality of coverage when given airtime. There should be more support and effort given to women’s sports and allow them the opportunity to be aired like men’s sports. “Keeping women athletes out of the news silences the activism and advocacy happening in women’s sports, which is very often oriented around institutional issues like racial and gender inequality,” (Cooky 2021). Women athletes deserve to have more airtime and the opportunity to be covered for their hard work and dedication for the sport they play.
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