Examining the representation of gender in American sport's media is critical in determining the social status of our country. Specifically, online news websites dedicated to sports can give us a general idea of where we are at. USA Today Sports website is a commonly used and trusted source of information when it comes to athletic competitions. I took a look at the website to see how often each gender was represented and how they were portrayed. Going into it I figured men would dominate the articles and headlines which they did, but not as dominantly as I thought. There are five basic features on the USA Today Sports website: Top Stories, Featured Videos, Galleries, Headlines, and Featured Content. After reviewing each section I counted eight out of forty of the main photos or articles to be about women. This may not seem like much but to have twenty percent of the website dedicated to women's sports is impressive.
This made me wonder if women would begin to hold a higher priority in American sport's media seeing that USA Today is a prestigious source of news and information. Taking a closer look though I realized something: every single photo or article about women's sports was related to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Not one women's basketball, soccer, or any other non-winter sport was featured. This essentially means that in the absence of the Winter Olympics there would be little to no coverage of any women's sports. The common idea in athletics is that women take a back seat to men, and this website seems to support this. Initially I thought female athletes were getting more coverage due to social change but soon found out otherwise. This same theme can be seen throughout most sports media companies, so for USA Today to follow suit is no shocker.
Reference: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/
Interesting that the only time women's sports are pseudo-equally represented (20%) by the sporting industry is when TOTAL medal count matters more than who the medal was won by (as long as it's our country). Why do you think the paradigm shifts during the Olympics? How do you think Sports Media represents women's athletics in the years that aren't Olympic years?
ReplyDeleteGreat blog!
Emily Connelly
great blog. it was very intresting that women are held higher in the media when it comes to the olympics. Do you think this is because our nation is doing well or just the women athletes?
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