Roles Of Women In Sports Media Analysis

Introduction

Bang! The sound gavel signifies a seventy-five million-dollar lawsuit win for Erin Andrews. In result of a stocker, and poor efforts on the side of a hotel, Erin Andrews is feeling the effects of the media who continue to make waves over a stocker and a hidden video made of the superstar reporter. Though the incident has been done and over with, Erin is still feeling the penalties of the media, penalties that could ultimately hurt her career. It makes me wonder if the media hurts or helps women’s careers in athletics.

Being one of the top media outlet in terms of sports, I as the question. “Is ESPN really a women’s sports network?” Despite the advancement of women sports and female athletes, and positive role models, these athletes

Women’s sports have never been more popular in the world today, everywhere but television. According to a study done on ESPN, it has been found the women’s sports accumulate to just two percent of ESPN’s airtime. In examining 934 local network affiliate news stories from 2014, researchers found that only thirty-two segments were on women’s sports. amounting to about twenty-three minutes of coverage. In this research, through the eyes of the two disciplines of sociology and women’s studies in sports are integrated with media coverage in sports, and the coverage of women athletes. When it comes to the sociology of women’s sports through social media I would like to study how media represents sportswomen and how they have evolved, to

In 2012, forty-five percent of the athletes that participated in the London Olympics were women, trumping the percentage of women participating in previous Olympics. Women are making their presence felt in athletics all over the world, yet we can not the media to help the influence that these women are having todays youth. Its hard to think that the more influential and better these women get at athletics, and various sports, the less media coverage they continue to get. In a 1966 Sports Illustrated article, John Underwood wrote, “It takes getting used to, seeing young women run long distances, gasping and gagging and staggering around and going down on all fours at the finish line, pink foreheads in the mud.” We see it everyday, women are continually out performing men in various sports, but is Underwood right in saying that people aren’t ready to see women in a different light? Instead of being dolled up with make-up, they are sweating, and dirty just like men are when competing. In a statement made by Emma Sherry, and colleagues “Muscularity, competitiveness and athleticism challenge the wider cultural positioning of women as passive and meek.” In result the media has the ability to form a different opinion on women athletes, the only problem is that women who engage in team sports such as hockey or other sports that come off as more masculine are less likely to be the subject of year-round sports media than those who are engaged in individual sports