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663211

research-article2016
NRJXXX10.1177/0739532916663211Newspaper Research JournalSchmidt

Article
Newspaper Research Journal

Womens sports
2016, Vol. 37(3) 275298
2016 NOND of AEJMC
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coverage remains DOI: 10.1177/0739532916663211


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largely marginalized

By Hans C. Schmidt

Abstract
This analysis of 30 years of sports reporting in The New York Times
finds 86.7 percent of all articles focus on mens sports and male
athletes, while just 5.2 percent focus on womens sports and female
athletes. Additionally, the articles about women are more likely to be
shorter and have a smaller word count than articles about men.

Keywords
sports journalism, quantitative, content analysis, chi-square, correlations,
newspaper, United States, hegemonic, masculinity, cultivation theory,
womens sports

I
t is difficult to question the popularity of sports and sports media, in the 21st cen-
tury. Financially, the industry is strong and growing stronger each year. North
American media rights alone are expected to grow by 7.7 percent annually and
generate to $17.1 billion by 2017.1 In addition, the popularity of sports is also evi-
denced by viewership trends. Between 2003 and 2013, the amount of TV sports pro-
gramming increased by a staggering 232 percent to 116,400 hours annually.2
But not all sports and athletes have benefitted from this growth. While mainstream
sports and leagues benefit from record profits and attention, less prominent sports and
athletes have been neglected.3 The disproportionate coverage of sports is especially
apparent when considering womens sports, which continue to receive limited and
limiting media coverage.

Schmidt is an assistant professor in the Department of


Communications at Pennsylvania State University, Brandywine.
Schmidt is the corresponding author: hcs10@psu.edu.
276 Newspaper Research Journal 37(3)

Lumpkin identified three key factors that describe how media coverage continues
to disadvantage and perpetuate the other status of females in sports.4 The first fac-
tor pertains to the limited quantity of coverage of womens sports. The second involves
how womens sports are given second-class standing.5 The third involves the per-
sistent emphasis on femininity in womens sports coverage.6 Significant scholarship
has considered each of these three issues.
On the first point, research shows that womens sports have received scant media
recognition. Just 3 percent of newspaper sports stories are about womens teams and 5
percent are about individual female athletes.7 Similarly, womens sports and athletes
account for just 8 percent of televised sports coverage in local news sports segments
and national sports programs8 and less than 2 percent of broadcasting time on network
news and ESPNs SportsCenter.9
This inequality of coverage continues even when womens and mens sports are
similar and comparable. Research has shown that less than one-quarter of all articles
in newspapers and online publications about the NCAA Division 1 March Madness
basketball tournaments are about womens teams,10 and less than one-third of all
newspaper coverage of high school sports is focused on female athletes.11 Similarly,
coverage of womens Olympic sports continues to trail coverage of mens Olympic
sports.12
To the second point, existing research shows there are several ways in which wom-
ens sports and female athletes are trivialized, deprioritized and given second-class
status.13 Lumpkin found that female athletes are more frequently referenced by first
name than are men and that the subordinate status of womens sports is reinforced by
the practice of attaching gender markings to womens sports (e.g. Womens Final
Four) but not mens sports.14 Additionally, Messner and colleagues found television
commentators frequently described female athletes as girls, while men were never
referred to as boys.15
Regarding the third point, much existing scholarship demonstrates how womens
sports and female athletes often are portrayed in a sexist manner.16 At times this
involves using sexist language17 or focusing on physical attractiveness and appear-
ance18 instead of athleticism and competence.19 Regarding visual portrayals, research
by Fink and Kensicki showed women are more frequently pictured in non-sports-
related poses, while male athletes are most frequently pictured within the context of
their sport.20 Similarly, Kane and Buysse found that female athletes are more often
portrayed off the court, out of uniform and in passive and sexualized poses than are
men,21 and Duncan and Messner found that women are more likely to be posed in
deferential poses22 that emphasize body and emotion.23
In other instances, women who participate in sports that are not stereotypically
feminine are ignored in favor of female athletes in sex-appropriate sports like tennis,
swimming and golf.24 Supporting this point, Davis found 75 percent of the coverage of
women during the 2008 Olympics was devoted to traditional womens sports such as
gymnastics, swimming, diving and beach volleyball.25
Clearly, whether it is because of unequal quantity of coverage, trivializing and dis-
respectful coverage or sexist coverage, media attention given to female athletes and
womens sports trail that which is given to male athletes and mens sports. This dispro-
portional coverage serves to both disenfranchise female athletes and affect the public
perception of the relationship between women and sports.26
Schmidt 277

The limited and marginalized coverage of womens sports does not exist in isola-
tion; similar challenges exist for women pursuing careers as sports journalists.
Research shows that women are dramatically underrepresented as sports media pro-
fessionals27 and account for just 9.6 percent of newspaper sports editors and 11.7 per-
cent of newspaper sports reporters.28 Yet, women remain marginalized in sports
reporting despite the increasing numbers of female athletes, sports fans and profes-
sional journalists.
First, research shows that women make up 40 percent of all athletic participants.29
Similarly, women have steadily increased their ranks in organized sports since the pas-
sage of Title IX in 1972; women now account for 43 percent of NCAA athletes and
womens teams account for 53 percent of NCAA teams.30 Second, women now com-
prise more than one-third of the audience for all major professional sports in the United
States,31 and 46 percent of the audience for the Super Bowl.32 Third, women now
report nearly twice as many news stories as in the 1980s,33 and account for 36.9 per-
cent of all full-time newspaper staff members34 and 60 percent of journalism school
students.35
It is unlikely that so few women are involved in professional sports reporting
because of a lack of interest in either sports or journalism. Instead, the inequities asso-
ciated with media coverage and professional opportunities can be explained by culti-
vation theory and the concept of hegemonic masculinity.

Hegemonic Masculinity and Cultivation Theory


Developed by Connell,36 the concept of hegemonic masculinity suggests that the
norms and expected behaviors that are socially associated with men become a domi-
nant cultural force that exercises control over others.37 Hegemonic masculinity
becomes especially apparent in male-dominated environments and workplaces and
research has documented its existence in a variety of settings.38 However, this hege-
mony is especially apparent in the world of sports,39 where the dominant culture fre-
quently emphasizes a narrowly defined perspective of masculinity and athleticism that
is centered around physical traits, like toughness, muscularity and a deep voice and
personality traits, like competitiveness, aggressiveness and independence.40 This pre-
vailing culture creates a gendered story-line or theme41 that affirms the dominant
cultural understanding of masculinity and athleticism and marginalizes both men who
do not fit the stereotype, as well as women.42
When such traits are emphasized and perpetuated by sports media, in what Connell
and Messerschmidt called a pageantry of masculinity,43 the dominant, stereotypi-
cal narrative becomes even more powerful, spreads to the broader culture and results
in social marginalization, disenfranchisement and uncertain self-identities for any
non-conforming person.44
The way in which media enable the perpetuation of hegemonic masculinity is
explained by cultivation theory. Originally developed by Gerbner45 and stemming
from the intellectual tradition of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research and cul-
tural scholars like Adorno, Horkheimer and Marcuse, cultivation theory suggests that
mass media present narrow and restricted portrayals of people and events and that
repeated exposure to such media content causes individuals to develop a world view
that is consistent with these portrayals. Through the process of mainstreaming,46 the
278 Newspaper Research Journal 37(3)

views that individuals come to adopt are the result, not of conscious choice, but rather
of accumulated and repeated exposure to media stereotypes.47
Initially, this perspective was used to suggest how television depictions of violence
skew the viewing publics perception of crime and violence in society.48 Yet, cultiva-
tion theory has also been applied to the study of how media affect the publics percep-
tion of minorities, women in non-traditional gender roles and non-heterosexual
individuals.49
The modern omnipresence of media has only made the cultivation effect of media
more dramatic. While a variety of social groups and institutions have traditionally
shaped the way individuals see the world,50 it is increasingly the case that media are
responsible for creating and perpetuating a mass culture comprised of commonly
shared symbols and beliefs,51 as well as a gender schemata that cultivates traditional
views,52 and socializes individuals into roles of gender, age, class, vocation and
lifestyle and . . . models of conformity.53
Much existing research has demonstrated that gender stereotypes are common in
media content. A metaanalysis of 30 studies by Herrett-Skjellum and Allen and a
metaanalysis of 52 studies by Morgan and Shanahan documented the extent of male
stereotypes on television.54 Opplingers research built on this with a metaanalysis of
33 relevant studies that found that media exposure to gender stereotypes is associated
with sex-typed behaviors and attitudes.55
Similarly, existing research shows that sports media, in particular, help to reinforce
hegemonic masculinity. For instance, Johnson and Schiappa found a correlation
between watching ESPNs SportsCenter and attitudes related to violence and women.56
Crabb and Goldstein found a correlation between viewing sports and accepting aggres-
sion,57 and other research also suggests that men frequently focus on violence in
sports.58 So dramatic can the effect be that Messner, Dunbar and Hunt refer to common
themes in sports media as the televised sports manhood formula59 that defines spe-
cific traits associated with an idealized understanding of masculinities.60 Through
exposure to such media content, stereotypes become naturalized and normalized,61
and the hegemonic masculinity of sport is reaffirmed.62

Literature Review
Existing scholarship has shown that womens sports are currently covered less than
mens sports, that women are involved in the field of sports reporting less than men and
that the nature of sports media content helps to perpetuate hegemonic masculinity within
society. Yet, while previous research has done an excellent job of describing the state of
sports media at particular points in time, or within narrow time frames, questions remain
regarding what changes have, or have not, occurred regarding the coverage of women by
and the involvement of women in, sports media over a longer period of time.63
This study seeks to address these issues and involves an investigation of trends in
newspaper sports coverage over the course of the past three decades. Specifically, this
study is framed around two central hypotheses. Because matters of equality have
gained much more attention in recent decades, 64 the first hypothesis is suggested.

H1:
Coverage of womens sports has improved in the past 30 years.
Schmidt 279

Coverage of womens sports involves both the extent to which female athletes and
womens sports are covered and the nature of this coverage. Accordingly, two research
questions are posed related to this hypothesis.

RQ1:
To what extent has the amount of womens sports coverage changed over time?

RQ2:
To what extent has the depiction of women in sports media changed over time?

The second hypothesis addresses the involvement of women in the field of sports
journalism. Because women have become more involved in both sports65and journal-
ism66 in general, the following hypothesis is suggested.

H2:
The involvement of women in sports journalism has improved in the past 30 years.

The involvement of women in sports journalism includes both the amount of sports
stories reported by women and the characteristics of these stories. Two additional
research questions address these topics.

RQ3:
To what extent has the amount of sports stories reported by women changed over time?

RQ4:
To what extent have the characteristics of sports stories reported by women changed
over time?

Method
Research involving media content analysis began at the dawn of the 20th century,67
and the use of this method in the study of how women are portrayed in sports media
dates back to the early 1970s.68 Additionally, content analysis remains a popular meth-
odology that is used in an ever-growing number of empirical studies focused on
media.69 Accordingly, a content analysis of newspaper sports articles was used to
address the research questions in this study.

Sample
This study focused on sports articles published in The New York Times. This news-
paper was used for several reasons. The New York Times is widely respected as a leader
in the field of journalism, is the most frequently visited newspaper website70 and has
280 Newspaper Research Journal 37(3)

the third highest daily circulation in the United States.71 Additionally, because The
New York Times is read widely by both women and men,72 any potential differences in
the coverage of womens and mens sports or involvement of women and men in
reporting, cannot be explained by a primarily male readership.73
A stratified random sample of articles was collected using the constructed week
method.74 Such a practice is common in the study of media content and allows for
more reliable analysis than random or consecutive day sampling which can over- or
underrepresent certain types of content due to the weekly news cycle.75 Articles from
The New York Times were sampled from one constructed week per year for 30 years,
stretching from 1984-2013. The sample did not include articles published prior to
1984 because incomplete digital archives made it impractical to extend the sample
further into the past. All articles published in the sports section each day of the con-
structed weeks were included in the sample, accounting for a total of 5850 articles and
an average of 27.86 articles per day.
Two coders, including the lead researcher, read and coded the articles included in
this sample. To check intercoder reliability, both individuals coded an overlapping 400
articles (6.84 percent of the sample) and there was an acceptable 92.37 percent agree-
ment.76 Additionally, the test for Cohens Kappa was performed. Analysis indicated
that there was substantial agreement between coders overall, = .879 (p < .001), as
well as for individual variables on the coding sheet. [See Table 1]
Data were analyzed using chi-square, binomial, analysis of variance and Pearson
correlation tests as appropriate. To identify overall trends, data from the first (1984)
and last (2013) years of the sample were compared. Additionally, analysis was con-
ducted to determine if incremental changes occurred within the 30-year span of time.
Years were grouped into five-year periods77 (1984-1988, 1989-1993, 1994-1998,
1999-2003, 2004-2008, 2009-2013) and chi-square analyses were conducted to deter-
mine if the proportion of coverage changed between each five-year period.

Measure
A coding sheet was developed that was partially based on Turners study of gender
and ethnicity on ESPN and included items associated with the format, type, topic,
length and sources of each article.78 Additionally, coding involved identifying the
theme of each article. To code for theme, the themes identified by Cooky, Messner and
Hextrum were used: (1) respectful coverage of women, (2) sexualized stories, (3)
fights, assaults and scandals and (4) women in domestic or supporting roles as wives,
girlfriends and mothers.79 Because this study also involved coding articles about men,
equivalent themes that pertained to men were also added: (1) respectful coverage of
men, (2) sexualized stories, (3) fights, assaults and scandals and (4) men in domestic
or supporting roles as husbands, boyfriends and fathers.

Findings
Extent of Coverage of Womens and Mens Sports
The first research question asked about the coverage of female and male athletes
and womens and mens sports. Data from all 30 years included in the sample showed
that an overwhelming 86.7 percent (n = 5071) of all articles focused on mens sports
Schmidt 281

Table 1
Cohens Kappa Values
Variable

Date of Publication 1.00


Author Title .97
Author Sex 1.00
Geographic Focus .81
Type .86
Newsworthiness Characteristics .77
Sport .97
Womens/Mens Sport .94
Main Sports Topic .95
Womens Overall Theme .84
Mens Overall Theme .82
Quotes Included .97
Sex of Sources Quoted .85
Title/Position of Sources Quoted .69
Number of Quotes .73
Number of Sentences .77
Number of Words 1.00
Average .879

and male athletes, while just 5.2 percent (n = 303) were focused on womens sports
and female athletes. [See Table 2] A chi-square goodness of fit test confirmed that
womens and mens sports were covered at significantly disproportional rates overall,
2 (2, n = 5718) = 4229.614, p <.001.
Analysis also revealed that there have been only minimal incremental changes in
the extent of coverage of womens sports over time. [See Table 3] Data show that there
were significant increases in the coverage of womens sports between 1989-1993 and
1994-1998, 2 (2, n = 974) = 59.282, p < .001 and further significant increases in the
coverage of womens sports between 1994-1998 and 1999-2003, 2 (2, n = 1132) =
10.360, p = .006.
But, the trend reversed in the following years and coverage of women decreased
significantly in comparison to coverage of men between 1999-2003 and 2004-2008,
2 (2, n = 896) = 8.987, p = .011 and between 2004-2008 and 2009-2013, 2 (2, n =
891) = 12.559, p = .002. Such findings matched the individual year analysis, which
indicated that coverage of women peaked in 1999, when 9.8 percent of all articles
were about womens sports or female athletes.
Additionally, when articles about women were published, they were more likely to
be shorter and have a smaller word count (M = 451.22, SD = 357.78) than articles
about men (M = 545.88, SD = 369.09). A Pearson correlation test revealed a correla-
tion between the year of publication and the length of articles about men (.122), but no
282 Newspaper Research Journal 37(3)

Table 2
Coverage of Womens and Mens Sports in The New York Times over 30 Years
Articles about
Articles about Articles about Both Mens and
Womens Sports Mens Sports Womens Sports Other Topics Total

Year n % n % n % n % n

1984 5 2.7 168 89.8 8 4.3 6 3.2 187


1985 11 4.8 200 87.7 10 4.4 7 3.1 228
1986 6 3.2 168 90.3 7 3.8 5 2.7 186
1987 5 2.5 183 90.6 11 5.4 3 1.5 202
1988 1 0.6 155 88.1 15 8.5 5 2.8 176
1989 5 2.7 159 87.4 12 6.6 6 3.3 182
1990 5 4.1 105 86.8 5 4.1 6 5.0 121
1991 5 2.8 157 86.7 13 7.2 6 3.3 181
1992 6 2.7 182 83.1 18 8.2 13 5.9 219
1993 2 1.0 185 91.1 13 6.4 3 1.5 203
1994 14 7.1 168 85.7 12 6.1 2 1.0 196
1995 6 3.3 161 88.5 9 4.9 6 3.3 182
1996 12 6.5 163 87.6 10 5.4 1 .5 186
1997 12 6.1 170 86.7 9 4.6 5 2.6 196
1998 19 8.1 194 82.9 15 6.4 6 2.6 234
1999 21 9.8 175 81.8 16 7.5 2 .9 214
2000 20 8.2 212 86.9 8 3.3 4 1.6 244
2001 10 4.7 188 88.3 11 5.2 4 1.9 213
2002 23 8.6 205 76.8 30 11.2 9 3.4 267
2003 16 7.3 180 82.6 17 7.8 5 2.3 218
2004 12 6.7 160 89.4 7 3.9 0 0 179
2005 9 5.6 141 88.1 7 4.4 3 1.9 160
2006 10 4.9 159 78.3 31 15.3 3 1.5 203
2007 4 2.4 149 90.3 9 5.5 3 1.8 165
2008 13 6.6 178 89.9 7 3.5 0 0 198
2009 9 5.1 152 86.4 11 6.3 4 2.3 176
2010 14 7.1 166 83.8 14 7.1 4 2.0 198
2011 7 4.4 147 93.0 2 1.3 2 1.3 158
2012 14 6.4 194 89.0 4 1.8 6 2.8 218
2013 7 4.4 147 91.9 3 1.9 3 1.9 160
Total 303 5.2 5071 86.7 344 5.9 132 2.3 5850

correlation between publication year and the length of articles about women (.076),
thus suggesting that the average length of articles about men has increased over time
but that the length of articles about women has remained static.
Schmidt 283

Table 3
Incremental Changes in Coverage of Womens and Mens Sports in The
New York Times
Articles Articles about Articles about Total Articles about
about Mens Womens Both Mens and Mens, Womens
Years Sports Sports Womens Sports and Both Sports 2 P

1984- n 874 28 51 953 N/A N/A


1988 % 91.7 2.9 5.4
1989- n 788 23 61 872 4.486 .106
1993 % 90.4 2.6 7.0
1994- n 856 63 55 974 59.282 .000*
1998 % 87.9 6.5 5.6
1999- n 960 90 82 1132 10.360 .006*
2003 % 84.8 8.0 7.2
2004- n 787 48 61 896 8.987 .011**
2008 % 87.8 5.4 6.8
2009- n 806 51 34 891 12.559 .002**
2013 % 90.5 5.7 3.8

*Indicates a significant increase in coverage of women/decrease in coverage of men from the previous 5-year
period at the p <. 05 level.
**Indicates a significant decrease in coverage of women/increase in coverage of men from the previous 5-year
period at the p < 05 level.
Note: Other articles that were not about mens sports, womens sports, or both mens and womens sports were not
included in this table or analysis.

Women were also quoted less frequently than men. While a 64.8 percent majority
(n = 3788) of articles included at least one quote from a named source, a chi-square
goodness of fit test showed that women were quoted significantly less frequently than
men in the sports section, 2 (1, n = 3516) = 2981.981, p < .001. A further chi-square
test showed that women were even quoted in articles about women significantly less
than men were quoted in articles about men, 2 (1, n = 3516) = 442.331, p < .001.
However, an analysis of the total number of quotes from women and men suggests
that this inequality may be slowly starting to change and a chi-square goodness of fit
test confirmed that the proportion of quotes from women increased significantly
between the first (1984) and last years (2013) of analysis, 2 (1, n = 251) = 10.869,
p = .001.

Themes of Coverage Related to Womens and Mens Sports


The second research question addressed how womens and mens sports were cov-
ered. A chi-square test for goodness of fit confirmed that the thematic portrayal of
women was significantly different than the thematic portrayal of men overall, 2 (4,
n = 775) = 2336.730, p < .001 and analysis showed that women were especially likely
284 Newspaper Research Journal 37(3)

Table 4
Incremental Changes in Article Themes in The New York Times
Non-Respectful Coverage

Changes in Changes
Mens in Womens
Fights,
Coverage Coverage
Assaults
Respectful Sexualized and Domestic
Coverage Stories Scandals Roles 2 p 2 p

Years M W M W M W M W

1984- n 869 75 0 0 32 1 1 14 N/A N/A N/A N/A


1988 % 96.2 83.3 0 0 3.5 1.1 .1 15.6
1989- n 800 80 0 0 53 7 3 7 17.606** .000** .220 .639
1993 % 93.0 84.2 0 0 6.2 7.4 .3 7.4
1994- n 889 119 0 0 37 12 5 13 8.858* .003* .264 .608
1998 % 95.3 82.6 0 0 4.0 8.3 .5 9.0
1999- n 1009 166 4 0 34 2 5 10 .176 .675 10.750* .001*
2003 % 95.6 92.7 .4 0 3.2 1.1 .5 5.6
2004- n 754 108 0 1 62 10 3 18 24.351** .000 38.395** .000**
2008 % 89.0 75.5 0 .7 7.3 7.0 .4 12.6
2009- n 726 86 1 0 55 5 3 26 9.733** .002** .252 .616
2013 % 87.8 69.4 .1 0 6.7 4.0 .4 21.0
* Indicates a significant increase in respectful coverage from the previous 5-year period at the p < .05 level.
**Indicates a significant decrease in respectful coverage from the previous 5-year period at the p < .05 level.
Note1: Percentages reported are of articles about womens or mens sports respectively.
Note2: Some articles contained themes about both women and men, some articles contained other themes not
about women or men and some articles contained no themes.
Note3: Chi-square analysis was between respectful and non-respectful themes.

to be mentioned as the wives, girlfriends, or mothers of male athletes. A follow up chi-


square test confirmed that women were significantly more likely than men to be men-
tioned in the context of such domestic or supporting roles, 2 (1, n = 775) = 2334.503,
p < .001.
Data analysis also showed that the thematic portrayal of both women and men
changed very little over time. While chi-square analyses showed that respectful cover-
age increased significantly, when compared to all other non-respectful themes com-
bined (sexualized stories, fights, assaults, or scandals and domestic or supporting
roles), between 1994-1998 and 1999-2003 for women, 2 (1, n = 179) = 10.750, p =
.001 and between 1989-1993 and 1994-1998 for men, 2 (1, n = 933) = 8.858, p =
.003, the extent of respectful coverage either decreased or remained statistically simi-
lar between all other time periods [See Table 4] and year-by-year analysis showed that
Schmidt 285

articles about women included significantly more non-respectful themes than articles
about men during 18 of the 30 years in the sample.

Involvement of Women in Sports Reporting


The third research question asked about the involvement of women in sports report-
ing. Data from this study show that the majority of articles with named authors were
written by men (89.6 percent, n = 3075), while 10.4 percent (n = 358) were written by
women. Chi-square goodness of fit tests confirmed that women wrote significantly
fewer articles than men overall, 2 (1, n =3433) = 2150.332, p < .001 and also during
each individual year for which analysis could be conducted. [See Table 5]
However, even though women continue to write significantly fewer articles than
men, analysis did suggest that the involvement of women in sports writing has
increased over the past three decades. A chi-square test for goodness of fit found that
the proportion of articles written by women did increase significantly, from 6.5 per-
cent of articles with bylines in 1984 to 15.2 percent of articles with bylines in 2013, 2
(1, n =105) = 13.192, p < .001.
Additional chi-square analyses indicated that there were incremental increases in
authorship between five-year periods, [See Table 6] but that the increasing involve-
ment of women has slowed in recent years and that no significant changes occurred
between 2004-2008 and 2009-2013, 2 (1, n = 578) = .530, p = .467.

Characteristics of Articles Written by Women and Men


The fourth research question addressed the characteristics of articles written by
women and men. Data indicated some significant differences between the content of
articles written by women and men (Table 7). Notably, a chi-square test for goodness
of fit showed that women wrote proportionally more articles about womens sports
than men, 2 (1, n = 311) = 7.711, p = .005 and proportionally fewer game reports than
men, 2 (1, n = 358) = 5.665, p = .017. However, many other attributes of articles writ-
ten by women and men were similar. Both women and men wrote mostly about mens
professional and college sports, devoted the majority of their articles to mens football,
basketball and baseball and framed womens and mens sports similarly.
Analysis revealed that these characteristics have not changed significantly over
time. Aside from an increase in the number of articles that women wrote about wom-
ens sports between 1994-1998 and 1999-2003, 2 (1, n = 73) = 4.945, p = .026, there
were no other significant changes in the characteristics of articles written by women.

Summary
Regarding the first research question, data from this study indicate that womens
sports and female athletes have received very little media attention during the past 30
years and that the amount of coverage in The New York Times has not increased signifi-
cantly over time. Regarding the second research question, data suggest that female
athletes were more likely to be framed in domestic or supporting roles than male ath-
letes and that respectful coverage of women has not increased over time. As such, data
did not confirm the first hypothesis.
286 Newspaper Research Journal 37(3)

Table 5
Differences in Article Authorship in The New York Times
2
Articles Total of (Difference
Written Articles Articles Articles Total between
by Written without a with a of All Women and
Year Women by Men Byline Byline Articles Men) p

1984 n 6 87 94 93 187 70.548* .000*


% with Bylines 6.5 93.5 N/A 100.0
1985 n 0 105 123 105 228 # #
% with Bylines 0 100.0 N/A 100.0
1986 n 0 98 88 98 186 # #
% with Bylines 0 100.0 N/A 100.0
1987 n 6 98 98 104 202 81.385* .000*
% with Bylines 5.8 94.2 N/A 100.0
1988 n 4 89 83 93 176 77.688* .000*
% with Bylines 4.3 95.7 N/A 100.0
1989 n 7 90 85 97 182 71.021* .000*
% with Bylines 7.2 92.8 N/A 100.0
1990 n 2 72 47 74 121 66.216* .000*
% with Bylines 2.7 97.3 N/A 100.0
1991 n 7 99 75 106 181 79.849* .000*
% with Bylines 6.6 93.4 N/A 100.0
1992 n 8 117 94 125 219 95.048* .000*
% with Bylines 6.4 93.6 N/A 100.0
1993 n 8 100 95 108 203 78.370* .000*
% with Bylines 7.4 92.6 N/A 100.0
1994 n 7 104 85 111 196 84.766* .000*
% with Bylines 6.3 93.7 N/A 100.0
1995 n 11 101 70 112 182 73.321* .000*
% with Bylines 9.8 90.2 N/A 100.0
1996 n 4 104 78 108 186 92.593* .000*
% with Bylines 3.7 96.3 N/A 100.0
1997 n 7 105 84 112 196 85.750* .000*
% with Bylines 6.3 93.8 N/A 100.0
1998 n 8 122 104 130 234 204.376* .000*
% with Bylines 6.2 93.8 N/A 100.0
1999 n 12 102 100 114 214 71.053* .000*
% with Bylines 10.5 89.5 N/A 100.0
2000 n 13 133 98 146 244 186.548* .000*
% with Bylines 8.9 91.1 N/A 100.0
(continued)
Schmidt 287

Table 5 (continued)
2
Articles Total of (Difference
Written Articles Articles Articles Total between
by Written without a with a of All Women and
Year Women by Men Byline Byline Articles Men) p

2001 n 16 105 92 121 213 65.463* .000*


% with Bylines 13.2 96.8 N/A 100.0
2002 n 24 134 109 158 267 147.646* .000*
% with Bylines 15.2 94.8 N/A 100.0
2003 n 16 113 89 129 218 72.938* .000*
% with Bylines 12.4 87.6 N/A 100.0
2004 n 15 110 54 125 179 72.200* .000*
% with Bylines 12.0 88.0 N/A 100.0
2005 n 12 90 58 102 160 59.647* .000*
% with Bylines 11.8 88.2 N/A 100.0
2006 n 38 108 57 146 203 33.562* .000*
% with Bylines 26.0 74.0 N/A 100.0
2007 n 14 98 53 112 165 63.000* .000*
% with Bylines 12.5 87.5 N/A 100.0
2008 n 23 103 72 126 198 50.794* .000*
% with Bylines 18.3 81.7 N/A 100.0
2009 n 14 92 70 106 176 57.396* .000*
% with Bylines 13.2 86.7 N/A 100.0
2010 n 24 96 78 120 198 43.200* .000*
% with Bylines 20.0 80.0 N/A 100.0
2011 n 14 80 64 94 158 46.340* .000*
% with Bylines 14.9 85.1 N/A 100.0
2012 n 22 131 65 153 218 77.654* .000*
% with Bylines 14.4 85.6 N/A 100.0
2013 n 16 89 55 105 160 50.752* .000*
% with Bylines 15.2 84.8 N/A 100.0
Total n 358 3075 2417 3433 5850 2150.332* .000*
% with Bylines 10.4 89.6 N/A 100.0

*Indicates a significant difference in the proportion of articles written by women and men at the p < .05 level.
#. Indicates that chi-square test could not be performed because one or more categories had a value of 0.

Regarding the third research question, data from this study show that even though
women still write only a small minority of all sports articles, the involvement of
women in sports writing has increased significantly over the course of the past three
decades. Regarding the fourth research question, data show that little has changed
regarding the topic or characteristics of articles written by women; the length of
288 Newspaper Research Journal 37(3)

Table 6
Incremental Changes in Article Authorship in The New York Times
Articles Articles Articles
Written by Written by without a
Years Women Men Byline Total 2 p

1984- n 16 477 486 979 N/A N/A


1988 % with Bylines 3.2 96.8 N/A N/A
% Overall 1.6 48.7 49.6 100.0
1989- n 32 478 396 906 15.563 .000*
1993 % with Bylines 6.3 93.7 N/A N/A
% Overall 3.5 52.8 43.7 100.0
1994- n 37 536 421 994 .024 .877
1998 % with Bylines 6.5 93.5 N/A N/A
% Overall 3.7 53.9 42.4 100.0
1999- n 81 587 488 1156 34.787 .000*
2003 % with Bylines 12.1 87.9 N/A N/A
% Overall 7.0 50.8 42.2 100.0
2004- n 102 509 294 905 12.124 .000*
2008 % with Bylines 16.7 83.3 N/A N/A
% Overall 11.3 56.2 32.5 100.0
2009- n 90 488 332 910 .530 .467
2013 % with Bylines 15.6 84.4 N/A N/A
% Overall 9.9 53.6 36.5 100.0

*Indicates a significant change in the proportion of articles written by women and men from the previous 5-year
period at the p <. 05 level.

articles written by women has not increased, the number of articles written by women
about womens sports has changed very little and women continue to write fewer
game reports than men. Accordingly, data partially supported the second hypothesis.

Discussion
Overall, this analysis of newspaper sports articles published in The New York Times
from the past 30 years suggests that, while some meaningful progress has been made
by women in sports journalism, the culture of sports and sports media still remains
largely unchanged.
First, data show that the sports section of the newspaper is no longer an exclusively
male domain. Thirty years ago, only a handful of sports articles were written by
women. In the ensuing decades, however, women have made significant progress in
the field of sports journalism and now write about 15 percent of the articles in the
sports section. Yet, the extent to which women participate in sports writing and the
power they hold within news organizations, appears to still be very limited.
For instance, despite the increased number of female sports writers, the average
length of articles written by women has not increased over 30 years and women con-
tinue to be less likely than men to write game reports. While other types of sports
Schmidt 289

Table 7
Characteristics of Articles Written by Women and Men in The New York Times
Articles Written Articles Written
by Women by Men

Article Focus Mens Sports % 79.1 90.1


n 283 2772
Womens Sports % 7.8 3.7
n 28 113
Both Womens and Mens Sports % 10.6 3.8
n 38 118
Other % 2.5 2.3
n 9 72
Total n 358 3075
Article Type News % 2.8 2.1
n 10 65
Sports News % 24.6 20.0
n 88 614
Game Reports % 19.6 25.0
n 70 769
Commentary % 17.9 14.9
n 64 457
Human Interest % 31.8 36.0
n 114 1106
Other % 3.4 2.1
n 12 64
Total n 358 3075
Article Topic Mens Professional Sports % 65.4 74.4
n 234 2288
Mens College Sports % 7.0 11.1
n 25 340
Mens Olympic Sports % 6.1 2.8
n 22 86
Womens Professional Sports % 2.0 1.0
n 7 32
Womens College Sports % 2.0 1.3
n 7 41
Womens Olympic Sports % 3.4 1.3
n 12 41
All Other Topics % 14.2 8.0
n 51 247
Total n 358 3075
Sports Mens Football % 25.7 20.3
n 92 625
Mens Basketball % 20.1 22.1
n 72 680
(continued)
290 Newspaper Research Journal 37(3)

Table 7 (continued)
Articles Written Articles Written
by Women by Men

Mens Baseball % 10.1 19.1


n 36 586
Mens Hockey % 6.7 12.4
n 24 382
Womens Basketball % 2.2 1.4
n 8 43
Womens Tennis % .8 .4
n 3 11
All Other Sports % 34.4 24.3
n 123 748
Total n 358 3075
Womens Respectful Coverage % 80.5 71.7
Theme n 62 243
Sexualized Stories % 0 0.3
n 0 1
Fights, Assaults, Scandals % 5.2 4.4
n 4 15
Wives, Girlfriends, Mothers % 11.7 20.1
n 9 68
Other Theme involving Women % 2.6 3.5
n 2 12
Total n 77 339
Mens Theme Respectful Coverage % 91.2 94.1
n 302 2747
Sexualized Stories % 0 .1
n 0 4
Fights, Assaults, Scandals % 6.6 3.5
n 22 102
Husbands, Boyfriends, Fathers % 0.9 .4
n 3 12
Other Theme involving Men % 1.2 1.9
n 4 55
Total n 331 2920
Geographic Local % 15.9 22.1
Focus n 57 679
State/Regional % 4.2 4.1
n 15 125
National % 59.8 56.9
n 214 1751
International % 15.6 13.4
n 56 412
None % 4.5 3.5
n 16 108
Total n 358 3075
Schmidt 291

writing are also important and articles about sports news and human interest topics are
certainly relevant, game reports remain a particularly essential component of a news-
paper sports section. Accordingly, this suggests that despite the progress that women
have made in the field of sports journalism, women continue to be excluded from
covering some of the most important stories.

After a rise in coverage in the 1990s, womens sports have


once again been marginalized and receive no more attention
today than they did three decades ago.
The situation is even more discouraging regarding the coverage of female athletes
and data show that womens sports still remain nearly invisible in mainstream media.
After a rise in coverage in the 1990s, womens sports have once again been marginal-
ized and receive no more attention today than they did three decades ago.
Such limited coverage of womens sports continues despite the significant growth
of womens sports over recent decades.80 Today, both women and men compete at
comparable levels in many sports; both womens and mens teams play most high
school and college sports, most Olympic sports involve both women and men and
several womens professional leagues, like the LPGA and WNBA, operate alongside
their counterparts for mens sports. However, in every single sport in which both
women and men participate at comparable levels, mens sports receive significantly
more attention and male athletes receive more recognition than their female counter-
parts. As such, these findings confirm previous research that has also suggested that,
despite the substantial growth in womens sports, media coverage of female athletics
remains either stagnant or on the decline.81
Furthermore, in the rare instances where women do receive attention in sports arti-
cles, the nature of this coverage is often troublesome. While this research suggests that
overt sexism is uncommon, women are quite frequently portrayed within a domestic
context, as wives, girlfriends and mothers.82 The mere mention of such roles is not, in
itself, problematic. However, because women receive so little other attention and
because the presentation of women in these domestic roles is not balanced by a robust
counter-narrative that presents women as strong, capable and skilled athletes, women
often appear to be relegated to a second-class status.
The problematic nature of this issue is compounded by the fact that women are
infrequently quoted as authorities in sports articles. While male coaches, mentors,
officials and team executives are frequently quoted in stories about both mens and
womens sports, women in positions of authority are rarely quoted at all. In the rare
instances where women are quoted in articles about mens sports and male athletes, it
is often because of the supporting roles they played in the lives of their athletic hus-
bands, boyfriends, or sons. Accordingly, whether intentional or not, the common pre-
sentation of women in non-athletic, domestic and supporting roles serves as a tacit
endorsement of the male-dominated culture of sport in which, as Messner, Dunbar and
Hunt asserted, white men are the voices of authority.83
Of course, this study is not the first to identify gender inequities in sports media;
other scholarship has also documented the gender imbalance and anecdotal evidence
to this effect is plentiful. Yet, this study provides a new historical perspective; the
292 Newspaper Research Journal 37(3)

comparative analysis of articles published during the past three decades demonstrates
that despite the broader cultural shift towards greater gender equality that has
occurred,84 coverage of womens sports has not improved over 30 years and female
sports reporters continue to be a marginalized or token group85 lacking the institutional
clout needed to challenge group norms, move beyond male dominated86 or patriar-
chal87 newsroom practices88 or advocate for greater equality of coverage.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research


This study focused on one newspaper, The New York Times, in order to facilitate the
analysis of sports coverage from a much longer period of time than has been investi-
gated in the past. Yet, because the enterprise of sports journalism stretches across mul-
tiple media, future research might benefit from an expanded sample that also includes
other newspaper, television, radio, magazine or Web-based media content. While the
limited availability of digital archives might require such future research to focus on a
shorter time span, the analysis of additional sources could lead to the discovery of
other, new insights regarding gender and sports journalism. Further, as existing schol-
arship suggests, future longitudinal studies that involve more than one source could
also expand the sample to include two constructed weeks per year.89
This studys findings also raise new questions regarding how sports journalists and
sports media consumers, feel about the nature of sports journalism. Such issues can be
addressed by future survey-based research designed to measure perceptions related to
the coverage of womens and mens sports.

Conclusion
The general lack of coverage of womens sports and female athletes downplays the
tremendous amount of effort and training that female athletes put into their sport. By
privileging mens sports and not covering womens sports in a comparable manner, the
efforts of female athletes appear less consequential. This dearth of coverage can serve
as a powerful disincentive and may discourage aspiring female athletes from pursuing
athletic or sports-related careers. Similarly, the limited involvement of women in
sports reporting makes it difficult for aspiring female writers to enter the ranks of the
professional sports journalism corps.
Yet, despite the entrenched culture within the world of sports, change is possible.
As Connell and Messerschmidt noted, the prevailing hegemony may fail 90 and there
exists the possibility of democratizing gender relations.91 Steps can be taken to help
bring about such change. For instance, industry professionals can focus on integrating
female sports journalists more fully into the field.92 If such changes are made and the
culture of sports journalism becomes more inclusive of a diversity of voices, 93 it is
likely that the coverage of female athletes and womens sports will improve as well.94
Additionally, university-level journalism educators can take steps to encourage the
increased participation of women in sports journalism programs and help the next
generation of reporters to be more aware of the importance of covering both women
and men in a balanced and respectful fashion.95
Changing the culture of sports journalism and improving the coverage of womens
sports, has implications beyond the sports page. Because athletes are so prominent in
Schmidt 293

society, depicting strong, independent and capable women can help to change the cul-
tural understanding of what it means to be a woman or a man and empower a younger
generation for a life of possibilities beyond traditional gender roles. Yet, if such change
is to happen in the foreseeable future, it is important to continue raising awareness of
the value and relevance of womens sports and actively encourage further diversifica-
tion within sports media.

Notes
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