Put Her In Coach: Female Sports Journalists’ Role in Women’s Athletic Coverage in the Media

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Cummings, Jamie
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Public Policy

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The Chicago newspaper’s infamous Twitter headline read “Wife of Bears’ lineman wins a bronze medal today in Rio Olympics.” Corey Cogdell-Unrein had just won her second Olympic medal in trap shooting only to have her name and success attributed to her spouse’s athletic career. Unfortunately, microaggressions such as this one are not uncommon in the media’s coverage of women’s sports. Moreover, the coverage itself is problematic, as it is nearly non-existent compared to the attention men’s sports receive. Society has arbitrarily placed sport within the domain of men. The debate is often framed by the claim that insufficient interest in female athletics makes them unprofitable. The real question is whether or not the reason behind the lack of interest is the lack of coverage. Evidence suggests the market of female audiences is growing all the time. The solution to the disparities faced in coverage and microaggressions may rest with female journalists who are more likely to quote and report on women than men. In a vicious cycle, gender hiring practices in sports journalism are unequitable, perpetuating the media’s problematic limited attention to female sport. Media organizations must support women in editorial and leadership roles if they wish to avoid sexist culture and the estrangement of female fanatics.

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