Media outLETS's final project power point examines the ethical breach in sports journalism by comparing and contrasting men's and women's sports coverage. We found that women's sports coverage usually center on sexist topics and false images. In this presentation, we explained why we think there is an ethical breach in women's sports coverage and how it has improved over time because of change in journalistic standards.
2. WHAT ARE
ETHICS?
According to Merriam
Webster dictionary,
ethics are:
―Rules of behavior based
on ideas about what is
morally good and bad‖
According to the PEW Research Center, the journalism
code of ethics states that:
• 1.Journalism‘s first obligation is to the truth
• 2.Its first loyalty is to citizens
• 3.Its essence is a discipline of verification
• 4.Its practitioners must maintain an independence from
those they cover
• 5.It must serve as an independent monitor of power
• 6.It must provide a forum for public criticism and
compromise
• 7.It must strive to make the significant interesting and
relevant
• 8.It must keep the news comprehensive and
proportional
• 9.Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their
personal conscience
3. WHAT LED TO THIS…
• Women are often considered weaker
and more delicate than men and
therefore assumed to be less adept at
sports.
• Society‘s bias toward men as superior
athletes and physically stronger beings
has rendered women as second-rate
counterparts in the sports world.
• This bias towards men in sports has
also sparked far more interest for male
sports than women‘s, thus weakening
support and viewership for women‘s
sports.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. • In further research done by Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los
Angeles they analyzed 6 weeks of NCAA‘s men and women‘s
basketball tournament and the men‘s and women‘s US Tennis Open
they found that:
• Gender was verbally, visually and graphically marked, for
example ―Women‘s National Championship,‖ an average of
nearly 60 times per game in women‘s basketball, and never was
marked in men‘s games (which would be referred to only as ―The
National Championship Game‖).
• Women athletes frequently were referred to as ―girls‖ and ―young
ladies.‖ Men athletes were never referred to as ―boys,‖ but rather
usually as ―men,‖ ―young men‖ and ―young fellas.‖
NEWS COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
9. NEWS COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
• News coverage is vital to the success of professional athletes and teams.
• Women in tennis and golf have proven more successful professionally
than women in contact sports such as basketball or softball. One possible
explanation for this is that fans, sponsors, and TV news coverage stations
don‘t like the portrayal of woman as aggressive. Golf and tennis are non-
contact and thus preserve women‘s more mild image.
• On an average day, research suggests that just 3% of
newspaper sports stories are about women‘s sports teams,
and only 5% of those are focused on individual women
athletes.
10. WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT IN SPORTS
• In contrast to their limited coverage, women are increasingly
involved in playing sports. Since the enactment of Title IX, the
participation of women in intercollegiate sports has increased
consistently. As of 2011, 43% of all NCAA student athletes
were women and 53% of all NCAA teams were women‘s
teams
• Also, women are increasingly interested in reading about sports and watching
sports programs.
• Though watching sports coverage is still more popular among men, and recent
research suggests that domestic roles and gender stereotypes may make it
difficult for women to engage more actively as sports viewers, the amount of
female readers and viewers is continually growing.
11. NEWS COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
• In the U.S., women account for 27% of regular readers of
newspaper sports sections and 45.9% of the audience for the Super
Bowl. Further, women now make up the majority of viewers of the
Olympics, as they comprised 53.8% of the television audience for
the 2012 Olympics.
• On KNBC and KCBS the proportion of "ticker time" (information
displayed on a ticker text box at the bottom of a broadcast) devoted
to women's sports in 2009 was 4.6%. This is more than triple the
airtime on the main broadcasts.
• At ESPN SportsCenter, women's sports were allotted a mere 2.7%
of the ticker time, a sad fall from 8.5% in 2004.
• This data illustrates just how news networks are literally
marginalizing women‘s sports in comparison to men‘s.
12. NEWS COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
• The Amateur Athletic Foundation‘s research of the Monday- Friday dailies‘ from the Boston
Globe, Orange County Register, Dallas Morning News and USA Today showed that the
professional obligation of sportswriters to report the facts wasn‘t fulfilled when they nearly
entirely excluded women's sports.
• The research found that:
– Women-only sports stories accounted for 3.5% of all stories; men's stories made up 81%
of the total
– In the three-month period that the research was gathered golf and tennis, sports in which
women "have a long tradition of world-class competition," were in their high season, yet a
mere 301 women-only articles appeared in the four newspapers during the three months
13. • Gender was verbally, visually and graphically marked,
for example ―Women‘s National Championship,‖ an
average of nearly 60 times per game in women‘s
basketball, and never was marked in men‘s games
(which would be referred to only as ―The National
Championship Game‖).
• Women athletes frequently were referred to as ―girls‖
and ―young ladies.‖ Men athletes were never referred
to as ―boys,‖ but rather usually as ―men,‖ ―young men‖
and ―young fellas.‖
NEWS COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
• In further research done by Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles they
analyzed 6 weeks of NCAA‘s men and women‘s basketball tournament and
the men‘s and women‘s US Tennis Open they found that:
14. ―It's not about the money.
It's about the equality
message,‖ (Billie Jean
King: ‘It’s not about the
money. It’s about the
equality message’, 23
June, 2013).
15. ―‗I really like the United
States, but that's one
thing I don't like,‘ she
says. ‗Everybody's
crazy about money,‘‖
(Love Conquers All, 14
April, 1975).
16. ―Wimbledon is like that. You
have to overcome a lot of
things. They'd write
something nice one day, and
I'd think maybe they like me a
little, and then they'd rip me. I
had to stop reading the
papers,‖ (The Court Belongs
to Chris, 20 Dec., 1976).
17. John McEnroeMartina Navratilova
"In the meantime she played
soccer with boys and ice hockey
in the winter and went to school
like everybody else,‖ (A Straight-
up Cool Martina, 24 Feb, 1975).
1. Treated men and women as if they are different creatures
2. Reported her eating habits and her weight and lots of
descriptions on her looks
3. Focused on Martina‘s emotions on the court
4. Scores of her recent games were reported, but lacked
analysis of her play
"Of her first season in the U.S., she says, ‗My
eyes were wide open then. You know, the big
highways and big cars.‘ Also wide open in those
days was her mouth. She took in pancakes and
Big Macs at such a rate that within two months
she had gained more than 20 pounds,‖ (A
Straight-up Cool Martina, 24 Feb, 1975).
―Some of the weight is gone now, but she
remains a sturdy 5‘7". Her shoulders are broad
and her arms and thighs look powerful. She
has short light-brown hair, as fine as a child's,
and her face is dominated by high, wide
cheekbones and forthright hazel eyes,‖ (A
Straight-up Cool Martina, 24 Feb, 1975).
1. Talked about his success before his professional career in
tennis
2. Only mentioned his outlooks slightly
3. Occasionally brings up his thoughts toward his opponents
4. In-depth report and analysis appear more frequently
―So far, Junior's absolutely horrid on-court nature
has managed to obscure his wonderful talent. A
soccer and basketball player in high school,
McEnroe picked up tennis very quickly. Early on he
was a natural, and his game mirrors that of his
teacher, Palafox—all spins and angles and changes
of pace,‖ (Winning Is No Laughing Matter, 11 Dec.
1978).
―A rarity in today's double-fisted tennis world, McEnroe hits one-
handed from both sides with the racket head held extremely low.
The preparation for each stroke is so casual that often the racket
appears to be falling from his hand as he drills winner after
winner. McEnroe has such a gift for touch, such a delicate feel,
that the ball is seldom out of control. Because of his active, quick
wrists, he also gets away with many late hits, the racket suddenly
flashing out from his shoulder socket as if no arm were needed
as middleman,‖ (Winning Is No Laughing Matter, 11 Dec. 1978).
"So, no, I'm not surprised at all. I don't want to
be surprised. And I don't want to be satisfied. I
mean, it's great to be 19, ranked No. 5 in the
world and playing Davis Cup. But this isn't luck.
I've worked for this. Let's put it this way. I
deserve this,‖ (Winning Is No Laughing Matter,
11 Dec. 1978).
―She did a lot of howling and arm waving, after
which she slammed her racket to the ground and
lost the last 10 points of the match as the tears
flowed.
‗I'm just not ready psychologically,‘ Navratilova
said,‖ (A Big Home Victory At Last, 15 Sept.,
1975).
―Navratilova is probably the strongest woman in tennis,
stronger even than Court, and she moves deftly, always
following her left-handed serves and ground strokes to the
net and looking to sock away volleys. Her forehand is
lethal, so opponents tend to hit to her backhand, which is
erratic. When she is getting her first serve in, it is difficult
for her foe not to hit a high return that Navratilova swats
with gusto,‖ (Love Conquers All, 14 April, 1975).
18. Suzanne Lenglen, 1922
Mrs. George Wightman, 1924
Carolyn Babcock and Joan Ridley, 1932
Martha Barnett, 1939 Gussie Moran, 1950
Martina Navratilova, 1970 & 1978
Chris Evert, 1976
Tracy Austin, 1981
20. FEDERER CAREER
FACTS
• 17 Grand Slam
Singles titles
• No double titles
• Currently
ranked the
fourth-best
men‘s player in
the world
21. WILLIAMS
CAREER FACTS
• 17 Grand Slam
Singles titles
• 13 Grand Slam
Doubles titles
• Currently ranked
best female player
in the world
22. OVERALL COMPARISON
• Williams‘ career longer, arguably more successful
• Federer‘s career shorter, though more dominant while at pinnacle
• Both given fair praise in media for success
• Williams‘ body, personality also receives more attention than Federer
• Federer rivalry w/ Rafael Nadal highly covered
27. TENNIS COVERAGE ON TV
• Women‘s game now as, if not more, popular on TV as men‘s
• 2013 US Open Women‘s Final between Williams and Victoria Azarenka: 4.9
rating
• Men‘s final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic: 2.8 rating
• Individual women‘s sports more popular than team sports on TV
28. TENNIS COVERAGE IN WRITING
• Writing in Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report or other outlets mention both
• espnW, ESPN‘s women‘s sports blog, has lots of strong content on
women‘s game
• Most say Federer would beat Williams head-to-head
• Jury out on who has had better career, but writers argue both
29. MARION BARTOLI
• Former French Tennis Playerd
– Australian Open (QF 2009)
– French Open (SF 2011)
– Wimbledon (W 2013)
– US Open (QF 2012)
• ―There's nothing conventional about Marion
Bartoli on a tennis court.‖ – LA Times (July
2013)
• Bartoli is known for her unorthodox playing
style: she uses two hands on her forehand and
backhand
30. JOHN INVERDALE ON WIMBLEDON 2013
• Inverdale comments that Bartoli is
not a ―looker,‖ immediately
undermining her grand athletic
achievement
• He regards Bartoli‘s looks as if
they have some correspondence
with her performance
• No reporter would mention a male
athlete‘s looks as a context for his
success
31. • In his comments, Inverdale fed into the
sexism and stereotyping that plagues
women‘s tennis, and women‘s sports in
general.
• He makes a comparison
between Bartoli and the
blonde, long-legged bombshell
Maria Sharapova. His
statement highlights the
typical mold of women‘s tennis
stars that attain the most
media attention.
• Inverdale‘s sexist remarks
are indicative of the way in
which woman athletes
become sexualized by the
media.
• While male athletic
stars are portrayed as
heroic, female athletes
like Sharapova, Venus
Williams, and Danica
Patrick sexualize
themselves in order to
gain the same media
attention and revenue
as their counterparts.
32. THE RESPONSE • Bartoli received a lot of hateful
comments from the public on
Twitter and other social media
sites because she was too
―unattractive‖ to win Wimbledon
• It‘s not just the media that
sexualizes women athletes, but
the audience itself has become
conditioned to fitting female
sports stars into that role
• Bartoli, though hurt by Inverdale‘s later retracted
comment, proved strong. She said: ―I am not blonde,
yes. Have I dreamt about having a model contract? No.
But have I dreamed about winning Wimbledon?
Absolutely.‖
33. ―‘I had the big muscles before they were in,‘ she laughs. ‗Now
it's OK. It's OK to be athletes, to go out there and be strong.
There are still plenty of girls out there who are primping before
they play a match, making sure they look glamorous, but so
many of them now are very athletic and very strong and in-
your-face confident, almost arrogant - it's good to see that,‘‖
(They ripped me up, 28 May, 2006).
―King knew that some of the male players were planning to
form a professional organisation. "You are going to include us,
aren't you? she asked. "And they said: 'Absolutely not.' I said
OK, but I went back to them more than once, and some of
them said: 'Nobody would even pay a dime to watch you
girls,'" – she pauses – "'you birds‘,‖(Billie Jean King: ‘It’s not
about the money. It’s about the equality message’, 23 June,
2013).
34. "Any woman who wants to achieve anything has to
be aggressive and tough, but the press never sees us
as multidimensional. They don't see the emotions, the
downs...,‖ (Billie Jean King a perfectionist, New
Mexican).
―Of all the things that have grown out of the
bloodless revolution in women's affairs that has
been going on for a decade, the most significant is
options. Freedom lies in having options, and
nowhere has the increase in the number of options
for women been more dramatic than in sport,‖ (The
Court Belongs To Chris, 20 Dec., 1976).
35. CONCLUSION
Women’s sports coverage violated the following journalism ethics:
1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth
2. Its first loyalty is to citizens
3. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant
4. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional
5. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience
Today’s coverage has significant improvements.
– Women’s Sports Foundation’s Words to Watch
– Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, and many other female athletes
continue to push for change in journalistic standards
– The public supports sexual equality in sports coverage
Source: Pew Research Journalism Project
36. CONTACT THE MEDIA OUTLETS
• Check out our blog: http://lholthou.wordpress.com/
• On Twitter:
• #mediaoutLETS
• #ethicalbreachinjournalism
• #womenssports
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Luke Emily Tayla Sara
38. BIBLIOGRAPHY
"BBC Commentator's Sexist Remarks on Wimbledon Champ Marion Bartoli: "She's Not a Looker""
YouTube. YouTube, 08 July 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
Cochrane, Kira. "Billie Jean King: 'It's Not about the Money. It's about the Equality Message'" The
Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 24 June 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Edemariam, Aida. "'They Ripped Me Up'" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 29 May 2006. Web.
24 Apr. 2014.
Elliott July 6, Helene. "Marion Bartoli Overpowers Sabine Lisicki for 2013 Wimbledon Title." Los Angeles
Times. Los Angeles Times, 06 July 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
Griffiths, Rachel. "Navratilova: Double Standard Remains in Sport." BT.com. BT Sport, 16 Nov. 2013.
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Kirkpatrick, Curry. "A Big Home Victory At Last." A Big Home Victory At Last. SI Vault, 15 Sept. 1975.
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Kirkpatrick, Curry. "Winning Is No Laughing Matter." But to the Tennis Public the Bristling Behavior of
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"Martina Navratilova, 1970 & 1978 - Wimbledon 2013: Tennis Fashion through the Years." NY Daily
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Messner, Michael. ―Dropping the Ball on Covering Women‘s Sports.‖ The Huffington Post, 3 June, 2010.
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39. BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Principles of Journalism." Pew Research Centers Journalism Project RSS. Pew Research Centers
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Notas do Editor
People search for injuries, wardrobe malfunctions, and fights in women’s sports, while people don’t really look into the “drama” side of men’s sports
We looked specifically into tennis, because tennis is the sport that we found to have pretty fair amount of reports on each sides, but the trend is still women’s sports focused on the “drama” side
Sports coverage is a great factor that affects an athlete’s performance and successWomen in tennis and golf are more successful professionally than other female athletes because tennis and golf are non-contact sports, whereas contact sports makes female athletes look aggressiveFemale athletes receive very low media attention based on the percentage
Today, women have significantly higher participation in sports
This slide can be used as a background before the presentation begins.
Mention that while Sports Illustrated website has photo galleries of Serena with pictures of her outfits, there are also photo galleries of Rafael Nadal
Women’s on Sunday, men’s on Monday. Nonetheless, decision to put the women’s on Sunday and men’s on Monday. Both on CBS.
Mention that tennis blogs we read focused a little more on men’s game, but exclusive women’s blogs like espnW had very good content. Articles had actual analysis of the matches, the strategy, the significance, the rivalries, not just general comments on results and personal stories. Felt like standard, not gender-specific, coverage.Mention that they were born 7 weeks apart and that Williams has had many more injury problems but nonetheless a longer career
