A sporting chance for women? Exploring gender imbalance on the sports desks of UK national newspapers

Sports journalism has traditionally been seen as a male domain, and a number of researchers suggest that this tradition has not changed (Strong, 2007) . Sports reporters in the United Kingdom remain predominantly male, and despite increasingly more women having entered sports journalism since the women’s movement of the 1970s, the number of women sports writers remains relatively low (Franks, 2013; Chambers et al, 2004). In recent years there has been some considerable progress regarding the visibility of women in broadcast sports journalism and in particular the London Olympics in 2012 was a watershed for UK broadcasting, but there are still very few women sports writers in the UK newspaper industry, and sports journalism remains a largely male-dominated area in countries all over the world. (Hardin & Shain, 2005

Rooting for the story: Institutional sports journalism in the digital age

This dissertation examines contemporary daily sports journalism through the lenses of media sociology and new institutional theory. In-depth interviews with 25 sports journalists (reporters and editors) identified the institutionalized norms, values, practices and routines of American sports journalism, demonstrated how that institutionalization affects story selection, and showed how the profession is changing due to digital and social media. The interviews show that although traditional sports journalism is highly institutionalized, digital sports journalism is far less so. Traditional sports journalism is still centered around a story, and digital sports journalism follows Robinson\u27s (2011) journalism-as-process model. The journalists interviewed are expected to perform acts of both traditional and digital journalism during the same work day, which leads to tension in how they do their jobs

This sporting life. Why so few women sports writers

Sports journalism has traditionally been seen as a male domain, and a number of researchers suggest that this tradition has not changed (Strong, 2007). Sports reporters in the United Kingdom remain predominantly male, and despite increasingly more women having entered sports journalism since the women’s movement of the 1970s, the number of women sports writers remains relatively low (Franks, 2013; Chambers et al, 2004). In recent years there has been some considerable progress regarding the visibility of women in broadcast sports journalism and in particular the London Olympics in 2012 was a watershed for UK broadcasting, but there are still very few women sports writers in the UK newspaper industry, and sports journalism remains a largely male-dominated area in countries all over the world (Hardin & Shain, 2005)

Sport, public relations and social media

This chapter examines the disruptive nature of social media as it alters the relationship between sports journalism and public relations. It looks at some key examples and argues that while much is changing, some aspects of the relationship between the media and sports also remain constant

There he goes:the Influencer–Sports Journalism of Fabrizio Romano on Twitter and Its Implications for Professionalism

Fabrizio Romano’s sizeable social media followings and role as influencer–sports journalist warrant attention. Romano, known for his catchphrase ‘Here We Go’, specialises in football transfers and produces multi-platform content. This study investigates how Romano’s Twitter practice informs professional understandings of sports journalism. A content and textual analysis (n = 494) was conducted of one month of Romano’s tweets and replies. Tweets were categorised according to markers of sports journalism practice. Results show Romano is professionalising sports journalism on social media and subverting understandings of personal branding through favouring objective news over subjective opinion and focusing on the professional rather than the personal. Romano’s transfer news prioritises major European football clubs, which is consistent with the trajectory of sports journalism on digital platforms. Play-by-play commentary is a minor aspect of Romano’s Twitter output, which contributes to the debate on the significance of game coverage to contemporary sports journalism. Tweets did not mention the human rights issues surrounding the World Cup starting in Qatar, even though this was a key talking point. This finding suggests that the normative assumption that sports journalists should scrutinise power and/or highlight social injustice does not always apply to all practitioners in all contexts, particularly where ultra-specialist settings are concerned

Women in sports journalism.

This thesis is an exploration of women in sports journalism and the challenges they face when entering the locker room. It begins with an introduction focused on the history of women in sports journalism. Following the introduction, there will be a discussion in literature review format of the various challenges the women have faced

Where Are All the Women? Diversity, the Sports Media, and Sports Journalism Education

Abstract: There is a shortage of female sports journalists and a lack of media coverage of women's sports. Part of the explanation for this must lie in the shortage of female students choosing to take sports journalism degrees and training courses. How bad is the problem? What are the causes of it? And what is life like for the few female students who choose to take such courses? This paper provides new data on the extent of the problem with the results of Freedom of Information requests to UK universities providing sports journalism education. It then discusses the nature of the problem from the perspectives of UK female sports journalism students through a series of structured interviews. In doing so, this paper seeks to add to a growing conversation about the lack of gender diversity within the sports media and to provide recommendations about how this could be addressed

How has Sports Journalism Been Forced to Adapt to Twitter?

This paper seeks to analyze case studies, prior research and tweets to understand the impact Twitter has had on the field of sports journalism. I am looking at this impact through the lenses of breaking news, speed, content, expanded dissemination and gatekeeping. These five aspects are things that Twitter excels at providing, and I want to see what these provide to sports journalism, specifically as it has adapted to a new medium

Breaking into the boys' club : an analysis of the experiences of women journalists entering the sports journalism arena

Historically, women sports journalists encounter frequent instances of objectification, harassment, and discrimination from sources, colleagues, and higher ups (Hardin & Shain, 2005), and women in the current sports journalism industry remain greatly outnumbered compared to their counterparts who are men (Lapchick et al., 2021). This study examines the challenges new women sports journalists face during their first few years in the sports journalism industry in a current, postfeminist context utilizing Joan Acker's theory of gendered organizations to analyze gendered practices within the field. Challenges experienced by new women sports journalists found in this research suggest ongoing explicit and implicit genderbased harassment, discrimination, and obstacles to their professional endeavors; however, these challenges do not always persist in the same form as those seen by women in the past and are more indicative of a current, postfeminist sports journalism field. The positive professional experiences of new women sports journalists indicate growing acceptance of the presence and upward mobility of women in sports journalism, as well as the breaking down of previous traditional assumptions of male superiority and female inferiority within the industry.Includes bibliographical references

What Is Sports Journalism? How COVID-19 Accelerated A Redefining Of U.S. Sports Reporting

The coronavirus pandemic placed sports journalism in a vulnerable state, which necessitated a reconsideration of what it means to conduct sports journalism. Through the theoretical framework of metajournalistic discourse, the present study reports on a two-step discourse analysis of metajournalism on U.S. sports journalism (n=166) published during the coronavirus pandemic. We argue that journalism vigorously defended the sports journalism subfield in the expectation that it would once again become newsrooms’ economic engine. While historically denigrated as the “toy department,” sports journalism here reflected on this designation in a positive light: after all, aren’t toys what bring people together? Even without live sports, sports journalism was still perceived as a specialty emphasizing social cohesion