Gender Bias in Sports Media Running Head: Gender Bias in Sports Media

Gender Bias in Sports Media: The Credibility of Female Sportscasters

Tess Fortier TJ Karns Ned Lockwood Brett Sirois Ashley White College of Charleston

Gender Bias in Sports Media Introduction The purpose of our study was to address the issue of gender bias in sports media and communication. Our study focused on how women are seen in the world of sports media and highlighting gender bias in sports media. Our group focused on the credibility of female sports broadcasters and if and why they do not have equal opportunities and stature to males when it

comes to sports broadcasting, or simply working in the sports media industry. We looked at why women seem to play supporting roles as sideline reporters rather than authoritative figures in the broadcasting booths. We saw that when females do get a chance to speak on camera, it is usually very brief. We evaluated how different people felt about female sports broadcasters and if females were preferred to males. We looked to see if most people saw women as credible and qualified. We undertook a quantitative survey to address these issues and broke down the information gathered into graphs and charts so we could demonstrate trends and averages. The information we collected gave us a better sense of why female sports reporters are discriminated against and whether people felt that there should be a change in the system. Based on these efforts, we put together a study that shows what many college students think about females professionally addressing, writing about, and speaking about mens sports. Literature Review Title IV is a law that was passed in 1972, in which the purpose of this law was to ensure that women had the same equal opportunities in organized sports as men. The passing of this law increased the number of women participating in organized sports as well as the number of scholarships increased for women (Garber 2002; Schell 200; Cahn; 1994; Snyder; 1994). At the time when Title IV was passed, the ratio of men playing sports to women playing sports was 1 in

Gender Bias in Sports Media 27. 30 years later in 2002, the number rose tremendously to 1 in 2 (Garber 2002). Though womens participation in sports has grown, their involvement in sports reporting still remains

fairly low. Could this be due to that fact most audiences are all male? Some make this argument. ESPN stated that 70-75% of its audience is male. Even when there is coverage of a womens game 60-70% of the audience is still male (McManus 2005). As a result of this the women reports that do exist have a hard time trying to get their jobs done. In the 1970s Jeannie Morris was banned from entering the press box and had to watch an NFL game from the bleachers in a blizzard. (Schwartz 1999). Not only are women struggling to get the job done. They are having trouble getting hired Hannah Storm a former sportscaster for NBC once stated that during an interview she was told by a news director he would hire a woman sportscaster over his dead body. I was turned down for more jobs than I care to think about, simply because of my gender (Lainson, 1998). After reviewing this evidence it is obvious that sports media is a male dominated world. Sports reporters in the 20th century are often known as the bad boys or rough guys among peers. Making this a hard way for women to try to fit into this stereotype. In the Los Angles Times a sports writer Gene Wojciechowski called fellow colleagues pond scum and vultures (Wojciechowski, b.c). Women would defiantly not come to mind when this comment is heard. But Melissa Ludtke made a huge step for women reporters when she sued the MLB for not allowing her access to the locker room during the World Series. Ludtke who was reporting for Sports Illustrated was known as a credible reporter but was still denied locker room access. She and her employer won this case and a federal judge ruled that women reporters were to be given equal access to the locker rooms. (Druzan 2000). Standpoint theorists Sandra Harding and Julia Wood define standpoint as, A place from which to view the world around us. (Griffin, 2009, p. 441) Harding, a philosopher of

Gender Bias in Sports Media postcolonial theory and epistemology, is credited with advancing the standpoint theory amongst feminist scholars. On the subject she claims, When people speak from the opposite sides of

power relations, the perspective from the lives of the less powerful can provide a more objective view than the perspective from the lives of the more powerful.(Wood, 2009, p.442) Wood, a Communication Professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, is recognized for her innovation of the Standpoint theory in the field of communication. She theorizes that beliefs are partial however some standpoints are, more partial than others since different locations within social hierarchies affect what is likely to be seen.(p.443) Both scholars draw upon the idea that although dominant groups have generally been the ones to write the history books, it is the marginalized groups who possess more valuable artifacts that define society in a given era. Harding articulates this phenomenon by saying,The social group that gets the chance to define the important problematics, concepts, assumptions, and hypotheses in a field will end up leaving its social fingerprints on the picture of the world. (p.442) In our study, the marginalized group is undoubtedly females in the sports industry, specifically female sports broadcasters. Their problems, progress, and history have been documented and defined by the dominating power in their field, which for decades have been males. These males have created the culture of sports, and have been the storytellers of it, going as far as outlining what it takes to be in the field. Thus putting females at a disadvantage and forcing them to adapt. For us to conduct research on the topic of gender bias and female credibility in sports broadcasting, we must draw upon from experts in the field of communication. Sandy Harding would suggest we begin by using Strong Objectivity ,The strategy of starting research from the lives of women and other marginalized groups, thus providing a less false view of reality.(p.444)

Gender Bias in Sports Media In Amanda Guntehr, Daniel Kautz, and Allison Roths study, The Credibility of Sports Braodcasters: The Perception of Gender in a Male-Dominated Profession, they followed

Hardings blueprint fairly closely. In their methodology, they conducted a structured survey, and a focus group with both males and females. But, they also conducted a focus interviews, which only consisted of females, all four of which are prominent women in the fields of sports journalism and broadcasting. Interviewing strictly females was done in order to gauge feedback directly from the marginalized group. The researchers must have believed the technique of collecting information from the ostracized group in comparison to the powerful one, would better serve in collecting valuable information on the subject. Julia Wood, would have applauded this research method, based on her belief that, People with subordinate status have greater motivation to understand the perspective of more powerful groups than vice versa(p.447). She theorizes that dominant groups have less reason to understand the other halves views of the world. John Gribas study, Organizational Sports Metaphors: Reconsidering Gender Bias in the Team Concept, He explored the team concept, an accepted sports metaphor, and its gender-bias reputation. Gribas hypothesized that the team concept in organizations is a sports metaphor that is gender-biased, preferred and controlled by men. This study goes beyond females being marginalized in the world of sports, but sports jargon used in organizations to relegate them at work and in society. When it comes to observing the dynamic of sports broadcasting, it is easy to see that males are the dominant gender due to their authoritative nature on the subject. Sports and sports broadcasting are structured largely by and for men, and literature suggests that both

Gender Bias in Sports Media authoritativeness and gender affect perceptions of female broadcasters (Etling & Young, 2007). Deborah Tannens Genderlect theory helps us to better understand why this is the case. Genderlect is a term that proposes that masculine and feminine styles of discourse are best

viewed as two distinct cultures. Tannen describes men and women as speaking different worlds from different worlds, and claims that conversations between men and women reflect mens efforts to dominate women. While men have report talk, women have rapport talk. Report talk is the monologic style of men, which seeks to command attention, convey information, and win arguments. Rapport talk is the conversational style of women which seeks to establish connection with others (Griffin, 2009). In other words, women try to maintain symmetry while men try to maintain asymmetry. This causes a lot of friction for women in this male-dominated field because women want to remain connected with their male counterparts who feel threatened because they perceive it as women trying to dominate. Interestingly, this can parallel with a report that found college men rated male speakers higher than females on expertness, while college women rated both women and men about equally (Etling & Young, 2007). As Tannen would say, these different styles of conversation are the source of continuing irritation in crossgender talk (Griffin, 2009).When viewers are watching sports broadcasts, they believe that it is a specialization in which practitioners must excel in credibility and knowledge (Etling & Young, 2007). This again demonstrates the subordinate nature of women in sports broadcasting. According to Tannen, women have expressive communication and men have instrumental communication. With this, she proposes that women focus more on how the message is said whereas men stress the literal content of a message (Dainton & Zelley, 2011). Genderlect theory helps us to better understand why the credibility of female sportscasters is undermined in comparison to male sportscasters.

Gender Bias in Sports Media Another communication theory that our group is looking at within this topic is Muted

Group theory. Women and men communicate differently and women are seen as a muted group because they are considered as lower in status than men in society. Muted Groups, such as women, feel as if they cannot express themselves as freely in the public eye and have to conform to the male standard of communication. Female reporters are expected to not be too manly but also to not use their sex appeal to get interviews or stories. Female sports journalists are in even more of a bind because they are under a lot of scrutiny in the male dominated world of sports. Many sports departments have a thriving locker-room mentality, which makes them unfriendly places for women (Hardin & Shain, 2005). Women are sometimes made to feel uncomfortable and unwanted. They are seen oddities; as if they dont belong. Some males see women covering mens sports as just filling a quota for female employees and as under-qualified. Women must have thick skin in order to survive in a career such as sports journalism because of all the criticism they will face. Women are in the minority in this field and thus have to overcome many obstacles in order to succeed. Womens muted status is also exemplified by how many women feel less inclined to cover womens sports because they feel that it could slow their careers. Also if women are too aggressive in trying to cover female sports they labeled as feminist and that comes with negative connotations in the newsroom. The nature of sports idealizes an authoritarian power structure favoring mens sports that demands unquestioning obedience (Hardin & Shain, 2005). Someone that tries push womens sports is not taken seriously even if it is a good story because she is simply seen as a woman pushing more coverage of womens sports just for the sake of equality and not for the quality of the story itself.

Gender Bias in Sports Media Another instance showing women as muted is in harassment issues. In a specific instance, a reporter said that she was sexually assaulted by an athlete early in her career but kept quiet because she feared it would hurt her career (Hardin & Shain, 2006). Other examples of sexual harassment in the work place that are generally ignored by female sports journalists include male reporters looking at pornography in the press box; fellow reporters making sexist

jokes about female athletes and reporters; and athletes playing sexually explicit video tapes in the locker room during an interview (Hardin & Shain, 2006). Women also have to put up with being patronized by athletes and coaches being called baby or honey during interviews. Women in sports broadcasting learn to shake the instances off and act unaffected or as if nothing had ever happened. They treat it as part of their daily routine. Womens demonstrations of caring and intuitive communication skills open doors to entry-level jobs, but these qualities become a disadvantage when women seek promotion because they are associated with lack of assertiveness and weak leadership (Hardin & Shain, 2006). So what women end up doing many times is trying to just fit in and to be one of the boys by using masculine values and practices. Female journalists may also normalize the masculine news culture and refuse to acknowledge the disadvantages that women face as a group, even blaming other women for their own subordination. (Hardin & Shain, 2006). A 1995 survey of about 200 members of the Association of for Women in Sports Media found that although respondents reported overall job satisfaction, they also reported discrimination and an invisible status in their sports departments (Hardin & Shain, 2005). As a muted group, sports broadcasting women are more likely to leave their jobs and pursue other careers due to lack of advancement issues. Based on the views of society, female broadcasters are perceived as less credible and entertaining than male announcers, therefore women take a subordinate role in sports social

Gender Bias in Sports Media media. The sports fans and facts do not lie. All of the articles and studies throughout the paper along with Title IX, Standpoint, Genderlect, Muted Group, and the 1978 Federal Court Case

have all only strengthened our hypothesis even more and justified our position that, based on the views of society, female broadcasters are perceived as less credible and entertaining than male announcers, therefore women take a subordinate role in sports social media. The independent variables of this hypothesis are the credibility, and bias/favor towards women announcers and the dependent variables being the perception of females in sports broadcasting. Methods- Quantitative An online survey was conducted. There were a total of 23 questions that were used in this survey. A total of 85 subjects took the survey, with half of the population being male and the other half female. The population of the subjects consisted of college students ranging from the ages of 18-25. Researchers in the group sent the survey out to all friends and family that fit into this category. Participants received the survey via multiple options being through email, or on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The survey consisted of multiple choice questions that ranged from different types including, likert, semantic differential and feeling thermometer type questions. The questions that were used in the online survey were as follows: 1. What is your gender? 2. Do you watch sports? 3. If yes, how many hours per week? 4. What is your favorite sports network to watch? 5. What is your favorite sport to watch? 6. Based on gender do you prefer women broadcasters more for men's sports?

Gender Bias in Sports Media 7. Based on gender do you prefer men broadcasters more for men's sports? 8. How would you feel about a woman broadcasting from the booth for a Super Bowl?

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9. How would you feel about a man broadcasting the NCAA Softball Championship game? 10. Do you feel like a different gendered announcer would improve a broadcast? 11. Do you believe women in sports broadcasting are hired based on the same criteria as men? 12. Do you believe female broadcasters to be as credible as their male counterparts? 13. What are the main qualities that you look for in a sports broadcaster? 14. Do you prefer a humorous sports broadcaster? 15. Do you believe there should be an equal amount of male and female broadcasters in sports? 16. Should male and female sports broadcasters be paid the same salary? 17. Are female broadcasters as credible as men? 18. I prefer to see strictly males broadcasting on the sidelines and in the broadcasting booths? 19. I believe females have been wrongfully discriminated against in the world of sports broadcasting? 20. I prefer women to be on the sidelines and not in the booth? 21. Female sportscasters have to censor themselves in regards to what they can say, or do more than male broadcasters? 22. Title IX states that public high schools and colleges must have an equal number of mens sports programs as women's sports programs do you agree? 23. Do you think if a network hired more females it would boost the ratings?

Gender Bias in Sports Media 24. Do you think a TV network evaluates potential female sports broadcasters on the same criteria as potential male sports broadcasters? Since there was such a large number of questions on the online survey, researchers decided to focus on certain questions that were deemed most important. Those questions are as follows: 1. What is your gender? 2. How many hours per week do you watch sports? 3. How would you feel about a woman broadcasting from the booth for a Super Bowl? 4. Do you believe there should be an equal amount of male and female broadcasters in sports? 5. Should male and female sports broadcasters be paid the same salary? 6. Are female broadcasters as credible as men? 7. Do you think a TV network evaluates potential female sports broadcasters on the same criteria as potential male sports broadcasters? The questions above are what the results below are based upon. Results

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The surveys used have gathered a great amount of data for our research and have given us some great numbers to go off and analyze our thesis thoroughly. The results we collected were very neutral and did not go either way and were not enough to reject the null or support our hypotheses completely. Our thesis stated that, based on the views of society, female broadcasters are perceived as less credible and entertaining than male announcers, therefore women take a subordinate role in sports social media, this was supported to be very neutral result directed data that neither really disproved our thesis or supported it but it did come to state that women were perceived to be as credible as men but actually were not favored over men in the end. This

Gender Bias in Sports Media duality of a result for our data is very interesting and can be explained when you look at graph

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1A, the question most important to our thesis posed, do you believe female sports broadcasters are as credible as men which gave the results of 24% neutral, 27% disagree and 29% agree and the remainder to the strongly dis/agree. When looking at this and the mean of 3.16 it tends to truly show its neutral nature as a sample. This focusing back on the results is what makes the thesis unable to be supported or disproved. The calculated t-value for this question was .053 with degrees of freedom of 1 and the significance level of .05. This supports the fact that the null was accepted because the calculated value was higher than that of the significance level. We also looked at gender as a variable when looking at our data. We were able to get an about 50/50 ration of men to women in our results. This shows that we were able to collect an unbiased viewpoint from both genders. Discussion Our findings indicate several different valued talking points and conclusions, the main one being:"women are perceived to be as credible as men in sports broadcaster, but they are not preferred." This conclusion can be drawn by looking at the response to some of our survey questions, most notable: "How would you feel if a women were to broadcast in the booth for the Super Bowl"..."Do you think a TV network evaluates potential sports broadcasters on the same criteria and standards as potential male sports broadcasters?" The results from both questions point towards our survey participants strongly against the implications of both questions. Our survey respondents, in large numbers, did not believe women and men were evaluated on the same criteria during the interview process, nor did they want to see a female in the broadcasting booth during the Super Bowl. This gives us strong reason to believe, that our respondents believe females sports broadcasters are fully capable of pulling off their roles as broadcasters,

Gender Bias in Sports Media however they are not preferred or capable of pulling of the males role of being the dominant sportscaster. Our respondents and most likely our population as a whole, would prefer to see a

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more entertaining, smooth, and articulate man, break down what is happening in a game, then a less experienced and knowledgeable female. However they also believe that female sports broadcaster do a good enough job of taking on their roles as sports broadcasters, and are as credible as their male counterparts. Our quantitative results can be compared not only to previous research and experiments similar to that of our own, but also valued theories in the field of communication. Sports and sports broadcasting are structured largely by and for men, and literature suggests that both authoritativeness and gender affect perceptions of female broadcasters (Etling & Young, 2007). Deborah Tannens Genderlect theory helps us to better understand why this is the case. Genderlect is a term that proposes that masculine and feminine styles of discourse are best viewed as two distinct cultures. Tannen describes men and women as speaking different words from different worlds, and claims that conversations between men and women reflect mens efforts to dominate women. While men use report talk, women use rapport talk. Report talk is the monologic style of men, which seeks to command attention, convey information, and dominate arguments. Rapport talk is the conversational style of women which seeks to establish connection with others (Griffin, 2009). Tannen's theory's could easily parallel our findings that most of our participants didn't believe males and females to be hired on the same criteria. If females were to be used in the world of sports broadcasting as the subordinate group, which Tannen and our respondents believed, then it would make sense as to why they weren't hired on the same basis as men.

Gender Bias in Sports Media

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In Amanda Guntehr, Daniel Kautz, and Allison Roths study, The Credibility of Sports Braodcasters: The Perception of Gender in a Male-Dominated Profession, their hypothesis that "Females sports broadcasters are perceived as being less credible than male sports broadcasters." was rejected, as was ours. However, like our group, they believe there was more to the study then simply looking at whether the hypothesis was rejected or accepted by the quantitative data. The authors responded in their discussion by noting, "Upon examining the data, the results were still unclear and did not provide cut and dry data." Similar to our quantitative results, which support the concept that women appear to be less credible, however they are not viewed on the same playing field as males. Our main limitation was time, in that we had less than a semester to conduct a full on research project. This gave us trouble when it came down to finding fifty males and females willing to fill out a near thirty question survey, especially respondents of varied ages. In order to improve upon our research, we could have isolated the independent variable of age, and seen which age groups responded in which way. Were older respondents more traditional, expecting and wanting mostly males in sports broadcaster, and were younger respondents more progressive minded when considering having more females in the world of sports broadcasting, or vice versa. Different questions we could have asked would be," If a female broadcaster was on television would you change the channel to game without one?" and possible, "Do you believe males to be better sports broadcaster then their female counterparts?" in order to better explain our conclusion that male sports broadcasters are preferred to females. Also, we could have expanded our survey participants to better represent the population, and decrease standard error. Plus, with more time and better resources, we could have surveyed

Gender Bias in Sports Media people from all over the United States, instead of just the Charleston area. Lastly, consulting with a major research firm could have legitimized and perfected our research.

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Statistics Are female sports broadcasters as credible as males? 85 0 3.16 3.00 4 1.143 1.306

Valid Missing

Mean Median Mode Std. Deviation Variance

gender 85 0 1.51 2.00 2 .503 .253

gender

Cumulative Frequency Valid 1 2 Total 42 43 85 Percent 49.4 50.6 100.0 Valid Percent 49.4 50.6 100.0 Percent 49.4 100.0

Gender Bias in Sports Media Methods- Qualitative For the qualitative research, a focus group was held to get an in-depth view into the topic of

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Gender Bias in Sports Media. Six individuals were chosen to participate. Three being male and three being female. All of the participants were chosen for a few reasons, one being that they had a previous background in playing sports or two being that the individual was an avid sports watcher. Qualities that would allow the participants to give the in-depth answers that researchers were in search of. All of the participants that were chosen fit into the college student category that was used to determine the participants for the online survey, each participant was within the age limit from 18-25. There were three males and three females to ensure that each gender was equally and fairly represented. All participants were asked to meet at the Addlestone Library at a scheduled time which was 8:00 pm. The participants were then escorted to a study room by 2 researchers. Once arriving there, 2 other researchers where waiting to begin the focus group, each participant was asked to take a seat and the focus group began. Two more researchers were present in the room to ask the questions and record all of the feedback that was given. One researcher was given the task of the moderator, to ensure that the focus group ran smoothly. Each question was then asked, and each participant was given an opportunity to state their views on what had been asked. The focus group lasted for approximately one hour. There were 10 questions in total that were asked and they are as follows: 1. Give a brief description of your sports background 2. Do you believe that women sports broadcasters are credible? Why or why not? 3. Do you think a TV network evaluates potential female sports broadcasters on the same criteria and standards as potential male sports broadcasters?

Gender Bias in Sports Media 4. How would you feel about a woman were to broadcast from the booth for the Super Bowl? 5. How would you feel about more men broadcasting womens sporting events? 6. How many hours of sports do you watch a week? 7. What are the main qualities you look for in a sports broadcaster? 8. Should male and female sports broadcaster be paid the same salary?

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9. Title IX states that public high schools and colleges must have an equal number of mens sports programs as womens sports programs. Do you agree with Title IX? 10. Do you believe women in sports broadcasting are hired based on the same criteria as men? Results In our six-person focus group, three males and three females, we found interesting results from our participants about how they felt about gender roles in sports media. All of the male participants happened to be former high school athletes and avid sports television viewers. The females were knowledgeable and watched sports but did not play any in high school. The males seemed as though they didnt mind female sports broadcasters but they were content with the role that they currently played in sports reporting. For example, when asked how the male participants felt about a female sports broadcaster in the booth for the Super bowl they all smirked and quickly dismissed the idea because they felt that it was against tradition and that a female broadcaster would be out of place in that situation. surprisingly the females reacted similarly saying it would be "weird" for a women to be broadcasting the event. The male and female participants also stated that a female has no football experience so that she should not be in the booth but in their usual spot, reporting from the sideline. The male participants also stated

Gender Bias in Sports Media that in regards to criteria that should be looked at when hiring broadcasters of mens sports,

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employers should look for people with more hands on sports experience and knowledge, which is something female broadcasters may not have. A female participant agreed in saying, I think with men they look for background experience in the specific sport, while I think females are chosen primarily on looks while only minimally looking at background experience. The male participants also stated that one should have vast understanding of a sport in order to talk about it professionally. Whereas the females emphasized being able to relate to the sport is very important when it came to that subject. It was also a consensus among the participants that sports broadcasters should have presence on camera and be good speakers. However, the underlying theme of our discussion was the fact that sports broadcasters needed extensive knowledge about the sport and have some experience playing that sport and being able to relate is most important. In regards to salary the male and female participants felt that men and women should have same pay for same job but women on sideline should not be paid as much because they dont do as much. The female participants thought that they should be paid the same regardless. In talking speaking about bias and equality we brought up the law of Title IX. Title IX states that a school must have as many female sports programs as male sports programs and it was enacted in 1972. This resulted in schools across the country having to cut already established mens sports programs in order to fund new female ones. In regards to Title IX the male participants in our group were strongly against it. Mens sports are more popular and make more money than womens sports, and besides its not right to just cut out a sport at a school that has fans, tradition, and alumni that care about it, a male participant remarked. the females agreed with the fact that equality was the goal and liked it for

Gender Bias in Sports Media that but in the end believed that it wasn't right to cut some men's sports for women's sports that aren't as streamlined. One male participants father wrestled in college and according to the participant, his father has a lot of pride in that fact and thinks that Title IV has wrongfully taken away male sports programs for the sake of equality in the public eye. The female participants in our group thought that Title IX was just and simply put they had no problem with it.

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Males stated that had no problem with female sports broadcasters but said that it wasnt necessary to add more off them. Males also stated that they preferred to have good-looking female reporters on the sidelines speaking briefly and males in the booth reporting during the entire game. Female participants agreed that they thought female sports broadcasters could not relate as well to male viewers as male broadcasters could and that holds females back in this industry. In this focus group our group found that male and female participants agreed that female sports broadcasters were not preferred not disliked either. All the participants seemed content with the current role of women in sports media. This focus group showed a distinct gender bias in sports broadcasting. Discussion Our qualitative results are more scattered and diverse then our quantitative ones, however they create a much more in depth understanding of our research data. For example, in both our

survey and focus group responses, the majority of respondents said they didn't believe males and females were hired on the same criteria. Our focus group summed up this stance when they agreed, that women are to look good and speak well on camera, whereas males needed to be experienced and have a legitimate background in the sport they were covering. All six of our

Gender Bias in Sports Media focus group participants said something along these lines when answering this question this

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questions, which also appeared in our quantitative survey. As Amanda Guntehr, Daniel Kautz, and Allison Roths study, The Credibility of Sports Braodcasters: The Perception of Gender in a Male-Dominated Profession, both of our focus groups were in strong support of our near identical hypothesis that, women were perceived as less credible in sports broadcasting then men. This was brought to light when five out of six of our focus group respondents did not believe women were currently not as credible as men in sports broadcasting. The male respondents seem to back up the theory that women are the muted group in sports. All three male respondents believed they'd prefer to see women on the sideline as opposed to the booth. These responses fed into the muted group theory that women are the inferior group in the world of sports broadcasting, and should cater to the males agenda. One of the male respondents stated, "No female should ever broadcast the Super Bowl, they need to stay on the sidelines if they're going to be on television." Muted group theorist Marie Hardin would perceive this response as feeding in to her notion that women are seen as oddities and quota fillers in the professional world. There were a couple of limitations in our qualitative research. First of all, it is quite possible that some of our alpha respondents could have had a major influence on other respondents in the group. Additionally, in mostly all focus groups, it was difficult to quantify our results, which limited us from using it to absolutely prove or disprove our hypothesis. Also, all of our participants were college- aged, and it would have been interesting to see answers from younger and older demographics, in order to gauge how the population as a whole views this subject.

Gender Bias in Sports Media Other research questions we could have asked would be," Who are you favorite sports broadcasters and why?"..."Who is your favorite female sports broadcaster and why?"..."Who is your least favorite sports broadcaster and why?"..."Who is your least favorite female sports broadcaster and why?" I believe these set of questions could get to the bottom of what people

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think make up a great sports broadcaster, and whether women currently fit that category, or have the potential to. Also, it would have been interesting to see if all of the respondents favorite broadcasters were male, and if most or all of their least favorite broadcasters were female. This would have helped to see which gender was preferred, and why and which was not and why. This study was an interesting look at a topic that demands further research.

Gender Bias in Sports Media References

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Dainton, M., & Zelley, E. D. (2011). Applying communication theory for professional life. (2nd ed., pp. 190-193). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Inc. Etling, L., & Young, R. (2007). Sexism and the authoritativeness of female sportscasters. Communication Research Reports, 24(2), 121-130. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Gribas, J. (1993). Organizational sports metaphors: reconsidering gender bias in the team concept. Communication Research Reports, 16(1), 55-64. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Griffin, E. (2009). A First Look at Communication Theory. (7th ed., pp. 429-453). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies. Gunther, A., Kautz, D., & Roth, A. (n.d.). The credibility of female sports broadcasters: the perception of gender in a male-dominated profession. 14(2), 71-84. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Hardin, M., & Shain, S. (2006). "Feeling Much Smaller than You Know You Are": The Fragmented Professional Identity of Female Sports Journalists. Critical studies in media communication. (Vol. 23, pp. 322-338). Hardin, M., & Shain, S. (2005). Strength in numbers? The Experience and Attitudes of Women in Sports Media Careers. J&mc quarterly. (Vol. 82, pp. 804-819).

Gender Bias in Sports Media Huffman, S., Tuggle, C. A., & Rosengard, D. S. (2004). How campus media cover sports: the

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gender-equity issue, one generation later. Mass Communication & Society, 7(4), 475-489. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Sheffer, M. L., & Schultz, B. (2001). Double standard: why women have trouble getting jobs in local television sports. Journal of Sports Media, 2, 77-101. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Strong, C. (n.d.). Female journalists shun sports reporting: lack of opportunity or lack of attractiveness?. Communication Journal of New Zealand, 7-18. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com