The Evolution of Women in Sports Journalism

This unit was given to us so that we could explore an area of

investigation of our choice, in order to demonstrate a greater depth of
understanding of our discipline and place within it. As a result, I
wanted to take advantage of the benefits I could reap from this unit and
decided to circulate it around an investigation that I know I am
passionate about and that also has a positive influence on my final
project.
Based on my keen interest in sports and creating productions surrounding
sporting topics, I decided that I wanted to explore sports journalism in
depth. This means researching a topic that would have relevance to the
storytelling in sports journalism, but also researching a story that
would guarantee giving my final production an advantage. Therefore, I
chose the investigation title ‘The Evolution of Women in Sports
Journalism.’ From this investigation, I hope to evaluate and highlight
the positive influences that female representation has on sports
journalism, as well as the way that this aids storytelling in the sports
media industry.
Women in sports journalism was often something unheard of truly until
recently, especially in male-dominated sports, such as football and
Formula 1. From a young age, I have been an enthusiastic fan of many
sports, and this has and always will be a huge part of my life. However,
when growing up, with Sky Sports constantly being on the television in
the houses of my father and my grandparents, I found that I never really
had female role models in an area where I was passionate. Regardless of
this, I still enjoyed my sports, but I began feeling the effects of this
as I grew older, considering a career in the sports media industry and
seeking some form of role model for guidance, inspiration and direction.
In a situation like this, it would have been easy to simply look up to
the male presenters I’d seen on my screen and use them for inspiration,
however a part of me always questioned why it was that there was such a
lack of female representation in sports journalism.
Based on this, I want to start by using my lifetime as a timeline, since
so much has changed between my childhood and now. I can genuinely
reflect on my life and think of the changes that have occurred when it
comes to sports broadcasting and publishing. This meant that I began in
the year 2010, using the World Cup as a reference, since this is
probably the earliest major event that I can remember in my lifetime,
and I am certain that there will have been a change in gender
representation on our screens between now and then.
World Cup – South Africa – 2010:
I analysed a clip from YouTube, which was around 45 minutes long. In
order to get a rough idea of what major sporting broadcasts looked like
in 2010, I had a rough look through the video, mainly focussing on the
presenters, the interviews and what sort of role they played in the
production of the build-up. This clip is crucial for my analysis, since
the variety and change in the panel is immense, with diversity and
inclusion being a consistent, reoccurring theme in sports broadcasting
currently. Although there is little wrong with the production format of
2010, there is a change in the role that women play in key sports
reporting between then and now, which is what I will show in my
following analysis.

The first feature I noticed in this

production is the male predominance
throughout the entirety. As you can see
in the screen clipping to the right,
the entire panel is male, showing the
lack of female representation in
leading TV roles back in 2010.

As the broadcast progresses, you can hear a female (Gabby Logan) who is
leading the interviews and doesn’t really appear on the main screen at
all. It briefly mentions in an online report that her role was more
pitch side and interviewing, but that’s it. This differs to the role of
working on the panel on the main screen.

About 25 minutes in, you can see

Gabby’s main feature and first
appearance, but as previously
mentioned, she doesn’t have a key role
on the panel, which differs greatly to
the broadcasting for the most recent
World Cup. This leads me on to an
integral piece of information that I
discovered in my research.

When looking at who the BBC brought along to South Africa for the World
Cup broadcasting coverage, using their website, I found that only 1
female was included in the list, across the main BBC channels, BBC Radio
5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra. This shows how incredibly outnumbered
female broadcasters were even just over 10 years ago, which completely
differs to what we see now, when it comes to the press packs that are
released for recent major tournaments.

World Cup – 2014 – Brazil:

Due to the fact that Gabby Logan was part of the BBC team in 2010, I had
a feeling that something would’ve changed in the space of 4 years,
however I was surprised that the breakthrough was yet to occur.
Throughout these screen clips, with the use of my analysis, you will see
that the coverage hasn’t evolved much in terms of representation. I
honestly thought that by this time, something would’ve changed, but it
hasn’t, which still proves my general point of the fact that there was a
huge lack of female representation in an area of one of my greatest
passions when growing up.

This image was taken from an analysis

of the World Cup Final and by
skimming through, I noticed that
there was not any female
representation. This even included
interviewing, let alone featuring in
the main studio, discussing ideas on
the panel.

When it comes to the panel itself, the

line-up is almost identical to the
previous one, therefore it is clear to
see that very little has changed at
all. For me, I was around 9 when this
World Cup took place and as a young
girl incredibly passionate about
sports, careers like journalism never
occurred to me, due to issues like
this, where the lack of representation
subconsciously made me feel that this
wasn’t a possibility for me as a female. I will only pull two
screenshots from this broadcast, since it’s fairly self-explanatory,
therefore it would be repetitive if I were to highlight the same thing
over and over again.
I accessed the list of presenters and commentators for the BBC during
this World Cup online and yet again, the only female to feature on this
list was Gabby Logan. The main question that lives in my head is why
didn’t we have a breakthrough earlier in females featuring in key roles
in football broadcasting? To say that females simply weren’t interested
would be a weak excuse. From my personal experience, having that role
model earlier on would have been reassuring and would have opened my
eyes to new opportunities and possibilities.

World Cup – Qatar – 2022:

This World Cup was the most recent World Cup and for me this is where
the change in representation truly shone. Whether that’s due to the win
of the Lionesses in the Euro Final during the summer, or for other
reasons, I’m not sure. But, I will say that I was incredibly happy to
see such a range of diversity between the hosts and the guests on the
panel. Through this representation, I have discovered new idols and
inspiring people, who really held such high knowledge of the sport. This
made watching the tournament so much more interesting, but also so much
better, due to the fact that everyone was given a voice.

This image already shows a clear

change, where you can see Alex
Scott, featuring on the main panel
in the build up to one of the games.
This was a regular occurrence for a
variety of female reporters working
on this World Cup for the BBC.

Another special mention is to the

fact that this is the first Men’s
World Cup to feature a female
referee, therefore displaying the
growth and change of our society and
it’s views towards women featuring in
Men’s football. Based on this image
alone, I honestly feel that Qatar
deserve the credit for bringing light
to change.

Another great image, which showcases

the change in society that has
occurred between 2014 and now is this
image. Here you can see the line-ups
for both BBC and ITV’s commentary
team, which is a good balance between
male and female. This is brilliant,
since it is a great image to
symbolise to anyone who is aspiring
to be a sports journalist, that they
fit the brief. Children and young
people need role models and this is
the sort of image that gives people hope and role models to look up to.
I know personally, I gained a lot of inspiration from this World Cup
alone.
I am very happy with the progress we have made so far and Qatar is the
perfect example to compare with the likes of Brazil 2014 in how we’ve
evolved and revolutionised in the sports media industry. We still have a
long way to go, but the fact that there is much female representation
available is a great start, with young girls now having that role model
I never had, increasing engagement and enjoyment of sports overall, in
having that relatability.

Positive Role Models:

Someone who has really paved the way for
me over the last few years is Alex Scott.
I personally think she’s a brilliant role
model for all that she stands for and she
has really shone a light on women in
football journalism, showing that women
can do the same job as men, hitting the
same standard and showcasing their
knowledge.

Another special mention goes to Laura Georges, who is an ex-footballer

from France. I noticed her on the
coverage of a game featuring
Senegal and I followed her straight
away on social media, after hearing
her knowledge and passion for the
game. I even took my chances and
sent her a message, to which she
replied to. I look up to her so
much and I am so glad that this
form of representation in coverage
exposed me to new idols.

Overall, sports media has come a long way in terms of female

representation and inclusion, yet it still needs to allow room for
growth. This is crucial, since the next generations of young women and
girls need to have that idol and inspiration that shows them that it is
possible to make a breakthrough in the sports media industry and that
anything is possible with the right motivation. I am incredibly pleased
with the way that society has revolutionised, but I am even more excited
to see what the future holds for women in sports journalism and how that
change can hold power in terms of inspiration, engagement and
interaction, with wider audiences.