Situation Definition:
An ethical concern in today’s society that is often overlooked is the lack of gender diversity in sports journalism and the way sports reporters cover women’s sports, especially in interviews with specific female athletes. The sports journalism field is primarily male dominated, and although there continues to be an increasing number in aspiring females in the field, they still remain outnumbered (Laucella, 2016). Another ethical issue that we discussed in class is the issue of treating others differently in interview settings. Our class discussion was primarily about the issue between different races, but the one I will be talking about is the issue between journalists treating male and female athletes differently.
Analysis:
The first ethical issue brought up was the lack of gender diversity in the sports journalism field. Women are becoming more present in the sports industry, but that does not mean they are getting treated the same as men. Found in a scholarly article on females in this industry, on many occasions women feel with certain athletes and coaches, not all, talk down to them or call them “Sweetie,” or assume they do not know too much about the sport (Swanson, 2009). I personally wanted to focus on a case related to sports journalism because that is the field I am pursuing.
The second ethical issue, and the one coinciding with the case I chose, is journalists treating female athletes different than male athletes in interviews. In 2015, tennis stars, Serena Williams and Eugenie Bouchard were both asked in a post-match interview to “twirl” and show off their “outfits,” (Serena Williams Gets Asked to Twirl After Match, 2015). The ethical problem seen here is the fact that they are athletes, just played their hearts out in the Australian Open, and you, the reporter, are asking them about their outfits? Not only is it sexist, as one would never ask Roger Federer to “twirl,” but it also brought to my attention how often this does happen. After further research, I found more instances like the one with Serena Williams. Female athletes are often questioned on their appearance, and love life, rather than their athletics and their recent performance, like a normal interview would go with a male athlete (Pasulka, 2015). As a former athlete I relate to this, being questioned in interviews about how I like playing in “skirts,” actually called kilts, during lacrosse. I think reporters need to get rid of the sexism and focus on the game that the athlete just played. Coming full circle to my first ethical issue brought up, does this sexist questioning occur due to the lack of female sports journalists in the industry? I cannot make any assumptions, but I have to personally believe it would be less of an occurrence if women were conducting these interviews.
As an aside in my research, I would like to add that I found an article that was published after this Serena Williams instance, where male reports asked various male athletes about their love lives, appearance, and to give them “twirls,” during interviews just to see how the men would react (Moss, 2015). You can guess the reaction – the male athletes were not amused. If males are not asked these questions, why should any athletes be asked such ridiculous questions?
Conclusion:
I believe the lack of gender diversity in sports journalism is an issue in itself, but also causes other problems, like the sexism in interviews like discussed. Female representation in the sports industry is on the rise, with an example of the 2016 ESPN Around The Horn panel was the first all-female panel in the shows history (Bumpus, 2018). That being said, I believe there is still a long way to go to make this industry an environment where women feel comfortable working in. Going into this industry myself, I can say I am excited, but also have reservations due to the current male dominated atmosphere, and hope to continue to see female advancement.
Sources:
Bumpus, D. A. (2018, January 03). Women made sports media history in 2017, but obstacles in the industry persist. Retrieved from https://fansided.com/2018/01/03/women-sports- media-history-2017-obstacles-remain/
Laucella, P. C., Hardin, M., Bien-Aimé, S., & Antunovic, D. (2016). Diversifying the Sports Department and Covering Women’s Sports: A Survey of Sports Editors. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(3), 772-792. https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/diversifying-the-sports-department-and-covering- women-s-sports-a-TG53s7HYKI?key=sage
Moss, R. (2015, November 04). What If Male Sports Stars Were Asked The Same Questions As Female Athletes? Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/11/04/cover-the-athlete-sexist-questions-women-in-sport_n_8470420.htmlguccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_cs=eKuF_CfhFfNM0yh-mX7PHw
Pasulka, N. (2015, January 22). Serving Up Sexism: Reporter’s Banter With Tennis Champ Prompts Outrage. Retrieved from http://www.takepart.com/video/2015/01/22/sportscaster-asks-tennis-player-twirl
Serena Williams Gets Asked to Twirl After Match, Sparks Sexism Debate. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/serena-williams-asked-to- twirl-post-tennis-match-sparks-sexism-debate-2015221/
Swanson, Sara Ellen, “Women in sports journalism.” (2009). Master’s Theses. 3986.
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/3986