Ethnography

What are the struggles that women have faced in the sports media industry? Is the most difficult process that of breaking into the industry, or does the struggle come from within the workplace after she has acquired her position within this male dominated realm? Does it mainly have to do with their reception by viewers, which determines who and what is played on television? On YouTube, where I came across a video of Hannah Storm’s interview with Diversity Inc., there are several comments posted beneath the video in which viewers voice their own personal opinions. They range from women who are wildly supporting Hannah’s work, to men who are disgusted with her presence on ESPN as they find it completely blasphemous for a woman to be reporting on men’s sports leagues. One comment from Baseballstud5964 read: “I am sick of watching women tell me about an upcoming football game. It is pathetic. Sportscenter is losing their minds. I can’t believe I have to hear a women tell me about sports. women don’t know shit about sports. They say they know just as much as a man. That’s bullshit. It’s an American game and you have a woman telling me who is the team to beat.” An American game? Does Baseballstud mean to say that women are incapable of being American? Is there an aspect to American that women will always inherently be without as a result of their gender? This comment can only be taken with a grain of salt, as it is found as a YouTube comment, available to all. Yet, as provoking as this statement is, there are several more that more or less have the same message, and most of them are extremely passionate. As these prejudices seem to pervade the sports media world, these women’s occupations seem to grow harder and harder to maintain, and seem to have no room for advancement.¹ However, in her interview with Diversity Inc., Hannah Storm relays information about her past, which was largely laden with sports as a result of her father, and how the most difficult aspect of her job was actually getting it. “I think there have been many challenges over the years [in this male dominated realm] but the most difficult was actually just getting the job. Having news directors say that our audience will just not accept a woman or “I’ll hire a woman over my dead body, which I heard for years and years.”² As much as these comments are coming from a woman who has broken into the field successfully, it must be understood that Hannah Storm was given an in to the sports industry with her father being such a prominent figure. Also, as a result, she is very well respected by fellow male sports media commentators, as is shown by Tony Kornheiser’s suspension after making disrespectful comments about Hannah. However, what about the large majority of women who are in the sports media industry without such histories? In a study done by Marie Hardin and the Journal of Communication and Journalism in 2005, it found that 87% of women in the Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) felt that “Female Sports Journalists have a tougher job than male sports journalists.”³ When asked more specifically what this meant, the respondents stated that women have a tougher job in this industry for obvious reasons: the viewers want men because the large majority IS men. In this respect, it is difficult for women to obtain the equal respect from male viewers. “We are oftentimes seen as objects for viewers to look at, because the men, let’s face it, are not the most handsome,” said an anonymous respondent.

When prompted with such a loaded question as the one above, how can it be answered objectively? Although the women within the industry claim to have experienced a lack of advancement opportunities as well as an overall feeling of disrespect, this all could be a result of personal choice. To elucidate, when the same group of women in the AWSM were asked, “What was the foremost reason you considered leaving your career?”, 31% said the hours and 15% responded lack of advancement opportunities. These are not industry specific responses when put in perspective. In today’s world, the best and most competitive jobs are clearly going to present advancement opportunities to those that are willing to sacrifice personal life for professional responsibilities. While this may not be the most comforting notion, it is a fact. And whether it be a man or woman, sports media industries, such as ESPN is going to favor an individual who is more willing to commit themselves to their occupation. In today’s world, changing family dynamics allow women more freedom to pursue their professional endeavors while not having to be at home with children. In this respect, I find that woman in sports media careers, while they may be less favored by viewers, are ultimately in control of their careers once having broken into the industry.

How does one then approach the issues that occur with female sports journalists and blatant disrespect by professional athletes? With the infamous sex scandal surrounding Brett Favre and ESPN’s Jenn Sterger, audiences have the issues concerning sexism thrown into their face. In an article by Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports entitled Favre Scandal Makes us Confront Sexism he provides an unnerving description of how women are received in the sports world, most specifically the world of football. “When it comes to football, women put on short skirts, tight sweaters and carry pompoms. They grab our beer, fix our buffalo wings and look cute while reporting to us that the return of the player who limped off the field is questionable.” Does this translate to women being seen as just objects, or spectacles to men? I feel that such comments, as similar to the one from Baseballstud, point to women as an experience with sports; they are seen as amplifiers of the excitement that sports brings. Why else would teams have cheerleaders? I doubt they are ACTUALLY pupming them up more than they do themselves. Just as Hannah Storm’s previous news directors stated, audiences essentially DO NOT want women to report on sports. This cannot be looked at as an issue strictly within the sports media industry, as their main goal is to cater to their audiences. As Marj Snyder said, an exexcutive at the Women’s Sports Foundation, “I don’t think men consciously discriminate. If I’m a guy in a position of authority, my working network of contacts is going to be other guys. You just have to make a conscious effort to recruit from a wider pool.”