Different take on coverage of women's sports

Good story. Everybody has civil rights. Federal law says women and men should get a comparable chance at sports participation. But until the First Amendment gets repealed, the news media have no obligation to join in.

 

No more phone calls please ... WE HAVE A WINNER!

 

But if more women are playing sports, who's doing the dishes?

 

Can't believe you're married.

Women's sports won't get equal coverage unless readers and advertisers demand it. I don't see too many ads geared to women in the sports section, but have seen plenty of adult bookstore ads in some sports sections.

 

I'm actually a big softy in the real world.

That being said, it's a shame women's sports haven't caught on more. I know at the high school level, at least, it's often FAR superior to the other sex. Especially in soccer, volleyball, swimming and most forms of track and field.

 

Women's sports won't get equal coverage unless readers and advertisers demand it. I don't see too many ads geared to women in the sports section, but have seen plenty of adult bookstore ads in some sports sections.
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i don't see any ads period in sports sections...

 

I disagree. It has to come from the top down. Have you ever tried to "demand coverage?" Fans of the Tour de France, World Cup ski racing, and world class track meets have been trying for years. Unless an editor or a producer fights for it, forget it. Even when the US has athletes who are the best in the world and the public begs for coverage, it falls on deaf ears. The universal reply is: "Oh, no one will watch/read, so we're not going to cover it." It's completely defeatist.

When someone in a position of power champions these sports, however, you can get some great sports sections. Neil Amdur at the NYT was one of those champions. He dared to widen the lens and he made his section a decent representation of the sports world. But that was 6-8 years ago. Now photos and graphics take up most of what little newshole remains.

 

*****
According to the report, coverage of women’s professional teams has “nearly evaporated” and a “deepening silence” has enveloped women’s professional soccer, basketball, golf, field hockey, and softball
*****

Other than basketball and golf, all of those sports have coverage issues, whether they are male or female.

1. The WPL has been back for one year, maybe two? It has not had the time to crank up and, besides, men's professional soccer is still not getting consistent national coverage.

2. WNBA? In pockets (say Connecticut), the coverage is better than the NBA because there are no local NBA teams. It's televised, and it seems to me that the coverage has gotten better over the years.

3. In my experience, when there's space for more than a roundup, men's golf gets a separate story and the women lead the roundup over any other tours. There are times the women get more coverage than the men.

4. Professional field hockey? Certainly not on a national level. Heck, the NHL gets short shrift in non-hockey cities.

5. Professional softball? Is there a national league? If there is, don't even try to tell me interest approached even a wooden-bat college baseball league.

When it comes to high schools, I think that with the exception of football, most papers balance their coverage well, and in some places -- usually because of success -- the women get more coverage.

 

The most important line in this piece:
"Even women prefer watching male teams."
At the end of the day, the biggest problem the women's sports activists have is with ... women.
Why aren't women watching their product?

 

Somebody needs to tell Christine Brennan.

 

When the NBA locks out the season after next, the plug will be pulled on the WNBA.

 

That's a dirty little secret most would like to ignore.
It wouldn't be immediate, but if media started covering women's sports more they'd see an increase in attendance which would lead to more demand.
Problem is, no one wants to wait for 10 years to see this work. Instead, they'd fall back on the excuse that no one wants to read about women's sports, sort of like the people who say cheerleading isn't a sport and MMA doesn't belong in the sports pages.