Guardians of the Hegemonic Structure of Sports? Women’s Sports as Perceived by Polish Female Sports Journalists
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8069.16.1.04Keywords:
sports journalism, female sports journalists, women’s sports, Polish mediaAbstract
The under-representation of media coverage of women’s sports has been a long-standing phenomenon, which can also be observed in Poland (Dziubiński, Organista and Mazur 2019; Jakubowska 2015; Kluczyńska 2011). One of the possible reasons for less information on women’s sports is a small number of female sports journalists. Due to the lack of Polish research on female sports journalists, the authors of this article aimed at analyzing their beliefs about women’s sports and the under-representation of media coverage of women’s sports in the Polish media. The analysis has shown that the female journalists perceive women’s sports as inferior to men’s sports and are not in favor of increasing the amount of information about women’s sports. The authors point to the socialization into sport, the professional socialization of the research participants, their minority status in the profession as well as their perception of masculinity, femininity, and professionalism in journalism as possible reasons for the way in which women’s sport is perceived by them.
Downloads
References
Angelini, James R., Paul J. MacAuthur, and Andrew C. Billings. 2012. “What’s the gendered story? Vancouver’s prime time Olympic glory on NBC.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 56:261-279.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2012.678515
Billings, Andrew C. and Brittany D. Young. 2015. “Comparing flagship news programs: Women’s sport coverage in ESPN’s SportsCenter and FOX Sports 1’s FOX Sports Live.” Electronic News 9(1):3-16.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243115572824
Bissell, Kimberly L. and Andrea M. Duke. 2007. “Bump, set, spike: An analysis of commentary and camera angles of women’s beach volleyball during the 2004 summer Olympics.” Journal of Promotion Management 13(1-2):35-53.
Google Scholar
Boyle, Raymond.2006. Sports journalism: Context and issues. New York: Sage.
Google Scholar
Bruce, Toni. 2013. “Reflections on communication and sport: On women and femininities.” Communication & Sport 1(1-2):125-137.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479512472883
Bruce, Toni. 2016. “New rules for new times: Sportswomen and media representation in the third wave.” Sex Roles 74(7-8):361-376.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0497-6
de Bruin, Marjan and Karen Ross. 2004. “Beyond the body count.” Pp. vii-xii in Gender and newsroom cultures: Industries at work edited by Marjan de Bruin and Karen Ross. Cresskill, New York: Hampton Press.
Google Scholar
Chambers, Deborah, Linda Steiner, and Fleming Carole (eds.). 2004. Women and journalism. London: Routledge.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203500668
Claringbould, Inge, Annelies Knoppers, and Agnes Elling. 2004. “Exclusionary practices in sport journalism.” Sex Roles 51(11-12):709-718.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-004-0720-3
Cohen, Nicole S. 2015. “Cultural Work as a Site of Struggle: Freelancers and Exploitation.” TripleC 10(2):141-155.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v10i2.384
Cooky, Cheryl, Michael A. Messner, and Michaela Musto. 2015. “‘It’s dude time!’: A quarter century of excluding women’s sports in televised news and highlights shows.” Communication & Sport 3:261-287.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479515588761
Crolley, Liz and Elena Teso. 2007. “Gendered narratives in Spain. The Representation of Female Athletes in Marca and El País.” International Review for The Sociology of Sport 42(2):149-166.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690207084749
Creedon, Pamela. 1998. “Women, Sport, and Media Institutions: Issues in Sport Journalism and Marketing.” Pp. 88–99 in MediaSport, edited by Lawrence Wenner. London: Routledge.
Google Scholar
Dziubiński, Zbigniew, Natalia Organista, and Zuzanna Mazur. 2019. “Still marginalised: Gender inequalities in the largest Polish daily’s sports coverage.” Communications: European Journal of Communication Studies 44(1):33-57.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2017-0047
Eagleman, Andrea. 2015. “Constructing gender differences: newspaper portrayals of male and female gymnasts at the 2012 Olympic Games.” Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics 18:234-247.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2013.854509
Farrell, Annemarie, Janet S. Fink, and Sarah Fields. 2011. “Women’s sport spectatorship: An exploration of men’s influence.” Journal of Sport Management 25(3):190-201.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.25.3.190
Ferguson, Marjorie. 1990. “Images of power and the feminist fallacy.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 7:215-230.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15295039009360175
Fink, Janet S. and Linda J. Kensicki. 2002. “An imperceptible difference: Visual and textual constructions of femininity in Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Women.” Mass Communication & Society 5(3):317-339.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327825MCS0503_5
Franks, Suzanne and Deirdre O’Neill. 2016. “Women reporting sport: Still a man’s game?” Journalism 17(4):474-492.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884914561573
Godoy-Pressland, Amy. 2014. “‘Nothing to report’: a semi-longitudinal investigation of the print media coverage of sports-women in British Sunday newspapers.” Media, Culture & Society 36(5):595-609.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443714532977
GMMP. 2015a. Poland. Retrieved November 15, 2019 http://cdn.agilitycms.com/who-makes-the-news/Imported/reports_2015/national/Poland.pdf
Google Scholar
GMMP. 2015b. Retrieved November 15, 2019 http://cdn.agilitycms.com/who-makes-the-news/Imported/reports_2015/global/gmmp_global_report_en.pdf
Google Scholar
GMMP. 2015c. Europe. Retrieved November 15, 2019 http://cdn.agilitycms.com/who-makes-the-news/Imported/reports_2015/regional/Europe.pdf
Google Scholar
Grabowska, Magdalena. 2014. “Cultural War or ‘Business as Usual’? Recent Instances, and the Historical Origins, of a ‘Backlash’ against Women’s and Sexual Rights in Poland.” Pp. 54-64 in Anti-Gender Movements on the Rise? Strategising for Gender Equality in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Berlin: Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Google Scholar
Graff, Agnieszka. 2014. “Report from the Gender Trenches: War against ‘Genderism’ in Poland.” European Journal of Women’s Studies 21(4):431-435.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506814546091
Greer, Jennifer D., Marie Hardin, and Casey Homan. 2009. “‘Naturally’ less exciting? Visual production of men’s and women’s track and field coverage during the 2004 Olympics.” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 53:173-189.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08838150902907595
Hardin, Marie and Stacie Shain. 2005. “Strength in numbers? The experiences and attitudes of women in sports media careers.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 82(4):804-819.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900508200404
Hardin, Marie and Stacie Shain. 2006. “‘Feeling much smaller than you know you are’: The fragmented professional identity of female sports journalists.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 23(4):322-338.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07393180600933147
Horky, Thomas and Jörg-Uwe Nieland. 2011. International Sport Press Survey 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2015 https://www.play-thegame.org/fileadmin/image/PTG2011/Presentation/PTG_Nieland-Horky_ISPS_2011_3.10.2011_final.pdf
Google Scholar
Jakubowska, Honorata. 2013. “Płeć (w) fizjologii sportu.” Kultura Współczesna 3(78):105-117.
Google Scholar
Jakubowska, Honorata. 2014. Gra ciałem. Praktyki i dyskursy różnicowania płci w sporcie [The Game of the Body. The Practices and Discourses of Gender Differentation in Sport]. Warsaw: PWN.
Google Scholar
Jakubowska, Honorata. 2015. “Are women still the ‘other sex’: gender and sport in the Polish mass media.” Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics 18:168-185.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2013.854464
Korolczuk, Elżbieta and Agnieszka Graff. 2018. “Gender as ‘Ebola from Brussels’: The Anticolonial Frame and the Rise of Illiberal Populism.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 43(4):797-821.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/696691
Kluczyńska, Urszula. 2011. “Konstruowanie relacji między rodzajami w sporcie. Analiza telewizyjnych wiadomości sportowych.” Pp. 383-400 in Kalejdoskop genderowy. W drodze do poznania płci społeczno – kulturowej w Polsce, edited by Krystyna Slany, Beata Kowalska, Magdalena Ślusarczyk. Cracow: Wydawnictwo UJ.
Google Scholar
Knoppers, Annelies and Agnes Elling. 2004. “‘We Do Not Engage in Promotional Journalism’ Discursive Strategies Used by Sport Journalists to Describe the Selection Process.” International Review for the Sociology of Sport 39(1):57-73.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690204040523
Lapchick, Richard. 2008. The 2008 racial and gender report card of Associated Press sports editors. Retrieved February 2, 2018 www.tidesport.org/RGRC/2008/2008_APSE_RGRC_Press_ Release.pdf
Google Scholar
Lenartowicz, Michał, Zbigniew Dziubiński, and Krzysztof Jankowski. 2017. „Aktywni Polacy: Dwie dekady uczestnictwa w sporcie i rekreacji ruchowej. Próba wyjaśnienia zmian.” Kultura i Społeczeństwo 2:196-210.
Google Scholar
Nastasia, Diana Iulia and Sorin Nastasia. 2013. “Poland: Women Journalists and ‘The Polish Mother’ Mentality.” Pp. 151-163 in The Palgrave International Handbook of Women and Journalism, edited by Carolyn Byerly. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137273246_12
North, Louise. 2009. “Gendered Experiences of Industry Change and the Effects of Neoliberalism.” Journalism Studies 10(4):506-521.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700902783911
North, Louise. 2016. “The Gender of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ news: Female journalists’ views on gendered story allocations.” Journalism Studies 17(3):356-373.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2014.987551
O’Neill, Deirdre and Matt Mulready. 2015. “The Invisible Woman? A comparative study of women’s sports coverage in the UK national press before and after the 2012 Olympic Games.” Journalism Practice 9(5):651-668.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2014.965925
Organista, Natalia and Zuzanna Mazur. 2019. “’You either stop reacting or you don’t survive. There’s no other way’: the work experiences of Polish women sports journalists.” Feminist Media Studies:1-18.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2019.1690020
Rowe, David. 2004. Sport, culture and the media. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Google Scholar
Sherry, Emma, Angela Osborne, and Metthew Nicholson. 2016. “Images of sports women: A review.” Sex Roles 74(7-8):299-309.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0493-x
Schmidt, Hans C. 2018. “Forgotten Athletes and Token Reporters: Analyzing the Gender Bias in Sports Journalism.” Atlantic Journal of Communication 26(1):59-74.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2018.1398014
Schoch, Lucie and Fabien Ohl. 2011. “Women sports journalists in Switzerland: Between assignment and negotiation of roles.” Sociology of Sport Journal 28(2):189-208.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.28.2.189
Steiner, Linda. 2012. “Failed theories: Explaining gender difference in journalism.” Review of Communication 12(3):201-223.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15358593.2012.666559
Strong, Cathy and Grant Hannis. 2007. “The Visibility of Female Journalists at Australian and New Zealand Newspapers: the Good News and the Bad News.” Australian Journalism Review 29(1):115-126.
Google Scholar
Szelewa, Dorota. 2014. “The Second Wave of Anti-Feminism? Post-Crisis Maternalist Policies and the Attack on the Concept of Gender in Poland.” Gender, rovné příležitosti, výzkum 15(2):33-47.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13060/12130028.2014.15.2.129
Vincent, John et al. 2007. “Analysing the print media coverage of professional tennis players: British newspaper narratives about female competitors in the Wimbledon Championships.” International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 2:281-300.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSMM.2007.012406
Turner, Jacob S. 2014. “A longitudinal content analysis of gender and ethnicity portrayals on ESPN’s SportsCenter from 1999 to 2009.” Communication & Sport 2(4):303-327.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479513496222
Wensing, Emma H. and Toni Bruce. 2003. “Bending the rules: Media representations of gender during an international sporting event.” International review for the sociology of sport 38(4):387- 396.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690203384001
Whiteside, Erin and Marie Hardin. 2011. “Women (not) watching women: Leisure time, television, and implications for televised coverage of women’s sports.” Communication, Culture & Critique 4(2):122-143.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-9137.2011.01098.x
Whiteside, Erin and Marie Hardin. 2015. “The Glass Ceiling and Beyond.” Pp. 146-154 Routledge Handbook of Sport Communication, edited by Paul Pedersen. New York: Routledge.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315088556-16
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
