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The Problem of Gender Inequality in Sports Coverage |
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Gender inequality is a major issue in sports, affecting areas such as gender
discrimination, the wage gap, unequal representation of male and female
athletes, less media attention, and biased coverage of women's events. Women's
participation in sports competitions at all levels is increasing, but media
coverage of women's sports still falls short compared to male sports across all
media.
A study by Adams and Tuggle found that women receive less media attention than
men in sports coverage. Even though women are portrayed equally, women's sports
generally get less coverage than men's sports. The ESPN channel's coverage of
the 2021 Australian Open, a tennis tournament featuring both male and female
players, was analyzed in this study. The video featured the four most prominent
players in the tournament, with equal screen time and a gender-neutral
portrayal.
However, gender discrimination in sports coverage is still present. Most videos
on the ESPN YouTube channel focus on men's events, and commentary on women's
sports is hard to find. The channel's playlist on women's sports has not been
updated for a long time.
Therefore, it can be concluded that women's sports still receive significantly
less coverage than men's sports, despite efforts to portray women in a neutral
manner in sports commentary. This highlights the need for greater gender
equality in sports coverage, including increased media attention and equal
representation of male and female athletes. |
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