As a woman trying to navigate a journey into the sports journalism industry, I often sense the underlying pressures of having to prove my knowledge of the subject.
Undoubtedly journalism is a difficult career to find your place in, and female journalists covering sport seem to have an added pressure of proving their worth against their male peers.
Talented female journalists feel discouraged from entering the world of sports journalism due to an assumption that sports coverage is only undertaken by men.
In an interview with Elizabeth Conway, currently a journalist for the BBC, she explained that on querying about an outcome of an application for a presenter role at Premier League club she was described as ‘high maintenance’.
Elizabeth felt that they would not have described a male applicant in that way.
Criticism is something we all have to face at some point, but it is evident that female sports journalists are more often targets of abuse than male sports journalists.
In an article from the Independent in March last year, Melissa Reddy described her experience covering football as a female journalist.
She argued that female journalists continue to have their safety compromised on the job.
In one rather shocking story, Melissa explains that before recording a post-match analysis at Wembley Stadium in 2016, an unknown man interrupted her before ‘pulling out his penis and wildly pissing’.
Unsurprisingly shaken by the incident, Melissa was unable to record the video for her manager.
Such stories of women receiving abuse while working and being dismissed within application processes discourage others from taking up roles within the industry.
As a result, fewer women are making it to the so-called ‘big-time roles’ within journalism.
But having more women within sports journalism is becoming increasingly beneficial.
During the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the German gymnastics teams wore leotards in protest against the sexualisation of female athletes.
As Elizabeth Conway described, ‘their position in holding governing bodies accountable was made stronger by female journalists who shared their story and could agree on a personal level’
Female representation opens up more conversations about issues experienced by women in sports, such as sexualization.
Breaking down the boundaries built by an imbalance of men and women caters for changes in audience and reader interests.
Within recent years there has been a notable increase in the popularity of women’s sports.
A new three-year broadcast deal sees Women’s Super League football being televised on Sky Sports and the BBC. This deal indicates that more and more viewers are tuning in to watch women’s football, and it is only fair that we should see an increase in female journalists covering matches.
We also need to see more respect given to those women who have found a way into the industry despite these issues.
A campaign named #DeixaElaTrabalhar that translates to ‘Let her do her job’ got global attention in 2018. As part of the online movement, Brazilian female sports journalists took a stand against sexual harassment within the industry.
Campaigns such as this one illustrate that lack of respect for women in sports journalism is a global issue.
According to the Sports Journalist Association, in France, in 2021, 13% of journalists involved in radio and TV sports coverage were women.
Sport provides platforms for people to fight against social justice and inequality, yet we are not seeing these same battles won within the industry that covers it.
But allowing women to write about women’s sport does not solve the inequalities.
Instead, it reinforces the idea that women should only write about particular areas of sport and that women’s sport is not an area that male journalists should cover.
This reinforcement is in danger of isolating women’s sport, creating a further divide between the role of men and women in the coverage of sport.
The sports journalism sector needs to push towards an inclusive coverage in which men and women work alongside each other covering all aspects of sport.
Removing assumptions influenced by gender enables sports journalism to provide an inclusive viewpoint. By doing so, sports coverage can appeal to more aspiring journalists and athletes, regardless of their gender.