Media outLETS's final project power point examines the ethical breach in sports journalism by comparing and contrasting men's and women's sports coverage. We found that women's sports coverage usually center on sexist topics and false images. In this presentation, we explained why we think there is an ethical breach in women's sports coverage and how it has improved over time because of change in journalistic standards.

1. ETHICAL BREACH OF
SPORTS JOURNALISM IN
WOMEN’S TENNIS
media outLETS

4. WHAT ARE
ETHICS?
According to Merriam-
Webster dictionary,
ethics are:
―Rules of behavior based
on ideas about what is
morally good and bad‖
According to the Pew Research Center, the journalism code
of ethics states that:
1. Journalism‘s first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to citizens.
3. Its essence is a discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from
those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and
compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting and
relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their
personal conscience.

5. WHAT LED TO THIS…
• Women are often considered weaker
and more delicate than men and
therefore are assumed to be less adept
at sports.
• Society‘s bias toward men as superior
athletes and physically stronger beings
has rendered women as second-rate
counterparts in the sports world.
• This bias towards men in sports has
sparked far more interest for men‘s
sports than women‘s sports, thus
weakening support and viewership for
women‘s sports.

8. • Gender was verbally, visually and graphically marked,
for example ―Women‘s National Championship,‖ an
average of nearly 60 times per game in women‘s
basketball, and never was marked in men‘s games
(which would be referred to only as ―The National
Championship Game‖).
• Female athletes frequently were referred to as ―girls‖
and ―young ladies.‖ Male athletes were never referred
to as ―boys,‖ but rather usually as ―men,‖ ―young men‖
and ―young fellas.‖
NEWS COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
• The Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles analyzed six weeks of NCAA‘s
men and women‘s basketball national championship tournament as well as the
men‘s and women‘s U.S. Open Tennis Championship and found that:

9. NEWS COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
• News coverage is vital to the success of professional athletes and teams.
• Women in tennis and golf have proven more successful professionally than
women in more physically demanding sports like basketball or softball. One
possible explanation for this is that fans, sponsors, and TV news coverage
stations don‘t like the portrayal of woman as aggressive. Golf and tennis are
often associated with country clubs and are considered more recreational than
traditional, competitive team sports, thus preserving women‘s more mild image.
• On an average day, research suggests that 8% of sports
stories are about women‘s sports, 5% being about individual
sports and 3% being about team sports.

10. WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT IN SPORTS
• In contrast to their limited coverage, women are increasingly
involved in playing sports. Since the enactment of Title IX in
1972, the participation of women in intercollegiate sports has
increased consistently. As of 2011, 43% of all NCAA student
athletes were women and 53% of all NCAA teams were
women‘s teams.
• Also, women are increasingly interested in reading about sports and watching
sports programs.
• Though watching sports coverage is still more popular among men, and recent
research suggests that domestic roles and gender stereotypes may make it
difficult for women to engage more actively as sports viewers, the amount of
female readers and viewers is continually growing.

11. NEWS COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
• In the U.S., women account for 27% of regular readers of
newspaper sports sections and 45.9% of the audience for the Super
Bowl. Further, women now make up the majority of viewers of the
Olympics, as they comprised 53.8% of the television audience for
the 2012 Olympics.
• On KNBC and KCBS, the proportion of "ticker time" (information
displayed on a ticker text box at the bottom of a broadcast) devoted
to women's sports in 2009 was 4.6%. This is more than triple the
airtime on the main broadcasts.
• On ESPN‘s ―SportsCenter‖, women's sports were allotted a mere
2.7% of the ticker time, a sad fall from 8.5% in 2004.
• This data illustrates just how news networks are literally
marginalizing women‘s sports in comparison to men‘s.

12. NEWS COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
• The Amateur Athletic Foundation‘s research of weekday newspapers from the Boston Globe,
Orange County Register, Dallas Morning News and USA Today showed that the professional
obligation of sportswriters to report the facts wasn‘t fulfilled when they nearly entirely excluded
women's sports.
• The research found that:
– Women-only sports stories accounted for 3.5% of all stories; men's stories made up 81%
of the total, while the rest of the stories are men‘s and women‘s sports combined.
– In the three-month period that the research was gathered, golf and tennis, sports in which
women "have a long tradition of world-class competition,‖ were in their high season, yet a
mere 301 women-only articles appeared in the four newspapers during the three months.

13. ―It's not about the money.
It's about the equality
message.‖ – Billie Jean
King

14. ―I really like the United
States, but that's one
thing I don't like,
everybody's crazy about
money,‖ – Martina
Navratilova

15. ―Wimbledon is like that. You
have to overcome a lot of
things. They'd write
something nice one day, and
I'd think maybe they like me a
little, and then they'd rip me. I
had to stop reading the
papers.‖ – Chris Evert

16. John McEnroeMartina Navratilova
"In the meantime she played
soccer with boys and ice hockey
in the winter and went to school
like everybody else,‖ (A Straight-
up Cool Martina, 24 Feb, 1975).
1. Treated men and women as if they are different creatures
2. Reported her eating habits and her weight and lots of
descriptions on her looks
3. Focused on Martina‘s emotions on the court
4. Scores of her recent games were reported, but lacked
analysis of her play
―Some of the weight is gone now, but she
remains a sturdy 5‘7". Her shoulders are broad
and her arms and thighs look powerful. She
has short light-brown hair, as fine as a child's,
and her face is dominated by high, wide
cheekbones and forthright hazel eyes,‖ (A
Straight-up Cool Martina, 24 Feb, 1975).
1. Talked about his success before his professional career in
tennis
2. Only mentioned his outlooks slightly
3. Occasionally brings up his thoughts toward his opponents
4. In-depth report and analysis appear more frequently
―So far, Junior's absolutely horrid on-court nature
has managed to obscure his wonderful talent. A
soccer and basketball player in high school,
McEnroe picked up tennis very quickly. Early on he
was a natural, and his game mirrors that of his
teacher, Palafox—all spins and angles and changes
of pace,‖ (Winning Is No Laughing Matter, 11 Dec.
1978).
―A rarity in today's double-fisted tennis world, McEnroe hits one-
handed from both sides with the racket head held extremely low.
The preparation for each stroke is so casual that often the racket
appears to be falling from his hand as he drills winner after
winner. McEnroe has such a gift for touch, such a delicate feel,
that the ball is seldom out of control. Because of his active, quick
wrists, he also gets away with many late hits, the racket suddenly
flashing out from his shoulder socket as if no arm were needed
as middleman,‖ (Winning Is No Laughing Matter, 11 Dec. 1978).
"So, no, I'm not surprised at all. I don't want to
be surprised. And I don't want to be satisfied. I
mean, it's great to be 19, ranked No. 5 in the
world and playing Davis Cup. But this isn't luck.
I've worked for this. Let's put it this way. I
deserve this,‖ (Winning Is No Laughing Matter,
11 Dec. 1978).
―She did a lot of howling and arm waving, after
which she slammed her racket to the ground and
lost the last 10 points of the match as the tears
flowed.
‗I'm just not ready psychologically,‘ Navratilova
said,‖ (A Big Home Victory At Last, 15 Sept.,
1975).
―Navratilova is probably the strongest woman in tennis,
stronger even than Court, and she moves deftly, always
following her left-handed serves and ground strokes to the
net and looking to sock away volleys. Her forehand is
lethal, so opponents tend to hit to her backhand, which is
erratic. When she is getting her first serve in, it is difficult
for her foe not to hit a high return that Navratilova swats
with gusto,‖ (Love Conquers All, 14 April, 1975).

17. Suzanne Lenglen, 1922
Mrs. George Wightman, 1924
Carolyn Babcock and Joan Ridley, 1932
Martha Barnett, 1939 Gussie Moran, 1950
Martina Navratilova, 1970 & 1978
Chris Evert, 1976
Tracy Austin, 1981

18. Serena Williams and Roger Federer in the Media

19. FEDERER CAREER
FACTS
• Seventeen
Grand Slam
Singles titles.
• No double titles.
• Currently
ranked the
fourth-best
men‘s player in
the world.

20. WILLIAMS
CAREER FACTS
• Seventeen Grand
Slam Singles titles.
• Thirteen Grand
Slam Doubles
titles.
• Currently ranked
best female player
in the world.

21. OVERALL COMPARISON
• Williams‘ career longer, arguably more successful
• Federer‘s career shorter, though more dominant while at pinnacle
• Both given fair praise in media for success
• Williams‘ body, personality also receives more attention than Federer
• Federer rivalry with Rafael Nadal highly covered

22. FEDERER IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

23. WILLIAMS IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

24. WILLIAMS IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

25. SEXUALIZATION OF MEN’S TENNIS

26. TENNIS COVERAGE ON TV
• Women‘s game now as, if not more, popular on TV as men‘s.
• 2013 U.S. Open Women‘s Final between Williams and Victoria Azarenka:
4.9 rating.
• Men‘s final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic: 2.8 rating.
• Individual women‘s sports more popular than team sports on TV.

27. TENNIS COVERAGE IN WRITING
• Writing in Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report or other outlets mention both
• espnW, ESPN‘s women‘s sports blog, has lots of strong content on
women‘s game.
• Most say Federer would beat Williams head-to-head.
• Jury out on who has had better career, but writers argue both.

28. MARION BARTOLI
• Former French Tennis Player
– Australian Open (QF 2009)
– French Open (SF 2011)
– Wimbledon (W 2013)
– U.S. Open (QF 2012)
• ―There's nothing conventional about Marion
Bartoli on a tennis court.‖ – LA Times (July
2013)
• Bartoli is known for her unorthodox playing
style: she uses two hands on her forehand and
backhand

29. JOHN INVERDALE ON WIMBLEDON 2013
• Inverdale comments that Bartoli is
not a ―looker,‖ immediately
undermining her grand athletic
achievement.
• He regards Bartoli‘s looks as if
they have some correspondence
with her performance.
• No reporter would mention a male
athlete‘s looks as a context for his
success.

30. • In his comments, Inverdale fed into the
sexism and stereotyping that plagues
women‘s tennis, and women‘s sports in
general.
• He makes a comparison
between Bartoli and the
blonde, long-legged bombshell
Maria Sharapova. His
statement highlights the
typical mold of women‘s tennis
stars that attain the most
media attention.
• Inverdale‘s sexist remarks
are indicative of the way in
which woman athletes
become sexualized by the
media.
• While male athletic stars
are portrayed as heroic,
female athletes like
Sharapova, Venus
Williams, and Danica
Patrick sexualize
themselves in order to
gain the same media
attention and revenue as
their male counterparts.

31. THE RESPONSE • Bartoli received a lot of hateful
comments from the public on
Twitter and other social media
sites because she was too
―unattractive‖ to win Wimbledon.
• It‘s not just the media that
sexualizes women athletes, but
the audience itself has become
conditioned to fitting female
sports stars into that role.
• Bartoli, though hurt by Inverdale‘s later retracted
comment, proved strong. She said: ―I am not blonde,
yes. Have I dreamt about having a model contract? No.
But have I dreamed about winning Wimbledon?
Absolutely.‖

32. ―I had the big muscles before they were in. Now it's OK. It's OK
to be athletes, to go out there and be strong. There are still
plenty of girls out there who are primping before they play a
match, making sure they look glamorous, but so many of them
now are very athletic and very strong and in-your-face
confident, almost arrogant - it's good to see that.‖ – Martina
Navratilova
"You are going to include us, aren't you? And they said:
'Absolutely not.' I said OK, but I went back to them more than
once, and some of them said: 'Nobody would even pay a dime
to watch you girls.‘‖ – Billie Jean King

33. "Any woman who wants to achieve anything has to
be aggressive and tough, but the press never sees us
as multidimensional. They don't see the emotions, the
downs.‖ – Billie Jean King
―Of all the things that have grown out of the
bloodless revolution in women's affairs that has
been going on for a decade, the most significant is
options. Freedom lies in having options, and
nowhere has the increase in the number of options
for women been more dramatic than in sport.‖ –
Chris Evert

34. CONCLUSION
Women’s sports coverage violated the following journalism ethics:
1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to citizens.
3. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
4. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
5. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
Today’s coverage has significant improvements.
– Women’s Sports Foundation’s Words to Watch.
– Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, and many other female athletes.
continue to push for change in journalistic standards.
– The public supports sexual equality in sports coverage.

35. CONTACT THE MEDIA OUTLETS
• Check out our blog: http://lholthou.wordpress.com/
• On Twitter:
• #mediaoutLETS
• #ethicalbreachinjournalism
• #womenssports
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36. FUTHER READING
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/9190445/espnw-val-ackerman-chats-sports-tv-consultant-neal-pilson-
latest-man-up
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/9625127/2013-us-open-loss-serena-williams-sloane-stephens-arrived
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/photos/1306/classic-photos-of-serena-williams/59/
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/swimsuit/year/2005/index.htm
http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/event_guide/history/great_ao_champions.html
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/about/history/pastwinners.html
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/roll_of_honour/mens-singles.html
http://2013.usopen.org/en_US/about/history/mschamps.html
http://www.wtatennis.com/rankings
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Rankings-Home.aspx
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/20130611/roger-federer-serena-williams-best-players-ever/
http://tennis.si.com/2013/06/08/serena-williams-maria-sharapova-french-open-final/
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/9190445/espnw-val-ackerman-chats-sports-tv-consultant-neal-pilson-
latest-man-up
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/09/us-open-womens-final-scores-better-tv-ratings-men/49130/#.U13JEpUVqkg
http://heiidianniina.blogspot.com/2013/01/gender-stereotypes-right-way-to-segment.html
http://www.donsteinberg.com/newspaperpage.htm
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/fcc-to-look-at-repealing-sports-broadcast-rules/
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~womenstu/ws201student/professionalsports/homepage.html

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