Media Coverage for Female Sports: A Review of Literature

Abstract

Ever since Title IX were introduced in 1972, it has allowed equal play time for both male and female athletes on the court. Although Title IX helped to establish more equity for women in sport participation, media coverage did not parallel the growth of women’s participation. The purpose of this synthesis was to review the literature on media coverage of female athletes. Media coverage included a review of newspaper and magazine print as well as visual and social media. In addition, a review of the portrayal of women in the media was also presented. Results indicated women sports were given lesser coverage time on media. Not only that, it was also shown that whenever female athletes were highlighted in media, they tended to be seen as a sexual objects instead. After analyzing the results from the literatures, there were no stated rules that mentioned anything about creating a fair broadcast time for both male and female sports on media because a law cannot legislate media coverages.