Sportswomen represented in newspaper sports media: Two local media and two national media content analysis

Abstract

Background: Studies about sportswomen's representation in mass media have grown in quantity, and among these, content analysis stands out as the preferred technique used by researchers when studying sportswomen’s mass media coverage. The goal of this investigation is to identify the coverage that sports media gives to female sports, from amateur to professional levels, in various disciplines, to determine how they are showcased when space is given, if there is any difference compared to masculine coverage, and the focus that is treated when the information is about women in sports. Sample: Four sports print media were analyzed: two with national distribution (Récord & ESTO) and the other two with local distribution in Monterrey city (El Norte & El Horizonte). The analysis unit was the report, and the selection criteria were information that approached women in sports. The sample took about a natural week, from August 23rd to August 29th, 2022, and for its analysis, a coding manual was designed. The data was divided into 11 categories.

Results: During the said span, the analyzed media published a total of 758 reports, of which only 84 covered sportswomen's activities, representing barely 11%; these were the main ones used for the research. Women were the protagonists in 71 of these reports, while men shared the rest. Sports-wise, soccer was the most popular, followed by tennis. 60 News showed women as winners, 13 as specialists, 7 as victims, and 3 as losers. Credit-wise, 51 notes were credited by a proper name, 28 to a man and 23 to a woman; 19 were published by the staff, 4 were from an agency, and 10 had no credit at all.

Conclusions: Although there’s been development in women’s sports activities, mass media doesn’t offer spaces equitably compared to men. There’s still a majority of news about men’s sports, even if women participate in the same activity. The only two sports that make an exception are women's soccer and tennis, so these take up most of the media’s limited space. The space given to women who practice sports is still reduced because it is barely one-third of that used in male sports.