Women still find themselves ousted from Media Coverage
While Sports arena is a blue chip for broadcasters, still Women sports only account for meager 4% of total Sports Coverage. Media has ability to challenge the stereotypes but still the vicious cycle of showing Sports as Male domination continues.
Over Feminism
Media represents women athletes as mere women taking part in sports. They are shown as women first and athletes second. Any women who comes to field of sports is portrayed as ‘Rising against the odds’, someone who has gone against the society. This creates an image of sports as a space that is provided to them and not as field where they can participate irrespective of their gender.
Less Number of Women Broadcasters
The number of women who enter into Sports Journalism is very less. We might remember Harsha Bhogle, Vikrant Gupta but thinking of female counterpart is difficult. Lack of women who can represent women inevitably made them invisible. Sports Journo remains an area predominantly male-dominated beat worldwide.
Coverage of Women’s Competitions and Practice
Women participate in 40% of all sports. Still they receive only 4% media coverage. While some sports such as Cricket, Tennis and Badminton have become relatable to women still it is wheat in the chaff. Women Sports do not get much advertisers due to which they do not get much airtime.
Sports Broadcasters have made some efforts to give Women airtime but there’s a long way to go.
