Media coverage of women's sport is minimal in comparison to the coverage of men's sport. It was interesting to find out in our readings actual percentages and statistics that relate to the above fact. Anyone that watches Sportscenter on ESPN gets a big dose of men's sports highlights and little information about what is going on with women's sport except a quick blurb that Serena Williams was upset in the opening round of the French Open. The other day I was scrolling the ESPN.com homepage and saw an article on Grantland about the "other" Dream Team. For those who do not know, the Dream Team was the nickname given to the 1992 US Men's Olympic Basketball team. The roster was full of active (at the time) NBA players including: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and David Robinson. The Dream Team has been talked about as the greatest team ever assembled. To be labeled as the other Dream Team, the current Women's Olympic Basketball team should be good, right? Well, they are. In fact the Women's Olympic Basketball team have won 4 consecutive gold medals and are riding a 33 game win streak. But because there is little media coverage, most people don't even know these facts or even who is on the roster. I'll be honest, I did not know more than two players on the roster. These women have helped position the US as the favorite going in to the Olympics. I hope this team gets the increased media coverage they deserve.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7968868/geno-auriemma-diana-taurasi-weekend-seattle-usa-women-basketball-team
David Palomares
KIN 577
That is a great example of the lack of media coverage for women's sports. That is pretty dominant for a team in international competition and stands in stark contrast to the men's team as of late. Until the most recent Olympic games we constantly head of the disappointing showings of USA men's basketball and how they had failed to bring home the gold in 2004 and had poor showings in other international competitions. All the while our women's team was dominating and we never heard about it. Olympic sports can be of great interest to our youth and apparently our young girls are not getting the opportunity to see role models in action.
ReplyDeleteJesus Rosales
KIN 577
It’s a shame that sports do not cover women’s sports and if they do it’s only on a select few. So ESPN choose to highlight Serena getting upset at the French Open. There’s really nothing positive or impressive about this coverage. I honestly had no idea our Women’s US Basketball team was so talented. Let alone did I know they have won 4 gold medals and leading a 33 game streak. I have a feeling since basketball is highly masculinized, post-Olympic coverage may not highlight these accomplishments. However, our country should be proud of these accomplishments from our elite athletes. Following Beijing’s Olympics, I can recall praise being given to Misty May-Treanor for her accomplishment in beach volleyball (which may be considered a sexualized sport) and Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson for their gold and silver medals respectively in gymnastics, a highly feminized sport. Perhaps it may just be bias considered I follow up on these sports, but I would have remembered a women’s gold medal team had it been announced in the media.
ReplyDeleteCynthia Gonzalez
Kin 577