Breaking News, Breaking Boundaries
By Kerry White, WSF

Title IX. Annika Sorenstam. The WNBA. As women continue to make inroads in the world of sport, the landscape of women’s sports changes. With it, the issues facing the women who cover sports evolve, too. The progressing attitudes towards women in sports have allowed more women to move into sports journalism, but their new-found visibility has created a whole host of new issues for these female journalists to face.
 
One of the biggest impacts on the women’s sports world is over 30 years old—the passing of Title IX. As the first generation of students raised in post-Title IX schools comes into the journalism profession, the atmosphere is markedly different from that of decades ago. USA Today columnist Christine Brennan commented that while she did not benefit from Title IX as an athlete, the impact of it has seeped into her sports journalism career. “The sentiment, attitude, feeling—the overall acceptance of women athletes by a nation did change,” Brennan said. “That was essential not only for athletes but for every single woman in sports journalism.”
 
In that new atmosphere, many women find the sports journalism field has become nearly equal in terms of opportunities afforded to men and women. Susan Reed, the editor-in-chief for Golf for Women magazine, feels that women today who wish to be sports journalists face no more barriers that their male counterparts face. “Women have been in the mainstream journalism world for 20 years. By now, we’re held to the same standards,” Reed said. “Examine women beat writers in basketball, football, any sport—they’re just as good.”
 
Brennan agrees with the quality of female journalists. “Overall, I think we’re better than a cross section of men,” she stated. But she warned that women still can be held to a higher standard due to an assumed lack of knowledge. “We have to be smart. Men have been helpful, and many have gotten me where I am, but we have to always be careful and be realistic—we are a minority,” she said. “We better be real darn good—and the women sportswriters I know are impeccable.”
 
With the visibility that women have gained in mainstream media, though, new issues face female sports journalists—many of which relate to the added pressure and questions of credibility female sports journalists face. While sports commentators have always been hired with their looks in mind, problems have arisen where women were hired for their looks and thrust onto television to discuss an area they have little knowledge of. A high-profile example of this came in 2003 when ABC hired Lisa Guerrero as a sideline reporter. Her performance was criticized by the national media, who questioned whether Guerrero’s lack of experience was overlooked because of her television-friendly looks. She was replaced after only one season.
 
Other female commentators have come under question because of their dual role as journalist and sex symbol. Brennan faults the television executives for placing reporters in areas that are not their strengths—and for focusing their hiring on looks. She also questions business instincts of these decisions, like in the Guerrero case, which she says played to the “frat house” and not the “12-year-old daughter watching sports with her father.”
 
“For the future of the sport, they should be trying to entice the 12-year-old girl,” Brennan said. “How can we entice women to watch, by hiring women to broadcast who know nothing? It boggles my mind how that decision can be made when executives are seeking to attract new demographics.”
 
While high-profile incidents such as this can be damaging to the reputation of all female sports journalists, the majority of women on air do prove their knowledge and understanding of sports. Women such as Robin Roberts, Linda Cohn and Suzy Kolber all hold their own as successful female sportscasters. Unfortunately, the cases of women hired for the wrong reasons often receive the most publicity.
 
Brennan is confident that women will rise above these issues, though. “There are enough women out there, very talented, very, very skilled women in sports media. We can weather the storm,” she said optimistically, also adding that she does her best to encourage women to join the field. “I want every woman kids see on air to be great, and I live my life trying to be a role model for girls and women.”

As women continue to make their presence in the sports journalism arena known, female sports journalists can only expect to see the issues they face expand. But with established journalists like Reed and Brennan paving the way, they also can expect to find more and more success in the once segregated world. “There is strength in numbers,” Brennan said. “I really want women to be able to succeed in this field.”