Women in Sports Journalism

In late 1933, L'Osservatore Romano fuelled an argument against Il Littoriale, mouthpiece of the Fascist sport policy, about women’s sport: the Vatican Italian-speaking newspaper was against the public women’s athletic meetings, and the “immoral” shorts dressed by the young Italian athletes, such as Ondina Valla, going-to-be the first Italian woman to win an Olympic gold medal (1936, Berlin). Which was the situation of Italian female sports, at that time? Which was the influence of new women models coming from US? What was considered “immoral” by conservative people in 1933 Italy watching a women’s athletic or swimming meeting? How Hollywood stars could help Ondina and her mates on the road of female emancipation? These are the questions this essay is going to answer, helped by a lot of historical images, useful to reconstruct a whole collective imagination.
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Alla fine del 1933, L’Osservatore Romano scatenò una polemica sullo sport femminile contro Il Littoriale (all’epoca portavoce della politica sportiva del regime fascista): il giornale vaticano si dichiarava contrario agli incontri pubblici di atletica femminile, e in particolare agli “immorali” pantaloncini indossati dalle ragazze  italiane partecipanti, fra cui Ondina Valla, ossia colei che a Berlino, nel 1936, sarebbe andata a vincere la prima medaglia d’oro femminile della storia.
Qual era la situazione generale dello sport femminile italiano, a quell’altezza storica? Che influenza avevano i nuovi modelli di donna che provenivano dagli Stati Uniti? Cosa veniva considerato “immorale” dai tradizionalisti nell’iItalia nel 1933 intenti a guardare un meeting di atletica o di nuoto femminile? Come le stelle di Hollywood potevano aiutare Ondina e le sue compagne a percorrere la strada dell’emancipazione? Tali le domande a cui questo saggio proverà a rispondere, con l’aiuto di molte immagini, necessarie per ricostruire un intero immaginario collettivo, sia verbale sia visuale.

With the arrival in the 1990s of the World Wide Web the new digital realm was seen as a genuine opportunity for women to participate on equal terms in the world of global communication. The Internet has empowered women and minority groups to have a voice and speak back against inequality. Its global reach and relative affordability and accessibility make it a communication platform where humans can do great good and also great harm. This case study examines the sexism women encounter in as users of and participants in digital media in the twenty-first century. Its focus is on women who work in the predominantly male area of sports journalism and gaming.

In an effort to move beyond relying solely on institutional critiques in explaining women's marginalized status in the sports media workplace and to expand our understanding of gendered meaning-making in such organizations, we employ feminist scholar Romy Fröhlich's notion of the "friendliness trap" in the analysis of focus groups with women who work in college sports public relations, commonly called sports informa- tion. The friendliness trap is a term used to describe the faulty belief that women, by virtue of their feminine qualities, possess an advantage in communication-related fields. Our findings suggest, however, that women in sports information may be frustrated by the failure of "the female advantage" to provide them with oppor- tunities for promotion. The friendliness trap obscures workplace realities, including the structural barriers to women's advancement, and may divert the energy of women in ways that have no career benefit. Once the trap is exposed, however, women may be more able to challenge the meanings associated with it.

Kapitola pojednává o současné podobě sportovní reportáže a popisuje základní mechanismy, na základě kterých by měla být tvořena, a upozorňuje na slabá, zejména tematická místa české sportovní žurnalistiky.

A chapter deals with the topic of the Czech sports report, describes basic mechanisms of its writing and identifies weak sides (especially thematic) of the Czech sports journalism.

In terms of media coverage and sporting achievement, Marie-José Pérec dominated French athletics over the course of the 1990s. Pérec’s performances on and off the track produced a vast corpus of written and audiovisual material that illuminates abiding themes in French public discourse during this period, in particular attitudes towards money, fears regarding American-led globalisation, and the role of the media in society. As triple Olympic and double World champion, Pérec is enshrined among the pantheon of contemporary national heroes. Through the example of Pérec, this article investigates the construction of sporting heroes in contemporary France, shedding light on the multiple meanings that were associated with the athlete throughout her career and discussing in particular how her physical appearance, material wealth and mobility were implicated in this process.

For a long time, football has been called the "beautiful" game. The irony, however, is that while anything termed "beautiful" is generally associated with femininity, few women take up an active interest or appreciation in the game of football. Moreover, as an extension of that, very few female journalists report on it. So should we instead call it the "handsome" game in order to reflect football's dominant masculine character, both in terms of participation and reportage? The following article contextualises gender perspectives on reporting sports against the backdrop of the impending 2010 FIFA World Cup, and ultimately disregards any suggestions that football, and sports reporting, should be the preserves of an impenetrable "boy's club." Finally, suggestions are given as to how female journalists can take up an active role in writing the story of 2010-Africa's greatest moment on the international arena.