Media coverage of women's sport: A new look at an old problem

GB Cunningham - Physical Educator, 2003 - search.proquest.com
Physical Educator, 2003search.proquest.com
Past research of both private and public media has demonstrated that the coverage of
women's sport is substantially less than that of men's. However, no research of media
directly associated with intercollegiate athletics has examined the coverage of sports not
considered to be" main" sports or to possess high brand equity. To fill this void, the present
study examined the Internet coverage of university sponsored men's and women's tennis
sites. The availability of information as well as the length of press releases were analyzed …
Abstract
Past research of both private and public media has demonstrated that the coverage of women's sport is substantially less than that of men's. However, no research of media directly associated with intercollegiate athletics has examined the coverage of sports not considered to be" main" sports or to possess high brand equity. To fill this void, the present study examined the Internet coverage of university sponsored men's and women's tennis sites. The availability of information as well as the length of press releases were analyzed. Results indicate no differences in the presence of information between men's and women's sites. However, the coverage of women's tennis was significantly longer than that of men's, signaling a stark change from previous findings. Implications and directions for future research are offered.
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