Gays and sports: The real problem

Sports journalists at the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association national conference discussed gays and sports during a panel session yesterday.
Most interesting to me was not the back-and-forth about whether journalists should ask athletes to disclose their sexuality or whether gay athletes should be "outed." Instead, it was the assessment of panelists that performances of "tough-guy" masculinity are central to sports, despite sexuality. Ted Rybka, who leads GLAAD's efforts to reach out to the athletic community, said, “With sports in general, it’s all about masculinity…It’s about you not being ‘man enough’.”
Bill Konigsberg, formerly with ESPN but now with the AP, said he thought that the climate for gay men in sports journalism was better than it had ever been. He added:
“The misogyny is almost stronger than the homophobia everywhere I’ve worked.”
In that light, the absence of a lesbian voice on the panel was regrettable. The discussion did briefly turn to women's sports, specifically to the WNBA. ESPN's LZ Granderson said he believed that women may be "the main culprit" in the league's stagnation. “Until it’s properly supported by women” it won’t move to the next level, he said.
Granderson's comments reinforce the general misunderstanding that interest in sports exists in a vacuum. The truth is that the socialization of women and men turn them away from watching women's sports in a myriad of ways.
This same gender socialization that keeps the WNBA from real breakout status, though, is the same socialization that will continue to force sexual minorities in sports to be marginalized and stigmatized.

Journalists on a "witch hunt"?

Even the most zealous fans of Penn State football should agree that coach Joe Paterno, in an interview on today's Outside the Lines, looked out of touch when he accused an ESPN journalist of being on a "witch hunt" for questioning the outrageous number of PSU football players arrested since last year.

Simply because of his tenure in the business, Paterno should know better than anyone that welcoming media attention when all is well, and then condemning the same reporters when the news isn't so good, isn't smart or responsible.

The ESPN story put a bright spotlight on the unusually high number of arrests involving Paterno's players during the past year. We need more -- not less -- investigative journalism in sports.

The OTL story has its own problems; for instance, it characterizes the off-field situation as a "trend," presenting overall numbers since 2002 that are startling. Broken down year-by-year, however, 2007's unusually high number is cause for alarm, but not necessarily part of a trend, as the number is more than three times as high as the previous year. (We're not told why ESPN chose 2002 as a starting point. Also helpful for context would have been more information about the types of bad off-field behavior -- how much involved non-violent misdemeanors? How many were felonies? How does the rate compare to arrest rates for the student body?)

The story also failed to put Penn State in context within the college sports culture. How does Penn State compare to other D1 schools (and not over just a single season)? Stepping back and looking at the big picture: Are Penn State's problems a reflection of the missteps of a single coach -- or might they signify larger problems with big-time football programs across the country? How do football programs in general compare with other sports?

The limited research on the relationship between off-field violence and male college athletes in revenue sports tells us that there is a problem -- but it goes beyond a single program or coach.

That's the bigger, and more important, story -- but one that would force us to look at the entire college sports culture in a more critical way than many want to do, I suspect.

Apparently, even a brawl can't convince FOX that WNBA is worth watching

Although much has been made of the fight that broke out during a WNBA game earlier this week in the mainstream media and in sexist/homophobic blog entries, it's apparently not enough to convince Fox and Friends morning hosts that women's sports are worth watching. In an exchange that starts with a focus on sexism and ends with the smug conclusion by a host that more women ("your people," he tells his female co-host) should watch sports, the WNBA is assessed as a ratings loser and women's sports as simply not interesting. The exchange demonstrates, among other things, the cultural role of sports in justifying sexism.
It's also these kinds of assessments of women's sports -- judging them by male standards -- that feed the tremendous struggles of female athletes for legitimacy. (Unfortunately, even the WNBA fight has been assessed as a positive for the league -- "a much needed a shot in the arm to boost attention," according to a women's sports blog.)

August excitement: Not only in Beijing

Although the world will turn its eyes to the Olympics next month, many parents and communities in the U.S. will also be putting their attention on their local football stadiums. High school basketball players will wait for the spotlight -- but not long, and they've already been playing in high-profile, commercialized camps all summer.
I know that the appeal of scholastic sports is in their love-of-the-game, not-corrupted-by-money aura, but one has to question that image in light of the big business they are quickly becoming. Jacob Leibenluft's "Great Basketball Exodus" on Slate.com, which refers to a senior's decision to go pro in Europe in hopes of then jumping to the NBA, refers to lawyers, "basketball factories," and the prospect of big-dollar contracts for young players as though the are an established part of the high school sports world.
His focus -- on the prospect of NBA hopefuls forgoing college for a Euroleagues, is troubling. He speculates on the media's role in making it more lucrative for teens to go this route. And he doesn't sound far-fetched. After all, as cable nets have focused more on high school sports (cheap programming that can be promoted with media-generated rankings), Leibenluft's suggestion that the nets might follow young players across the Atlantic is plausible. The implications of that for high school sports, the NCAA and the NBA, he argues, are worth pondering.

More bad news for golf fans...?

Apparently, Golf for Women isn't the only golf-related coverage getting the axe these days. Sports Business Daily reported today that the number of newspaper reporters at major events dropped this year. The Daily quotes Golf World writer Bill Fields, who recently noted that media centers at the PGA Tour The Players Championship and the U.S. Open this year were "noticeably less crowded, with 12[%] fewer reporters at the Players and [5-10%] fewer at the U.S. Open" than in '07.
But fewer newspaper reporters doesn't necessarily mean less coverage, as the hand-wringing in the SBD and other publications might suggest. As SBD notes, 90 U.S. journalists were accredited for the British Open. Sure, the number of newspaper writers among them has dropped -- but there are still journalists covering the event. What would be more interesting is to the look at the number and type of organizations that are sending writers.
Bottom line: The fact that there are fewer newspaper reporters covering golf these days doesn't necessarily translate to poorer golf coverage. Does anyone believe that golf fans can't get as much information on any given event today than they could when newspaper journalists filled media centers?

Another women's sports magazine dies

Conde Nast announced yesterday that its Golf for Women magazine will cease publication after this month. The magazine, launched in 1988, was purchased by CN in 2001. The publisher also shuttered Women's Sports & Fitness in 2000 after purchasing it and relaunching it during the late 1990s.
Golf for Women and Women's Sports & Fitness both had respectable circulations -- around 600,000, the same rate base as that of The Sporting News. So, what's the problem? As with other women's sports titles that have come and gone (such as SI for Women) -- it's identity and advertising. These magazines struggle for positioning satisfactory to advertisers. For instance, should they focus solely on competitive sports (think SI, ESPN magazines), participatory sports (think Runner's World) that are often popular among women, or beauty-focused fitness (think Shape)?
SI for Women and WSF both waffled before they finally ceased publication, and it's been interesting to see the evolution of HerSports, perhaps the newest general-interest sports title for women. Finding the formula that will attract the ad dollar has so far proven elusive for many women's sports titles.

Nader: It's time for a Taxpayer Stadium

I've just gotten around to reading Dave Zirin's recent interview with presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Nader, never one to hesitate about speaking truth to power, talks about his League of Fans movement and the ways he believes sports fans are being swindled by major leagues. Nader also suggests that newspaper sports pages be labeled for what they are: showcases for spectator sports only. "They don't cover participatory sports: amateur sports, amateur leagues, what's going on at the local playgrounds or any effort to promote activity and competition," he says.
I hope that after the presidential election is over, Nader will get back to doing what he does best -- consumer activism -- and put his energy into developing League of Fans into a movement that can make a difference.

The revolving door keeps turning -- and churning more women out

I mentioned in my June 20 blog (about an interview with Julie Ward) that shrinking staffs in sports departments were likely disproportionately eroding diversity. It looks as though APSE's latest study indicates that while racial diversity has improved just slightly (although still dismal), women have generally lost ground since the APSE's 2006 report was issued. Richard Lapchick, an author on the study, questioned decision-making about content by staffs that continue to be overwhelmingly dominated by white men.
In a statement in the report, Tribune Co. Sports Coordinator John Cherwa seems to imply that newspaper losses are at least in part a result of diversity gains at ESPN.com and other TV-Web operations. But that is likely not the case, and certainly the APSE study can't support such a claim -- given that two major operations, CBS and Yahoo, declined to participate. What we need is benchmark data on diversity in hiring at these and the many other Web operations (including those such as MLB.com) that compete with newspaper operations.

Narrow path for female SIDs

Next week, members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA) will meet in Tampa for the organization's annual convention. On the agenda is research by the Center for Sports Journalism that shows the disparities between men and women in employment and promotion -- women are only about a tenth the industry, and far fewer women reach the top ranks.
Focus groups with female SIDs show that discrimination and sexism are still a problem and that old-school ideas about women and sports can keep women from opportunities they deserve ("Sometimes I just want to wear my resume on my shirt just to say I am qualified," said one SID). Challenges in reconciling work and family obligations are a big reason women decide to leave the profession.

Female writers in the sports blogosphere

Blogger Andrea Reiher was interviewed for AOL Fanhouse about sexism in the sports blogosphere -- an interesting choice, considering that Reiher's blogs, including Ladies..., strike me as less-than-progressive when it comes to women, men and sports. In a full version of the interview, Reiher argues that there should be more women writing for the most popular blog sites, such as Deadspin. She is right -- few female writers are featured on these sites. But as I mentioned, I'm not sure Reiher and others bring a particularly different view to sports. And many of them do not want to.
I'm not saying that women shouldn't be given equal opportunity to contribute to the blogosphere. It's too bad, though, that they might simply provide more of the same -- discourse that reinforces sexism in sports and sports talk.

The erosion of diversity

Experienced journalists with institutional memories and expertise aren't the only sacrifice as newspaper sports operations continue to cut and consolidate. Former USA Today deputy sports editor Julie Ward, in an interview to be published in the next issue of International Journal of Sport Communication, wonders if diversity is part of price. A number of women, including Ward, and minorities in sports journalism have left newsrooms in recent months. It will be interesting to see how demographics change at APSE-member papers, many of which have seen their sports operations shrink over the past year. The organization's national meeting is next week.

The pain Title IX hath wrought

I just finished reading Michael Sokolove's lengthy cover story in The New York Times Magazine, "Hurt Girls." The storyline is not new -- the topic of adolescent girls and ACL injuries has been covered in other publications.
I think the topic is an important one -- just as the story about injury rates in boys' high school football is also an important story. My problem is the way this story is framed. The subhead for the story (in the print edition) sets the tone: "Everyone wants girls to have as many opportunities in sports as boys. But can we live with the greater rate of injuries they suffer?"
I won't bother providing a number of obvious responses to the question.
A major problem with the story is its reliance on anecdotal evidence to present girls as generally not suited for the rigors of sports. Sokolove does, well into the story, tell readers that "boys suffer more sports injuries," but writes that fact off to football and a higher participation rate, then keeps moving through his thesis.

I'm not the only one perplexed by why Sokolove's story got as much ink as it did. For interesting reading that quickly reveals a number of flaws in the piece, see the hundreds of reader comments left on the NYT Web site.

School for sports-comm teachers

If you are among the growing number of faculty teaching sports-comm related classes, you may be interested in an event in Chicago this summer: “Teaching Sports Communication Courses: A Roundtable for Educators.” The event will be part of the AEJMC conference in August.
It will take place Aug. 5 from 1 to 5 p.m. and will address everything from teaching skills classes and preparing students for a multimedia environment to developing full sports communication programs.
Experienced sports educators and journalists (including George Solomon and Malcolm Moran) will lead discussions, but the session is designed to solicit input from everyone. All who attend are encouraged to bring syllabi and other teaching materials. Please send questions about the session to mch208@psu.edu.

Still misunderstood: Title IX at 35

I've written before about media coverage of Title IX, and here's another study of interest to women's sports advocates: An analysis of editorials in the nation's major newspapers shows that "men as victims" mythology lives on even in arguments that generally support the law. It's the "we know women should have equal rights in theory, but ...." line of reasoning -- which can be used to ultimately justify inequity.

Oh, the meanness of it all

A 90-minute town-hall style "Costas Now" on HBO last night used a combination of taped and live segments to explore the role of sports talk radio and bloggers in the evolution of sports media. Mitch Albom blamed sports talk radio for spreading negativity and meanness to other forums, including sports columns. During the discussion about blogging, Buzz Bissinger told Deadspin's Will Leitch that blogs are conduits of cruelty and dishonesty. Traditional-media journalists also had their turn on the hot seat; they were accused of being jealous of athletes (One has to wonder if they're also jealous of bloggers) and of fueling distrust by athletes. The whole thing makes one wonder...So who is responsible for the ugliness in much of sports coverage today?

The risks of sports blogging

A week after the NYT piece about the uneasy relationship among institutional sports, mainstream media and sports blogs, today Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell writes about a sports blogger who was fired after identifying himself as affiliated with the Post on his blog, kissingsuzykolber.com.
Some blog readers apparently sent the paper angry e-mails, suggesting that its firing of Michael Tunison indicated that the paper was out of touch with today's readers.
Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, AME for Sports, said he understands the formula that drives most sports blogs -- it's nothing news. He told Howell, "They all combine sports with a little sex. It's the same formula the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue started years ago."
Howell also discusses another sports blog -- this one on Washingtonpost.com -- that prompted complaints about a contest proposed by blogger Jason La Canfora. These complaints accused La Canfora of stereotyping Italian Americans.
Although the same type of complaints can arise from the content in traditional print media, blogs can reach a wider audience and more quickly solicit feedback.

Bionic cover!

ESPN the Magazine's May 5 issue includes a cover story about the ways advanced prosthetics are allowing amputees to compete with able-bodied athletes. It goes beyond the well-publicized story of Oscar Pistorius and features other athletes such as Anthony Burruto.
The cover -- and the story -- are exciting because elite athletes with a disability have received so little media attention. It also forces us to rethink our ideas about the ideal athletic body. Yet the story also raises troubling questions about the continuing marginalization of these athletes -- with and without the prosthetics.

Petition to let women compete

Sign the petition for Friends of Women's Ski Jumping, designed to rally support behind women's entrance to the Vancouver Games in 2010.

Character, dignity, and racial stereotypes

I couldn't help but be struck by the tired racial stereotypes that seem to be reinforced in images that accompany the print edition of SI's latest feature, "Nebraska Lost, Nebraska Found.". The subhead promises a story about ways the Huskers plan to restore "character and dignity" to the program -- with "homegrown" players. Apparently, although the roster includes many African-American players, it's the white ones, whose images dominate the article, that will restore the "character" to this team.

From sex symbol to real threat

Although much of the mainstream media hailed Danica Patrick's IRL victory as a boost to IndyCar racing and predicted that Patrick's marketability would soar, it's interesting to see the reaction of popular sports blogs, where her historic win topped the discussion, according to Sports Business Daily. Not surprisingly, some (including the Deadspin and The Big Lead) found reason in Patrick's win to question the validity of auto racing as a sport or invited degrading, sexist comments from fans. What will be interesting over the next few months will be to see how mainstream coverage of Patrick evolves, as she has proven the ability of women to threaten the dominance of men in this sport.