Sportspeople are only present in 8.2 per cent of television news and 15 per cent of radio news
A study led by the CSD shows that there are still wide asymmetries in sports information about men and women
On the occasion of the Women ' s Day, CSD is carrying out two new studies on the presence and treatment of sportswomen in the media, the data of which reflect the large asymmetries still existing in sports information about men and women.
In addition to the low percentages of both sports coverage practiced by women, the results show discursive biases such as the constant comparison with male sports, the usual relationship of sportswomen with circumstances of their personal lives and the lack of continuity of information on gender issues.
Madrid, March 8, 2023.- On the occasion of March 8, International Women's Day, the Higher Sports Council (CSD) has published two new diagnostic studies on the presence and treatment of women in sports information.
Promoted by the Women and Sport subdirectorate of the CSD and developed by Indexa Geodata based on the analysis of news from 2011 to 2021, the studies reveal the existence of clear asymmetries between women and men in sports information, both in quantitative and qualitative levels.
As indicated in the study Treatment of Women in Sport in Radio and Television, with a higher quantitative profile, only 8.2 per cent of the news on television is available to women, whereas in the radio area this percentage reaches 15.4 per cent of the information.
In addition, sportswomen appear only in the headlines in just over 10 per cent of television news and 18 per cent of radio news, adding up to individual, team and mixed female appearances. With regard to the authorship of the news, only 15.25% of the news analysed has a female signature, a percentage that in the area of radio reaches 18.42%.
As in the men’s area, there is a clear ‘futbolization’ of the information about sport practiced by women: in the television area, more than 57% of the news about women sportsmen belongs to this sport, at a great distance from basketball (9%) and tennis (less than 5%), among others. The same thing happens on the radio: football grabs 55.53% of the news about sportswomen.
For its part, the study Treatment of sports information of women in sport: analysis of language, of a more qualitative nature, shows that in 44% of the information analyzed, where women appear alone or share protagonism with men, the treatment is asymmetric.
As noted in the analysis, discursive biases are still present, such as the usual comparison with male sport and relate sportswomen and their partners with extra-professional aspects - even separating sports information in the story to focus on their personal lives. In addition, the study notes that in the last ten years there is a trend towards the disappearance of these asymmetries, which points to a change in the newsrooms and to the fact that all efforts in sensitization and training are paying off.
The authors of these two CSD research projects, for which a sample of more than 9,000 news has been used, are the researchers Heidy Sofa Rōos Urdaneta, from Indexa Geodata, and Clara Sainz de Baranda Andhujar, from the Carlos III University of Madrid.
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