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Content analyses of news media coverage of sports repeatedly indicate that female sports is under-represented (Bryant, 1980; Duncan & Sayaovong, 1990; Hilliard, 1984; Rintila & Birrell, 1 984; Sabo & Runfola, 1980). Critics claim that the news media's lack of attention of female sports hinders the advancement of females in sports, from grade school to professional sports (Rintila & Birrell, 1984). This study examined the depictions of females on the covers of Sports illustrated for over three decades.
News editors believe sports news is of interest to male readers. As a result, sports sections of newspapers may be more likely to neglect the concerns of women than other sections (McChesney, 1989). For example, Miller (1975) reported the findings of a comprehensive study of the photographs of women and men in six selected sections of the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. She found that the sports sections of both newspapers devoted a smaller percentage of photographs to women than the other sections. As Miller noted:
Hundreds of women's sports events occur each year in the greater Los Angeles and Washington areas. Both the Post and the Times have made efforts to expand their coverage of women's athletics and have added women sports reporters. Nevertheless, because they focus primarily on "big money" professional sporting events [rather than amateur, collegiate or recreational athletics], the sports sections of the Post and Times continue to be dominated by photos of men. (Miller, 1975, pp. 74-75)
The 1960s and 1970s were marked by a increased awareness of the treatment of women in the news. A 1965 report on the President's Commission of the Status on Women criticized the news media for portraying women in a manner that "contains only myths, misconceptions and even distortions" (Mead & Kaplan, 1965, p. 1). Longitudinal research yields mixed evidence regarding whether the coverage of female sports is overcoming this stereotype. Fasting and Tangen (1983) reported that articles on female sports in Norwegian media increased from 5 to 10 percent over an eight-year period from 1973 to 1980. In contrast, Reid and Soley (1979) examined Sports Illustrated during four six-year periods between 1956 to 1976 and found no pattern of changes. Feature articles about female sports fluctuated from 3.2 percent in 1964 to 6.8 percent...