Abstract
The purpose of this study was to provide a reexamination of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) News and the extent to which the publication provides equitable coverage to women and women's teams. To do so, 5,745 paragraphs and 1,086 photographs from 24 issues (12 issues in 1999, 12 issues in 2001) were coded for (a) gender, (b) size, (c) location, and (d) content. Results were then compared to a standard (i.e., the proportion of female athletes competing in NCAA intercollegiate athletics). Results indicate that coverage in the NCAA News was more representative, with respect to the amount of text and number of photographs, than it was in 1988 and 1991.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Acosta, R. V., & Carpenter, L. J. (2002). Women in intercollegiate sport: A longitudinal study—twenty five year update—1977–2002. Unpublished manuscript, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY.
Babbie, E. (1986). The practice of social research (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
Bray, C. (2003). NCAA sponsorship and participation report. Indianapolis, IN: The National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Coakley, J. J. (1998). Sport in society: Issues and controversies (6th ed.). New York: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cramer, J.A. (1994). Conversations with women journalists. In P. J. Creedon (Ed.), Women, media, and sport: Challenging gender values (pp. 159-180). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cuneen, J., & Sidwell, M. J. (1998). Gender portrayals in Sports Illustrated for Kids advertisements: A content analysis of prominent and supporting models. Journal of Sport Management, 12, 39-50.
Cunningham, G. B., & Sagas, M. (2002). Utilizing a different perspective: Brand equity and media coverage of intercollegiate athletics. International Sports Journal, 6, 134-145.
Duncan, M. C. (1990). Sports photographs and sexual difference: Images of men and women in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. Sociology of Sport Journal, 7, 22-43.
Duncan, M. C., Messner, M. A., Williams, A., & Jensen, K. (1994). Gender, stereotyping in television sports. In S. Birrell & C. L. Cole (Eds.), Women, culture, and sport (pp. 249-272). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Fink, J. S., & Kensicki, L. J. (2002). An imperceptible difference: Visual and textual constructions of femininity in Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Women. Mass Communication and Society, 5, 317-339.
Greenberg, J., & Hier, S. (2001). Crisis, mobilization and collective problematization: “Illegal” Chinese migrants and the Canadian news media. Journalism Studies, 2, 563-583.
Gremillion, J. (1996, August 19). Woman-izing sports: Magazine coverage of female athletes. Mediaweek, pp. 20-22.
Kane, H. D., Taub, G. E., & Hayes, B. G. (2000). Interactive media and its contribution to the constructive and destruction of values and character. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education, and Development, 39, 58-65.
Kane, M. J. (1988). Media coverage of the female athlete before, during, and after Title IX: Sports Illustrated revisited. Journal of Sport Management, 2, 87-99.
Kane, M. J., & Greendorfer, S. L. (1994). The media's role in accommodating and resisting stereotyped images of women in sport. In P. J. Creedon (Ed.), Women, media, and sport: Challenging gender values (pp. 28-44). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kane, M. J., & Parks, J. (1990). Mass media images a reflector of social change: The portrayal of female athletes before, during, and after Title IX. In L. Vander Velden & J. Humphrey (Eds.), Psychology and sociology of sport: Current selected research (Vol. 2, pp. 133-149). New York: AMS Press.
Lumpkin, A., & Williams, L. D. (1991). An analysis of Sports Illustrated feature articles, 1954–1987. Sociology of Sport Journal, 8, 16-32.
Malec, M. A. (1994). Gender (in)equity in the NCCA News? Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 18, 376-378.
Messner, M. A. (1988). Sports and male domination: The female athlete as contested ideological terrain. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5, 197-211.
Messner, M. A., Duncan, M. C., & Wachs, F. L. (1996). The gender of audience building: Televised coverage of men's and women's NCAA basketball. Sociological Inquiry, 66, 422-439.
Moore, J. N., Raymond, M. A., Mittelstaedt, J. D., & Tanner, J. F., Jr. (2002). Age and consumer socialization agent influences on adolescents' sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behavior: Implications for social marketing initiatives and public policy. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 21, 37-52.
NCAA to host eighth annual Title IX seminar May 9–10 in Arlington, Virginia (2002, April 16). NCAA News. Retrieved Saturday, December 21, 2002, from http://www.ncaa.org /resleases/makepage.cgi/miscellaneous/2002041601ms.htm
Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. R. (1978). The external controls of organizations. New York: Harper & Row.
Rintala, J., & Birrell, S. (1984). Fair treatment for the active female: A content analysis of Young Athlete magazine. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1, 231-250.
Sagas, M., Cunningham, G. B., Wigley, B. J., & Ashley, F. B. (2000). Internet coverage of university softball and baseball Web sites: The inequity continues. Sociology of Sport Journal, 17, 198-205.
Shifflett, B., & Revelle, R. (1994a). Gender equity in sports and media coverage: A review of the News? Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 18, 144-150.
Shifflett, B., & Revelle, R. (1994b). Equity revisited. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 18, 379-383.
Steinem, G. (1990, July/August). Sex, lies, and advertising. Ms., pp. 18-28.
Theberge, N., & Cronk, A. (1986). Work routines in newspaper sports departments and the coverage of women's sports. Sociology of Sport Journal, 3, 195-203.
Tuggle, C. A. (1997). Differences in televised sports reporting of men's and women's athletics: ESPN Sports Center and CNN Sports Tonight. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 41(1), 14-24.
Wann, D. L., Schrader, M. P., Allison, J. A., & McGeorge, K. K. (1998). The inequitable newspaper coverage of men's and women's athletics at small, medium, and large universities. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 22, 79-87.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cunningham, G.B., Sagas, M., Sartore, M.L. et al. Gender Representation in the NCAA News: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?. Sex Roles 50, 861–870 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000029103.82043.a4
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000029103.82043.a4