Multimedia
Media Coverage & Female Athletes
A Tucker Center/tptMN video documentary
Click here to access the full video
The Tucker Center has won a 2014 Upper Midwest Emmy Award in the Sports Documentary category for its video “Media Coverage and Female Athletes,” an evidence-based research project co-produced with tptMN.
Forty percent of all sports participants are female, yet women’s sports receive only 4% of all sport media coverage and female athletes are much more likely than male athletes to be portrayed in sexually provocative poses. To highlight why this matters and address these disparities, the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with tptMN, have produced “Media Coverage and Female Athletes,” a groundbreaking documentary that uses research-based information to examine the amount and type of coverage given to female athletes. You won’t want to miss hearing from expert scholars and award winning coaches and athletes who discuss this timely issue from a variety of perspectives, as they help dispel the common—but untrue—myths that no one is interested in women’s sport and that "sex sells" women’s sport. Effective strategies are also discussed for increasing media coverage and creating images which reflect the reality of women’s sports participation and why this is so important.
"The Tucker Center leads the way in scholarship and advocacy for fair and equitable media coverage of women’s sports. As this documentary reveals, the need for both is as strong as ever. Media Coverage & Female Athletes is important because it explores the reasons why sportswomen remain sidelined and stereotyped in the media. Better yet, it shows what we can do to bring about changes that reflect the reality of women’s sports participation."
— Marie Hardin,
Professor & Associate Director, John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, Penn State University
Media Mentions
The Media Coverage & Female Athletes video is making waves all over ...
- Portnoy, D. (2014, April/May). Decent exposure: Media coverage and female athletes. Coaching Volleyball, pp. 26-27.
- Bakalova, I. (2014, April 21). UNLV Forum: Women’s sports expert talks inequality in media coverage.
- Lipscombe, K., & Calomino, J. (2014, March 14). Changing the game: Canadian Women's Hockey League helping to grow the sport on the ice—and in the media.The Canadian Women’s Hockey League website.
- Allen, S. (2014, February 24). Media coverage documentary. Gender Equality in Sports Media blog.
- Editor. (2014, January 21). New documentary on media & gender: 40% of the athletes are women, they get 4% of the media coverage. Idrottsforum.org Nordic Sport Science Forum blog.
- Zirin, Dave. (2014, January 17). Professor Mary Kane of the School of Kinesiology, and the director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota explains the lack of coverage for women’s sports. Episode 286. Edge of Sports blog.
- Vision 2020 Blog. (2014, January 10). Female athletes in the media: The best and worst of times.
- Crawford, B. (2014, January 8). Documentary on "Media Coverage and Female Athletes." Feminist Law Professors website.
- Star Tribune. (2013, December 12). Rosenblum: ‘Here’s Proof’ female athletes also can deliver high TV ratings.
- University of Minnesota Women's Center Blog. (2013, December 2). We want to watch women's sports.
- Seattle Times (2013, November 27). Documentary aims to dispel myth that no one is interested in women's sports.
Trailer
Get the DVD
We hope you watch our documentary free of charge at the link above, but if you would like a DVD copy for yourself or for educational purposes you can request a complimentary copy by sending email to info@tuckercenter.org with your name and compete surface mail address.
Should you find our documentary compelling, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Tucker Center via our Support Us page.
Join the Tucker Center's #HERESPROOF Project!
Post your pictures of female athletes & women's sports on your favorite social network and PROVE that many people are interested in women's sports!