Salciunas week 7

While growing up through the later part of the 20^th century and now the 21^st, many issues facing diversity in the work field flew right over my head. In high school, I learned of feminist movements during the Civil Rights Era, and read success stories following the events that took place in the 1960s. What was never taught was the lack of female presence in upper class management and in other professions such as journalism. After reading Edward M. Kian’s Gender in Sports Writing, the numbers and opinions on women in sports journalism really jumped out at me.

The numbers regarding women in sports journalism alone are unbelievable. The lack of women in the field leave me scratching my head and feeling slightly disturbed. Entering this class, I never found it an issue. I saw women on ESPN all the time, and that was when I made the mistake of jumping to a conclusion. When reading the work provided by Edward M. Kian, one stat regarding the number of female sports journalists was eye popping. In the 1990s, out of 10,000 different professional print and broadcast sports journalism sections, only 3% of its members were women. Saying that this field is run by men seems to be the just statement and needs to be taken into consideration of change. Since then the numbers have changed but it is still way too low.

When looking at the mindset of not only women in the sports journalism field, but as well as the men, some opinions could be disturbing. We have heard of the instances when ESPN’s Tony Kornheisser showed disgust to his colleagues “open” outfit. Who is to say other men, maybe not in areas as prominent as ESPN, are not doing the same thing? There was one other stat that really jumped out at me in Kian’s Gender in Sports Writing when he took his poll on men’s feelings toward women in the office. 59% of the surveyed male sports editors felt obligated to hire female staff writers. That shows that these men know the numbers are low but still do not actually want to hire women, but they feel obligated to. Then you look at the other 41%. What are they thinking? Did they not feel obligated and they enjoyed hiring their female staff members? Or was it that they did not feel obligated and had no intentions of hiring female staff members? That is another study that needs to be done; but clearly as the numbers already show; it seems to have been the later of the two.

Until the end of this semester, I am sure diversity in the field of sports journalism will be a huge topic. Whether it is regarding women, or the lack of “color” in the newsroom, we will speak of it; and that needs to be done. The numbers do not lie, they are there to make a point, unfortunately, the point is slowly getting across. The numbers are raising for women in the field of sports journalism, but too slow for anyone’s liking.