Media Releases

20 May 2010 - New Report Reveals Poor Media Coverage of Women in Sport

THE HON KATE ELLIS MP
MINISTER FOR SPORT

NEW REPORT REVEALS POOR MEDIA COVERAGE OF WOMEN IN SPORT

Thursday, 20 May 2010

Kate Ellis, the Federal Minister for Sport, today released new research by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) that reveals the achievements of women in sport continue to be under� represented in the Australian media.

The Towards a Level Playing Field: sport and gender in Australian media report provides a picture of how little coverage there is of women's sport and female athletes in Australian radio, television, magazines and newspapers. The report also examined the way in which female athletes are portrayed by the media.

The report found that:
" Women in sport made up just nine per cent of all sports coverage in Australian television news and current affairs and seven per cent of other sport programming.
" Television news reports on female sport had the lowest average duration of all the types of sport news analysed; with reports on male sport having an average duration of 30 seconds longer than reports on female sport.
" Female athletes generally need to win in order to receive media coverage, whereas male athletes tend to receive coverage regardless of their success.
" The gender stereotyping in press and television coverage of female athletes was minimal, with reporting focussed on the performances and results rather than their looks, sexuality or emotions.
Ms Ellis released the report, while speaking at the 5th IWG International Conference on Women and Sport in Sydney today.

"While I'm pleased to see that media reporting of women's sport is now properly focused on their achievements rather than trivialising their efforts or treating them as sex symbols, this is just one small victory in the fight for equality for women's sport," Ms Ellis said.

"In a country with such a rich sporting culture as Australia, where women's sport is competitive and very successful on the international stage, it is incredibly disappointing that female sport remains so starkly under-represented in the media."

The Australian Government recognises that one of the major barriers facing women's participation in sport is getting women seen, heard and supported in the media. That is why the Government is investing in raising the profile of women's sport in Australia by providing:
" $32 million over 4 years to the Football Federation Australia, including funding to support a televised Westfield Women's League,
" $2.4 million support of the Trans-Tasman netball competition, including funding to support and promote free to air television coverage of the ANZ Netball Championships; and
" $100,000 to support the 5th IWG International Conference on Women and Sport

Last week the Government released Australian Sport: Pathway to Success, which outlines the Government's new direction for Australian sport. Australian Sport: Pathway to Success is backed by $195.2 million in new funding - the biggest funding injection to sport in our nation's history.

Today Minister Ellis further detailed the Government's policy strategies to increase the participation and leadership opportunities for women in sport.

The Government will further support women in sport by:
" Providing a dedicated pool of funds through the Australian Sports Commission to provide women's sport with additional resources to break into the media cycle and boost the media coverage of women's sport in Australia.
" Establishing Women in Sport Awards to recognise exemplary initiatives, which provide special support for women's and girls' participation in sport, whether as players, coaches, administrators or officials and recognise and to reward fair and extraordinary media reporting.
" Setting up the Women in Sport Register to enable women to register their skills and interest in being involved in sport so that sports can readily access potential candidates and find a match to their needs.
" Requesting that the Australian Sports Commission work with national sporting organisations and other key bodies, such as the Butterfly Foundation, to develop strategies to tackle body image issues which affect women's - and particularly girl's - participation in sport.

"Women have a vital role to play in the development of sport in Australia - as participants, volunteers, athletes and sports leaders as coaches and administrators. And yet we still see women facing barriers to participating in sport across their lifetime and an unwarranted lack of profile when it comes to high performance sport," Ms Ellis said.

"The Australian Government will continue to focus on this important issue until the media coverage of women's sport is on a level playing field with men".

Towards a Level Playing Field: sport and gender in Australian media report was compiled for the Australian Sports Commission by the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of NSW and Media Monitors Pty Ltd.

A copy of the report can be found at www.ausport.gov.au/participating/women/research

Minister Ellis' Press Secretary: Jamila Rizvi 0438 644 603 jamila.rizvi@deewr.gov.au