Vincent Reaction

1.)In Vincent’s study, what are the primary factors he uses to gauge whether media coverage of the genders is equitable?

The primary factors that Vincent uses to figure out if media coverage of men and women is equal are quantity of coverage, quality of coverage, position of the page, and content and quality of photography. When Vincent talks about quantity of coverage, he is talking in terms of the number of articles, number of words and paragraphs in the article, the number of headlines, the number of photographs, and the size of the article, the headline, and the photos that accompany it.
Quality of coverage means taking a look at the position of the article within the newspaper. Is the article about the athlete in the sports page or on the front page? Is it buried within the section of the newspaper or right up front? All of these things determine whether or not the coverage of male and female athletes are equal. Also, one should pay attention to the position of the article on the page that it is on and whether or not it is on the top, middle, or bottom of the page.
When looking at the quality of the photograph, readers should pay attention to the type of photo (like a competitive v. non-competitive photo) and whether the photo is black and white or color.
Besides these factors, Vincent also looks at how female athletes are portrayed in the media. There should be a balance between “female appropriate” sports, like gymnastics or ice skating, and “non female appropriate” sports, like rugby or field hockey. Also, it is important not to trivialize female athletes and to avoid threading stories about female athletes into stories about male athletes. Finally, sports writers should define female athletes by their athleticism and not their gender.

2. What are some of the conclusions and inferences of the study?

Vincent thinks that it is extremely important that women and men athletes have equal coverage in sports, as he feels that it is a direct reference to how women are valued in society. If female athletes are barely covered in the media then it makes it difficult for parents to send their daughters the message that women’s sports are worthwhile and valuable and that women athletes are just as “determined, powerful, independent, and strong” as male athletes.
Along with the amount of coverage, it is also important that women athletes are not stereotyped by their looks or by their gender roles. Anna Kournikova shouldn’t be a highly visible female athlete just because she is pretty, but because of her role as a successful female athlete. Only by getting rid of the idea that female athletes are valued based on sex appeal can there be equal coverage of men and women.

3. Are his recommendations realistic? In your opinion, why or why not?

While it would be nice if women’s and men’s sports received equal coverage in all areas, I don’t think it will realistically happen any time soon. Too much damage has already been done and in our culture we have been almost trained to enjoy sports like football, men’s basketball, or baseball more than the WNBA. Since this is what people want to watch and want to see covered, the media is going to cover it because they are in the business of making money. There is a reason that we see commercials and ads all over the place for men’s sporting events; they are able to make the big money that women’s sports just can’t.