Bristol Fawcett Media Day
‘Sport Pages’ or ‘Men’s Sport Pages’….?

Sporting context (from a non-expert on sport):
•    Wimbledon fortnight
•    Not during the men’s football season

Paper Main picture back page (or front of sports section) Lead story back page (or front of sports section) Number of sports pages Number of articles on women's sport*
The Times Serena Williams (tennis player - injured) Men's football 14 2
Mirror Wayne Rooney (footballer) Men's football 11 2
Daily Star Eduardo de Silva (footballer) Men's football 11 1
Metro Serena Williams (tennis player - in tears) Men's football 5 3
The Sun Eduardo de Silva Men's football 11 4
Telegraph Serena Williams (injured) Men's football 20 2
The Independent Serena Williams (injured) Women's tennis 11 5
The Guardian Serena Williams (celebrating) Women's tennis 12 3


*All of these articles were about women’s tennis, during the second week of Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

A brief attempt was made to analyse the text – none of that about women (primarily Serena Williams) was found to be of a derogatory nature and did indeed focus on the detail of the play it was concerned with.  Indeed, the most blatant focus on the physique and appearance of a player rather than their skill as a tennis player was with regard to Nadal.

Questions
•    After the 2007 Wimbledon fortnight – when was the next time a photo of a woman appeared on the back page?
•    To what extent would there be coverage of women’s sports outside of Wimbledon (a very high-profile national event)?
•    What is the relationship between sponsorship and coverage – women’s sport presumably does not raise the money that men’s sport does?
•    Where do you find out news about women’s sports?

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