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We can be what we can see: The plight of women in sports media

It's time for more women to be given prominent roles in sports media. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Expert
3rd September, 2018
20

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I prefer to make a statement in the affirmative and manifest positive change, and it seems that change is starting to proliferate.

Turn on the TV and no longer will you find male-only sports shows. There might still be a single, some may say token, female, but each definitely holds her own among the panel of male colleagues.

The next challenge is to sway television executives to believe that more women is an engaging, informative and, dare I say, attractive proposition.

As we continue to grow and support women’s sport, more female experts will have the knowledge and credentials to put their hand up for roles in the media, executive positions within football departments or on boards, or even taking the reins as senior coach of both men’s and women’s teams.

But we mustn’t be complacent.

Having an exponential increase, compared to a few years ago, of females within these roles doesn’t mean we have found our equilibrium. We’re coming from a very, very long run-up and, given that women are still few and far between (in some cases still non-existent), we still have a long way to go.

Some people say, and even I used to blindly buy into this argument, that we must find the right person for the right role. This is a tricky one. In my opinion, this is true – if you take a holistic view.

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By that, I mean you must also provide everyone with the opportunities to win the role on their merit. For too long, this has been the domain for the ‘boys club’.

If you scratch the surface, you will find many of the people making these hiring decisions are the same men who have protected their own positions and the accompanying perks and pay packet, for many years.

Some have ‘evolved’ through necessity, others have had a lightbulb moment when opportunities for their own daughters are bought into the argument, and thankfully, there are those who have always believed in giving equal opportunities, so the right person for the role can be selected.

I was faced with a situation only a couple of years ago at a radio station I had previously worked for, in both a voluntary and paid capacity. Two of the big-name presenters asked me if I would like to return to the station to join their show.

Naturally, I was excited by the prospect and other opportunities this could present, which included potentially bringing back the sports radio show I had developed as the first of its kind in the country.

After setting up a meeting with management and inviting my own manager along, it appeared we were moving in the right direction until the phones went quiet and my manager received an email addressed to him, about me, despite the fact I had created the meeting and conversation.

In part, this is what it read:

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“We need more time to determine what role females will play in [station’s] future. Some of the things we are considering include coverage of female sports, female hosts and female contributors. It’s fair to say that this part of [station] is work in progress.

“In these circumstances, it’s difficult for us to give Tiffany any certainty about opportunities at [station]. In the event we decide to increase the female content in [station’s] programs, we’d be pleased to talk further.”

I happened to be playing golf at the time I received this forwarded email and, after stewing over it for a number of holes, asked my golf partner at the time (fortuitously the chief editor of one of our country’s leading newspapers) if my disbelief and disgust was unwarranted.

“I’ll put it to you like this,” he replied.

“Take out the word female and replace it with Aborigines, Muslims or people with a disability. How does it read now? There would be an almighty uproar, but for some reason, society still thinks it’s alright to continue to talk about women like this.”

I followed up this email with a one-on-one meeting with the general manager of the station and asked him to explain the context behind the email. The meeting lasted less than ten minutes and before he stormed out of it.

One of the more eyebrow-raising lines was, “Tiffany, if I was to give you a job, a man would have to lose his job.”

We are now three years on and, while some of the management and ownership has changed, it seems attitudes haven’t.

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Recently, a female sports reporter was sacked because of cost-cutting, despite many of her male colleagues rating her work and wanting her to continue.

The way in which she was asked to garner support from her colleagues is disgraceful and still makes me shake my head in disbelief. Once again, time and personnel have moved on, but attitudes have remained at their sexist worst.

Sport, like every section of society, must be a level playing field when it comes to opportunities to train, gain experience and ultimately be in a position to win a role you aspire to.

Let’s make sure people from a diverse range of backgrounds are offered opportunities to gain the necessary experience and credentials and ultimately jobs that, for far too long, have been the domain of white men.

We can be what we can see.

Listen to how Tiffany Cherry has broken down boundaries in the sports media industry in the We Are The World We Create Glemorangie Podcast below.

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