In the British press, what proportion of sports writers are women, and has it improved over time?

What is it about?

Past research has found that sports journalism has remained an area of gender disparity. However, in recent years, female sports broadcasters have increased their visibility in the UK. By comparison, while newspaper sports coverage has increased rapidly in recent years, how much progress have women sports writers made in the print media? This research first examines the current visibility of women sports journalists in the sports section of the national UK press, counting by-lines to examine the prevalence of female sports writers. Secondly, a study is carried out to see if the 2012 London Olympic Games had any effect on the proportion of female sports writers in the UK press, by comparing sports by-lines in a sample six months before the Olympics and six months after. Furthermore, these results are compared to a decade earlier to see if the situation has improved over a longer period of time.

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