All Things Sports

Hello my reader, welcome back to All Things Sports. Today I want to talk about an issue in sports: equal representation in the media. While the representation on the field is not necessarily an issue, the representation of women and people of color in the sports media industry is a big one. 

A report published by ESPN almost a year ago, human rights activist and expert Richard Lapchick highlighted a report that stated that the media industry remains predominantly male and white. Some of the eye-popping stats included seeing that 77.6% of reports in the industry were men and 85.6% were white. For all the talk of progress and the modern era in sports, this definitely shows a different picture. The report does include the fact that there has been some improvement in the industry however it is not enough. If we want to empower women’s sports and minorities in sports it may have to and should start here. 

This is not just because of having equality but also because of the product that we are seeing. Having more diverse groups of people in the industry will lead to more diverse points of view, opinions, takes, all of which fuel the sports media industry. The best example of the impact of the takes and opinions is Steven A. Smith. For the readers, who do not know who he is, he is a media personality for ESPN that is famous for his controversial opinions and takes, and while they may not be the most intellectual or the most accurate, they definitely draw interest to sports in general. Having more diverse groups can provide these opinions and takes that can draw interest to not only the most popular sports, but it can also help grow leagues such as the WNBA and NWSL because of the increased representation. The growth of these leagues is imperative to the empowerment of women in the industry and it starts with the media industry. Providing diverse opinions, takes, backgrounds, and personalities is key and it will go hand-in-hand with the growth of women’s sports and the empowerment of those who are currently underserved. This needs to change for the betterment of society.