The aim of the study was to analyze the press coverage of sports published in the largest Polish daily newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, in terms of gender inequality. The content both qualitative and quantitative analysis method was used. In the study, the number of articles on women and men was examined, with the qualitative sections consisting of an analysis of gender stereotypes appearing in these articles. Th e results demonstrated the underrepresentation of women in the examined sports press coverage. The qualitative analysis showed that articles dealing with women’s sports included gender stereotypes. The articles focused on the physical appearance of women or on their non-sports lives. Infantilizing and marginalizing comments were also present. The study revealed the gender-dependent nature of the press coverage of sports in Poland.

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The goal of this paper is to show the relationship between the mass media and professional sport, with special focus on both the positive and negative impact the mass media might have on the development of sport, complete with changes which the mass media trigger in sport as such. In order to do so, the paper employs a range of theories, including the structural-functional theory, symbolic interactionism and, to a certain extent, the theory of social conflict. Several research methods have been used as well, including the inductive and deductive methods, the idiographic and nomothetic methods and an analysis of publications dealing with the subject. The links and interrelations between sport and the mass media are many and multilayered and opinions on them differ greatly. It is not possible to unequivocally decide whether they are good or bad as far as contemporary people and the modern civilisation are concerned. Like most social and cultural phenomena, they certainly can be both. The mass media and sport are two domains which influence each other and each of them has changed because of the other. One could say that nowadays, the mass media and sport form an almost perfect union.

The studies conducted over recent decades on media sports coverage indicatedmajor underrepresentation of women’s sports. The underrepresentation of women’s sports in the media is aligned with the perception of sport as a masculine construct with sportswomen as the ‘other’. However, most studies were conducted in English-speaking countries. In this article we present our findings of press media coverage in Poland. The aim of the study was to provide an analysis of sports press coverage in the largest Polish daily, Gazeta Wyborcza, with respect to gender inequality. The chosen method was content analysis. The results show an underrepresentation of women’s sports in the examined press coverage – only 12.5% of all articles concerned female sports. Qualitative analysis demonstrates that the articles differed in terms of the athletes’ gender as well. The study highlighted the gender-dependent nature of the examined sports press coverage in Poland.

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