Gender Bias and the 1992 Summer Olympic Games: An Analysis of Television Coverage

Abstract

This study provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of NBC's coverage of sports that held competitions for both women and men during the 1992 Olympic Games. The study presents results of the broadcast time devoted to women's and men's basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming/diving, track and field, and other sports. The analysis examines qualitative differences in portrayals of female and male athletes. The analysis of each sport evaluated announcers' use of strength and weakness descriptors to characterize women and men athletes and the nature of the narratives used to describe women and men competitors. The study finds that although women were given greater coverage in individuals sports, that coverage was divided into shorter and more heavily edited segments. In addition, commentators relied on gender marking, biased and ambivalent reporting, and a focus on personalities as opposed to athletic abilities when covering women's sports.

Gender Bias In The 1996 Olympic Games

“…Rather, women's events were presented in such a way that no systematic discrimination between the men's and women's coverage was discernible. This finding is in distinct contrast to previous studies (Duncan et al, 1990;Higgs & Weiller, 1994), which have suggested that coverage of women's team sports have traditionally been trivialized.…”

“…Emphasizing these differences reinforces messages that amplify male hegemony not only in sport but in other realms of life (Lambo & Tucker, 1990). In comparison with the 1992 Olympic Games (Higgs & Weiller, 1994), findings of the present study suggest the following:…”

“…In the past, it has been characteristic of televised sports media to highlight men's and women's sporting events in different ways (Duncan et al, 1990;Harris & Hills, 1993;Higgs & Weiller, 1994). Emphasizing these differences reinforces messages that amplify male hegemony not only in sport but in other realms of life (Lambo & Tucker, 1990).…”

“…Narratives in the men's and women's games in the 1992 Olympics revealed a strong distinction in presentation of male dominance and strength (Higgs & Weiller, 1994), whereas narratives of the 1996 competition were far less distinctive. Comments such as "two of the best middle blockers in the game" and "they have raised the level of this game substantially" are examples of the nature of the narrative.…”

Sport is king1: an investigation into local media coverage of women's sport in the UK East Midlands

“…Most previous studies into coverage of female sport have tended to focus on the national or transnational level, either looking at particular sports or large events like the Olympics (Higgs and Weiller 1994;Billings and Eastman 2002;Capranica et al 2005). The general conclusion of the majority of these papers is that there is a large imbalance in the coverage of male and female sports, both in terms of the amount of space they receive in the media, and the way they are portrayed (Bryant 1980;Jones et al 1999).…”