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

Abstract

There has been a recent interest in research into national media coverage of female sport, particularly single events, but ongoing sporting activities by women are rarely reported. This paper attempts to examine this subject at the local level, looking in general at women's sport and in particular at women's football in the East Midlands region of the UK. Quantitative methods were used to survey local newspapers and radio stations, and interviews were carried out with a range of people relevant to the field of study. The topic of sports media is framed here with reference to research into masculinities, and a socialist feminist approach is used to address problems. The data showed that there was a significant and ongoing imbalance in the amount of coverage and even some signs of a decline in women's football reporting in spite of a national resurgence of the sport itself. The authors try to account for this and suggest further areas of future study.