Masculine cultures of sports journalism production: A case study of Irish sports journalists’ approaches to gender equality in sports coverage

This paper examines sports journalists’ understandings of the gendered aspects of producing sports content for Irish media. Using a small-scale qualitative study, with a purposive sample of 15 journalists, the paper explores whether journalists see the masculinist culture of sports news production as a key site of gender change. The findings note that respondents saw gender inequality in sports media as a historical legacy issue. Barriers to more equitable coverage were described in terms of practical challenges, available space and resources, legacy practices, knowledge-deficits and a dependence on individual advocates. Respondents did not name a masculinist culture of sports production as a key barrier to change. The mechanisms that sports journalists believed were needed to promote gender equality were located in factors that were extrinsic to the masculinist culture of the newsroom. Respondents flagged the importance of social media activism, women’s sporting success and investment in infrastructure as relevant to change. They highlighted roles for NGBs, sources, sponsors, and male allies. Despite some adjustments to include more women the masculinist culture of sports journalism largely goes unquestioned and so women in sport remain the exception to the rule of sport journalism as inherently masculine.