Stopped at the Gate: Women's Sports, “Reader Interest,” and Decision Making by Editors

Abstract

Newspaper sports pages have been criticized for failure to incorporate women's sports equitably, although few studies have examined why editors consistently sideline women's sports. This survey of 285 sports editors in the southeastern United States explores gatekeeping factors that may affect coverage received by women's sports. Results show that many editors fail to systematically ascertain reader interests, many believe that female athletic potential is inferior to that of males, and some say they feel no commitment to hiring women or covering women's sports.