A new age for media coverage of women’s sport? An analysis of English media coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Here at Durham University Library we’re always interested to see what research our academic colleagues are publishing and making available to all via our open access repository, Durham Research Online.

Kelly H: “Growing up in a North-East town in the 1990s, conveniently located between Newcastle and Sunderland, football was a prominent part of my childhood.  There were many arguments about which team was better – Newcastle or Sunderland (Newcastle, obviously!) But one thing was for certain – football was for the lads.  This view was perpetuated by the teachers, our parents and of course, the media.  There was one girl in my class who was an amazing footballer and the boys accepted her as an equal – until secondary school when she was no longer allowed to play with them due to health and safety.

Women playing football (Male linesman)
Image: Noelle Otto, CC 0, https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-athletes-playing-soccer-906073/


Fast forward to 2019 and there is a buzz about women’s football that I couldn’t have imagined as a child.  Women are being recognised for their sporting achievements.  It was great to see research by Kate Petty and Stacey Pope from the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences identified this trend through research in their 2015 article: ‘A new age for media coverage of women’s sport? An analysis of English media coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup’ which was published the journal Sociology.  Petty and Pope examined ‘English print media coverage of the England national women’s football (soccer) team during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup’ (2015, p.1).  They found that the press coverage demonstrated a ‘positive shift’ in the representation of women’s football and this signals ‘a hopeful new direction’.  It will be interesting to see whether this trend continues during the current Women’s World Cup!

What is really impressive about this piece of work is not only how readable and accessible it is, but also that it was submitted as an undergraduate dissertation.  This is an incredible achievement and demonstrates the kind of support that students can get at Durham.”

Read the article online: http://dro.dur.ac.uk/25903/

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038518797505

Follow Durham Research Online on Twitter: @DROdurham

Follow the authors on Twitter: @StaceyPope20 @KatePetty12

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