June 25, 2007
Survey: Title IX Coverage Influenced
by Attitude of Sports Journalists

More than 80 percent of newspaper sports reporters surveyed about Title IX believe their papers have fairly covered the controversial federal law, and about half of those reporters believe the law hurts men’s sports, according to a new study.

About one-third of those surveyed believe the 35-year-old law should be changed.

Reporter attitudes toward the law and an overall lack of diversity in newspaper sports operations could impact coverage of Title IX, which was enacted in June 1972 and guarantees equal opportunity for girls and women at U.S. schools that receive federal funding.

Critics of the law believe it has enhanced women’s sports at the expense of some men’s sports.

“If reporters believe that Title IX is the culprit behind losses to men’s sports, they may be less likely to scrutinize statements by sources who want to weaken the law,” said Marie Hardin, associate director of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, housed in the College of Communications at Penn State. The Curley Center conducted the telephone and Internet survey of 371 sports journalists from late April to early June.

“Also, if a reporter believes the law should be changed because it’s unfair to men, it may be difficult to keep the story from favoring that viewpoint,” Hardin said.

News coverage in recent years often has not challenged assertions that gains for women’s sports are losses for men’s, Hardin said. But NCAA studies show that men’s sports continue to grow and that they still receive the lion’s share of resources.

In the same survey, 77 percent of reporters also said they thought their papers provided enough coverage of women’s sports. However, research about the composition of newspaper sports sections shows that stories about girls’ and women’s sports take only about 8 percent of newspaper sports sections—even though girls’ and women’s participation rates are much higher, Hardin said.

About three-quarters of reporters who took the survey agreed that their sports departments did not have enough gender diversity. Many newspaper sports operations do not have any women, according to a Center study published last year.

Adding more women to the mix could impact the ways sports are covered, Hardin said. On survey questions about Title IX and coverage of women’s sports, for instance, women and men differed. More men thought Title IX hurt men’s sports and should be changed, and more women said they weren’t satisfied with the amount of women’s sports coverage.

“As more women get into sports journalism, we could see a push for better coverage of women's sports and different framing of Title IX in coverage,” Hardin said.

For a full report on the survey, click here.

Contact information:
Marie Hardin
Assistant Professor
Associate Director of Research, Center for Sports Journalism
Phone: (814) 865-1395
Email: mch208@psu.edu

Steve Sampsell
Coordinator of College Relations
Phone: (814) 865-8801
Email:sws102@psu.edu