Media Careers, “the low percentage of women working in sports media seems to mirror the low percentage of women in mediated sports coverage.” The hope was that with the increase of women playing sports, these sports would slowly gain more media attention. This increased media attention focused on women would increase the demand for women reporting on such events (Shain). According to gender sociology expert Michael Messner, “the proliferation of images of women athletes is (increasingly, I think) making sports media a contested ideological terrain, where meanings of sexuality, gender, and race are being contested and reconstructed,” (Taking the Field, 93). The sports field is the natural arena to challenge social change. With more women on the field slowly being accepted, it seemed as if the perfect opportunity arose to reshape the perception of women sports journalists. Even with the dramatic shifts in female opportunities on the field, around the field there was still much progress to be made before equal rights would be obtained. Collegiate sports journalism programs slowly began accepting women, yet, instead of being supportive, many in the sports world continued to show misogynistic tendencies. In some cases, these tendencies were actually magnified, as the threat of a new generation of women sports journalists became plausible. Ohio State Football Coach Woody Hayes was quoted in 1973 saying: I hear theyʹre [Oberlin College] even letting w‐o‐m‐e‐n in their sports program now. Thatʹs your Womenʹs Liberation, boy ‐ a bunch of goddamn lesbians...You can bet your ass that if you have women around ‐ and Iʹve talked to psychiatrists about this ‐ you arenʹt going to be worth a damn. No sir! Man has to dominate. Thereʹs just no other way. (Creedon 67) It seems impossible that an icon such as Woody Hayes would say such an appalling thing, but such ideas were deeply‐rooted. The sports world was simply not ready to accept women, and was going to try to prevent gender integration by any means necessary. This intolerance was prevalent on both the collegiate and professional level. With the shift towards broadcast media, press box segregation seemed to fade away and locker room controversy took its place. Radio and television demanded immediacy in reporting far beyond that of newspapers. No longer could journalists interview players the evening after the game. They needed to have the story started before the players left the building. To accomplish this, pre and post‐game interviews were becoming imperative, creating a whole new problem for women reporters. Coaches and athletic institutions were
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