Why Aren’t Black Women Represented in Sports Journalism?
Lets face it, gender diversity in sports journalism sucks; and women in sports journalism just aren’t really there. But why aren’t black women prevalent in a journalism field that covers sports that are filled with black athletes? I spoke with three different sports journalists, all black women, who informed me on not only their struggles being a sports journalist, but how the industry could better improve with the addition of these diverse voices.
“Little black girls need to hear her story,” said Laureen Irat as she sat and spoke with me on her journey as a sports journalist. Laureen Irat is the founder and editor of an online publication, “BeyondTheW.” In addition, she works as a freelance sports writer who’s work has been featured in Bleacher Report, Excelle Sports and many others. She shared with me the stories she has heard from black female athletes. Stories that were filled with rich history, stories that weren’t given a platform. But how do you hear a story that isn’t being told? “To many ignorant people, women and sports just doesn’t go together…” said Irat. But black women are in fact necessary in sports journalism. Laureen Irat says that “black women have a different perspective of what they can bring to the table.”
“Lo” as she is affectionately called, stresses the importance of newsrooms being diverse. The foundation of diversity is “Perspective” said Ms. Irat, having different voices helps prevent racial insensitivity and unlocks a different view that may not have been seen or discussed before. Those are the main reasons diversity needs to be exercised. How do we exercise gender diversity when female journalists of color aren’t being employed? Laureen says she refused to wait for that chance, instead, she created her own lane. ‘BeyondTheW” was created by Laureen as a platform for women of the WNBA to be represented and respected in the media, while simultaneously allowing black women to have a stage to give their thoughts, and share the stories of women athletes around the country.“
As I continued my research I saw that the problem of diversity went far beyond the lack of black male voices in the room, but black women were even more poorly represented. In 2017 the AP Sports Editor Report card showed the percentage of women who were reporters was 11.5 percent, which decreased 1.2 percent from 12.7 in 2014.
According to the APSE Race and gender report card, over the past 4 years: 91 percent of sports editors were white, 83.5 percent of columnists were white, and 85 percent of reporters were also white. Not only do these statistics show the imbalance within race, but gender also is a problem. As of 2012, an APSE report showed that of the total number of staff, 14.6% were women, and 14.1% were people of color.
Arielle Chambers is a Contributing writer for highposthoops.com, the WNBA and she is a NCAAW reporter, analyst/color commentary. Finding her footing in a male dominated industry hasn’t been easy, and maneuvering through the field while being a black woman makes it even harder. Though she works in women’s basketball where there are more black women than the average sport, there have still been hardships. “As far as the access that I get, I see some of my colleagues that are white men, having easier times navigating.” But one thing that Arielle stressed in our meeting was staying consistent. No one can deny your hard efforts, “If someone doesn't give me a seat at the table then i’ll make one.”
Arielle believes that corporations shy away from diversity for fear of where it could lead, but “diversity never hurt anyone…it’s important.” Not only is it important but it is necessary. “You need black women in your locker rooms,” said Arielle. Not only in the locker rooms, but in higher ranking positions, so that these jobs can be given out to more women of color. “We need more [black women] in the front office… that is what gives us the jobs”
Once black women do make it in to a lower level position, the path for advancement and growth is filled with barriers. In 2017, Lisa Wilson was hired as the Senior Editor of sports for “The Undefeated” after working as the executive sports editor for the Buffalo News for 7 years, since 2011. With this new job promotion, she became the nations only black female sports editor at a major metropolitan daily.
But why aren’t black women represented in Sports Journalism? And would there be a difference if they were? Angela Randle says “there would be a difference… many people that are caucasian, they really can’t relate to the average male black athlete…the whole sports industry is dominated by black males.” But are we making strides to help alleviate this problem and make it better? Angela Randle is a content associate for ESPN. She’s young, she’s black and she’s a woman, and she spoke with me on the opportunities that are being given to women of color. There are changes being made that show the gap being closed on gender diversity in sports journalism. “There are steps being taken. The NABJ (National Associate of Black Journalists) has a humungous career fair…filled with all black journalists” said Randle. Companies like ESPN pride themselves on being diverse and have also put initiatives in place to incorporate “colorful voices” in their offices.
Arielle Chambers says movements such as “The Natural Hair Movement” help show that we are going in the right direction. Reporters such Rosalyn Gold-Onwude and Jemele Hill have started to embrace their natural selves, and are “rocking their natural hair, and I think it’s beautiful”
After hearing the stories and experiences of these 3 sports journalists, I asked what advice could they give to aspiring black female sport journalists. Laureen Irat said young women “need to build your tribe… do not limit it to women who are where you want to be, but also who are on your level.” Arielle Chambers advises young women to “brand yourselves…be the complete package.”
While the sports journalism field may have a ways to go on the inclusion of more black women, the future looks hopeful.
