Dream Team plus Brandon
It is rare in the broadcasting industry to have a team full of women.
Saint Mary’s College of California has division one athletics and with that comes lots of media coverage. It can be from school or other networks. However, since SMC is in the WCC, there isn’t always a TV broadcast, but there is always coverage of these sports.
Saint Mary’s College of California uses the TheW.tv to stream all the games, from Men’s Soccer, Women’s Basketball, Men’s Basketball, Baseball, and Volleyball. These are the main sports that are streamed; not every sport on campus is streamed due to the facilities.
The reason that sports like softball or tennis streamed is that there aren’t set up in the same way as baseball or soccer, as there no place for the camera and other equipment.
Unlike most schools, the at Saint Mary’s College Director of Digital Media is a female, Megan Siebersma. She is a new addition to the Athletic Department at SMC. However, she is not the only female in this department; Amanda Rosas is the head of Marketing.
According to the Women’s Media Center, men produced 62.3 percent of news reports analyzed during a studied period while women produced 37.7 percent of news reports.
Most of the students who work in Siebersma Broadcasting department are women. Out of the 17 members of the crew, 10 of them are young women who want to pursue a career in media.
Most of the time there is a full women crew. Brandon Cadiz, “the women’s basketball and baseball announcer, said he felt left out.
“We joke around and always say Dream team plus Brandon and I love that,” Cadiz said. “It’s great seeing a basically all female crew who does a great job behind the scenes. Whether it’s someone counting me down to go on air or telling me how to get a shot when working camera, I think it shows a shift in the industry. Women know and love sports just like men.”
In today's media landscape women take on the roles of producers, technical directors, editors, and directors.
“I do understand it is a male-dominated field, but I don’t really see that as a problem here working with Saint Mary’s Athletics,” Emily Smith said. “I don’t care what gender you are, as long as you know what you’re doing. Megan definitely does, and it’s great to see someone who is a woman and as young as her leading a crew.”
The presence of women is much more predominant in this day.
“Working with Megan & our crew feels less like work & more like family bonding, but when it comes down to getting our job done, we get down to business,” said Andrea Montes de Oca.
These young women are being able to learn about the broadcasting industry, but they are also able to learn it from a woman’s perspective. They are able to talk about the hardship and obstacles that they have gone through.
“It’s great to see a young woman be so involved with the sports media industry. said Siebersma. “Again, as long as you know what you’re doing and it’s being done efficiently.”
