Jade Gagné

Sports Editor

Photo Via @David Delgado/The Daily Cougar

For years women have been fighting for their equality in various arenas. From the comfort of their house or the comfort of their office, misogynistic views can be seen everywhere , especially in sports, and it all starts in the media. 

The media gives little space for female journalists. In 1977, Melissa Ludtke, a reporter for Sports Illustrated, was banned from accessing lockers rooms during the baseball World Series. The then-baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn would not allow her access to interview the players. She became unable to do her job even though she worked for Sports Illustrated. This all led to a landmark legal battle to secure equal access for female reporters. Kuhn argued that the players deserved their “sexual privacy,” but Ludtke claimed that his intention was to keep baseball a fortress where women cannot enter. During that same time, the NHL and the NBA allowed female reporters to do their jobs inside locker rooms with no issues whatsoever, and there were many rooms where it was off-limits to any reporter.  While her fight was purely to help the authenticity of her work, Ludtke faced public hatre.  She wasn’t being seen as a journalist; she was being treated poorly because of her gender. 

Sport misogyny has changed since then, but there’s still a long way to go. In 2022 an article got published in The Guardian where Gabriella Bennet, freelance journalist and co-chair of Women in Journalism Scotland, wrote about a lack of appliance to their “annual mentoring scheme for up-and-coming female talent.” The organisation Women in Journalism Scotland (WIJS) then decided to investigate what they believed to be a diversity problem in Print Scottish sports media, but discovered that the issue isn’t diversity-related, but gender-related. Only three out of ninety-five staff writers were women. There appeared to be a huge barrier that female journalists had to face everyday while being in the industry. Not long after there was the Scottish Football Writers’ Association’s annual awards. Bennett explained that it was during this event that they celebrated, for the first time, the achievement of women in sport, but it didn’t take long for the after-dinner speaker, the American poet,writer and historian Bill Copeland, to make multiple sexist comments. Bennet was one of many guests that walked out in protest of those comments. The organisation condemned the behavior, stating that sports journalism “appears to be among the last bastions of misogyny.”

Misogyny isn’t only in sports media, it is in every kind of media. In January 2025, Fox News received a lawsuit from Noushin Faraji, a former hair stylist for Fox News, for unwanted sexual advances from male colleagues, including an offer for sexual favors in exchange of $1.5 million. She also claimed to have faced racial discrimination, particularly from her male colleagues Skip Bayless, sports commentator and journalist, and Charlie Dixon, Executive Vice President of Content for FS1, whom she specifically mentions. She accuses them of contributing to the hostile work environment through behaviour in regards to women. This lawsuit highlights the vulnerability, mistreatment, and abuse of women in sports journalism at Fox News. On January 5, 2025, Fox News filed a request in Los Angeles to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Faraji. A spokesperson said “we take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation.” As for Skip Bayless’s response, the sport journalist and his defense team argues that Faraji gave her consent to any alleged physical act and that any emotional distress experiences felt by her may have been due to “pre-existing psychological or medical conditions.” Charlie Dixon has not yet commented publicly on the allegations. 

A clear pattern has emerged in sports media, and media in general: misogyny is still present, whether people choose to acknowledge it or not. A 2021 study by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) published on ESPN, revealed that sports media is a male-dominated field: 83.3% of the sports editors, 75.8%  of the assistant sports editors,82.2 % of the columnists, 85.6% of the reporters, 75.3% of the copy editors/designers, and 78.1% of the web specialists were all men. Lisa Wilson, former APSE president commented that “We need more women in this industry. […] We need those voices. We need that perspective. We need them making coverage and hiring decisions.” She also added: “It’s been a problem for a long time, and it will take time to correct. And it’s still a major problem for women, and especially for women of color.”

Misogyny in sports journalism manifests through sexist remarks, harassment, and a lack of opportunities; both within and outside the media industry. Women’s credibility is often judged by men, which should not be the case. Women should be free to work in male-dominated fields without having to fear for their reputation.