Identifying indicators of media coverage of women's sports: policies and social orientations

Zare, Alireza; Soltanhoseini, Mohammad; Zarei, Arash

doi:10.22089/rws.2025.17758.1055

Identifying indicators of media coverage of women's sports: policies and social orientations

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Assistant Professor Sports Management Farhangian University, shiraz, Iran

² Associate Professor, Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Isfahan

³ PhD student in Sports Managemen faculty of Sport Sciences , Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

10.22089/rws.2025.17758.1055

Abstract

The research is a qualitative case study and the participants are female sports managers in the country. They were interviewed using purposive sampling and theoretical saturation techniques. To ensure the validity and reliability of the study, the Linoclen and Guba assessment method was used. The paradigm model of this research was designed based on the paradigm model of Strauss and Corbin. In this research, the three categories are the position of women in sports media, the way women athletes are portrayed in the media, and the amount of media coverage of women's sports, which can affect the indicators of media coverage of women's sports. The impact of the media on the development of women's sports, media coverage and commercial advertising, the impact of the media on changing society's attitudes, and the impact of the media on sports policymaking are the main contextual factors, and the two categories of gender stereotypes in the media and professional challenges of female journalists in women's sports are considered as intervening categories. The central category resulting from the causal conditions is the role of sports journalists, controlling media bias in women's sports, media policies towards women's sports, and the role of sports federations and organizations in the media. Also, the researcher, considering the set of concepts extracted from the interviews and final codes, named the subcategory "criticism and analysis of the media and future studies in women's sports." And the last part of the model of media coverage indicators for women's sports includes consequences,

Keywords