The media plays a pivotal role in showing, or hiding, the images of strong, healthy women athletes who can serve as role models for younger girls. Girls derive their sense of self, in part, by what they see on the television and in newspaper and magazines. Most mainstream media shows women’s sport only occasionally or not at all, while providing a daily dose of men's sport. It’s no wonder girls are often brought up feeling like strangers to the sporting arena.
Recommendations:
- Search video collections, newspapers, books and the Web to find news about girls’ and women’s sport and share it with the girls in your programme.
- Encourage local media outlets to cover women’s sport. Write letters, send emails and make phone calls to radio stations and newspaper editors.
- If possible, invite local media to cover your programme, events and participants.
For more information on how to engage the media in your sport programme, go to the Community Engagement section of this guide.