Dr. Soraya Barreto Januário
Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at The Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil. Her research revolves around the intersections of sports with gender, sexuality, masculinity, advertising and human rights discussions.
Email: soraya.barreto@ufpe.br
Instagram: @soraya_barretoj
The 2024 Olympic Games, held in Paris, has revealed a significant shift in the composition of Brazilian journalistic coverage: the increasing presence of female journalists, commentators, and announcers. This phenomenon reflects a slow yet crucial transformation in the field of sports journalism, traditionally dominated by men, which follows changes also in the gender composition of athletes. Of the 10,500 athletes in the Paris Olympics, 50% were men and 50% women, which equates to 5,250 for each group. There were 152 women’s events, 157 men’s events, and 20 mixed events. In terms of the Brazilian delegation, more women than men competed. Of the 277 athletes, 153 were women, representing 55% of the country’s delegation.
Historically, much like the participation of athletes in competitions, sports journalism has also been a predominantly male field. Female journalists face numerous barriers to entering and especially remaining in this sector, ranging from the lack of opportunities shaped by explicit and implicit gender biases regarding women’s ability to understand and cover sports effectively to the constant cases of harassment. However, with the advancement of feminist movements and the debate promoted, particularly in the media, by the so-called feminist spring (De Hollanda, 2018), there has been a growing awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion in the management of media conglomerates and among the audience itself. Moreover, the growth of alternative media outlets providing on-demand streaming services, such as the YouTube channel Cazé TV by streamer Casimiro Miguel, as well as profiles, blogs, and sites that practice so-called situated journalism (Miguel; Biroli, 2010) or feminist journalism, like Dibradoras, which features an all-female team focusing on women’s sports, underscores the importance of gender perspectives. By recognizing that the concept of neutrality inherited by journalism from positivist science, as well as the shield of objectivity and impartiality, does not necessarily generate balance, gender-based coverage can promote changes in the dynamics, agendas, and details of sports journalism coverage.
It is noteworthy that media visibility for women sports has only gained traction in the last five years. Previously, what was observed was the so-called accordion effect (Mourão; Morel, 2008), with sporadic coverage of major sporting events. Studies developed within the scope of Obmídia UFPE support these claims. A study we conducted reveals a 533% increase in news coverage of women’s football on major Brazilian sports websites between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. In 2019, 437 news articles were identified, compared to 69 in 2015, indicating a transformation in the visibility of women’s football in Brazil. The latest edition of the 2023 championship saw a 43,7% increase compared to the 2019 edition, which was considered the boom in Brazilian media coverage of the sport (Januário, 2023).
Thus, the 2024 Olympic Games mark a milestone in this transformation. More female journalists were involved in covering the event than in any previous edition. Many media outlets have implemented diversity and inclusion policies aimed at balancing gender representation in their sports coverage teams, as is the case with Brazil’s largest media conglomerate, Globo. One of the programs conceived for competition coverage on its open TV, Central Olímpica, was hosted by former volleyball player Fernanda Garay, in partnership with journalist Tadeu Schmidt. The program also featured journalist Karine Alves as a reporter directly from Paris. On the closed TV channel of the same group, Sport TV 2, former volleyball player and two-time Olympic champion Fabi Alvim hosted the program Ça Va Paris, in partnership with journalist André Rizek. Additionally, the broadcaster invested in female announcers such as Natalia Lara, Renata Silveira, and Isabelly Morais, along with a team of various former athletes and commentators, including gymnast Daiane dos Santos, former and current female football players Cristiane and Aline Calandrini, former basketball players Paula Pequeno and Hortência, skateboarder Letícia Bufoni, athlete Ellen dos Santos, and journalist Ana Thaís Matos, among many others. Notably, for the first time, 43% of the network’s broadcasts included women. Meanwhile, Cazé TV, following the model of coverage and broadcasts from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, continued with a diverse team of journalists, reporters, announcers, and commentators. Journalist Fernanda Gentil remained the primary person responsible for on-site interviews and content, with commentators Janeth Arcain, a former basketball player, and former gymnast Lais de Souza.
The increased presence of women journalists not only enriches the diversity of the coverage team but also brings new perspectives and approaches to the narration of sports events. Women journalists often focus on aspects that are typically overlooked by their male colleagues, such as personal stories of overcoming challenges from a gender perspective, the importance of family support, motherhood, harassment, pay disparity, and many other gender equity issues in sports. These narratives broaden the scope of sports coverage and offer the audience a more comprehensive and multifaceted view of the Games. As more women take on prominent roles in covering major sports events, it is expected that they will inspire more young women to pursue careers in journalism, promoting a virtuous cycle of diversity and inclusion. Over time, it is hoped that these advances will solidify, establishing a new standard for future generations of journalists.
