Sports Media

Sports media has become increasingly popular over the years among both boys and girls. Sports radio, television, magazines and websites all have a large audience keep track with the latest in sports of all varieties. There has been some progress in the diversity in sports media but overall it is still disappointing. An article on SportsBusinessDaily.com about the lack of diversity in sports media recently reported the statistics and numbers on this statement. Racial hiring practices by sports media received an average grade of C+, while gender hiring practices were given an extremely low grade of an F. Another chart composed of percentages of white people in key positions from 2010 to 2012. This chart revealed, that although there was a decrease in the amount of white people between these years, indicating an increase in the hiring of people of color, this decrease was very low with only a maximum of a 4% decrease, and overall the percentage of white people holding key positions remained at the 80% to 90% range. Another interesting point made in this article was the fact that ESPN was the main source raising these percentages because of their relatively diverse hiring practices. For example, out of the 35 columnists who were women, 23 worked for ESPN. Because sports media does appeal to a wide range of demographics in their audience, it would only be fitting for them to have more diverse hiring practices and more diversity in their columnists and broadcasters. The articles suggests these sports media corporations to employ the Rooney Rule that originated in the NFL. This would require at least one person of color to be interviewed for every job opening. Hopefully these numbers will increase in the near future, promoting a more relatable and diverse group in sports media.