We probably all groaned simultaneously.
“Start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine,” said Gregg Doyel, a middle-aged male sports journalist, at the first press conference Caitlin Clark gave after being selected as the No. 1 WNBA draft pick by the Indiana Fever. The columnist for The Indianapolis Star had just flashed the “heart” sign that Clark gives to her family at games and apparently thought flirting with a 22-year-old was clever or endearing.
It wasn’t. It was just creepy.
Our visceral reaction was because Doyel’s offhanded quip was one in a line of behaviors we’ve observed for years. So when people on social media started to call him out for his unprofessional actions, we felt relief that maybe the culture was changing. Perhaps the attitudes toward women’s sports are changing outside of newsrooms, but clearly they aren’t within some of them.
What happened next, unfortunately, was not a conversation about needed changes in journalism or how such behavior diminishes women’s sports. The debate that ensued focused on Doyel’s intentions and the impact on him. The Poynter column about the issue followed that myopic pattern. It failed to address larger, systemic issues that could lead to better journalism.
Women have been enduring sexist behavior in the workplace — well, forever. Women’s sports have been degraded as less important than men’s — well, forever. This moment of women’s basketball popularity has been a joyous and empowering time. We watched as the women drew more viewers than the men during March Madness, followed by the WNBA draft, which more people watched than ever before. But then a prominent journalist at the largest regional newspaper covering Clark — a journalist with whom she may now have to regularly interact — stepped in to remind us that women still are not equal.
It seems Doyel did not realize he had caused harm until people called him out online. Doyel’s amazement to learn that his actions contributed to sexism in sports journalism is the definition of privilege: not having to think about things.
As journalism professors, we teach journalism students to examine their privilege, to consider the ways journalism can feed stereotypes and to understand that bias is part of larger, often intangible systems than interpersonal encounters. We teach them to show their sources respect.
The Poynter column about this issue didn’t address tenets of good sports journalism or how journalism could be improved. Rather, it excused a journalist who acted inappropriately, focused on the negative effects for him, attempted to explain his intent, and ignored the repercussions not only for Clark, but also for women athletes. This is how toxic masculinity is preserved.
As we have seen through our journalism teaching, research, and work, sports is still dominated by a “bro” culture — whether you’re a fan, journalist or journalism student. The “boys will be boys” mentality still exists at many levels, as we can attest by the Doyel apologists (both male and female) trying to explain away his behavior.
So, we have to ask (again) and be disruptive (again): What will it take for male sports writers to treat women athletes as just that, athletes? Instead of sex objects? Instead of “boring” or inferior?
As educators, we prefer to focus on the next generation of sports writers. For journalism to improve, the conversation must address the bigger picture and what journalism educators and newsrooms can do.
- Hire and promote women on the sports desk. Student journalists often feel powerless, but they aren’t. Assign women writers to prominent beats on campus and in professional newsrooms. Promote women into editor and other leadership roles. Managerial and editing experience can only help women as they move along their career track.
- Treat the women you hire as equal co-workers, but also with respect. If women are seen as tokens or expected to be “one of the boys,” the culture continues. What culture do we mean? See No. 3.
- Work to end “bro” culture. Sports is still a boys club. Women journalists report only 15% of sports journalism stories. Despite recent increases fueled by college basketball, only about 15% of sports coverage focuses on women athletes and teams. Ending the male-centered culture is easier said than done, right? But those of us who teach sports journalism see it all the time. It’s not comfortable to stop class and address sexist remarks, but we as educators must.
- Treat women like humans. It sounds ridiculous that we still have to say this, but some still see women as inferior to men. Until men start considering women as equals and — this is important — men stand up to other men who don’t, nothing will change. We’re not damsels in distress, but we do need your support.
- Sexist remarks aren’t cute or funny. Just stop. The social media backlash to Doyel’s behavior should be a lesson that it’s time to grow up and stop making these kinds of cracks.
- When people offer critique, listen. Poynter’s column said Doyel received “massive criticism” and “was crushed online” for his “badly bungled” introduction. We think he deserved it. Stop defending and apologizing. Journalists have a responsibility to listen to their critics.
- Understand individual and systemic bias. Journalism has been criticized, fairly, for covering the storm and ignoring the atmosphere. Journalists tend to focus on shocking events rather than underlying conditions. Creepy comments are the storm born of the atmosphere of sexism and a patriarchal attitude that privileges men.
- Training. Honestly, it shouldn’t have to come to this. But newsrooms need to provide cultural awareness training to those covering women’s sports.
- We’re working, not dating. Kind of simple, right? But men need to be reminded that covering women athletes (or women lawyers, or women mayors) is a job, not a dating app.
- Think before you speak. These are words to live by that many of us preach to our students. And, yes, plenty of us have bungled when a microphone is before us. But professionals need to follow this guideline: Ask yourself: “Would you say it to/write it about a middle-aged white man?”
Women’s sports are enjoying a historic moment. This should be celebrated. It’s beyond disappointing that we’re spending time talking about a columnist who not only demeaned a generational talent in a press conference but also shifted the conversation away from her greatness and the joy of this moment.
We call not only for changes in coverage, but also for changes in culture and attitude so that women can play sports free from harassment, so our women students can aim for careers in sports journalism, and so working women can do their jobs without enduring out-of-line comments, aggression, and discrimination — able to enjoy their work and succeed the same way men do.
