Recently, my friend Jake sent me a link to a video when I told him I was at a loss for ideas about what I should write this week. It was watching this video that inspired me to say something about it.
This video was about #MoreThanMean, which showed everyday men having to read the extremely negative online comments about female sports reporters to their faces. Given the amount of profanity in them, I will not be quoting such comments in this article. I will, however, leave the video here for you to see.
The comments for women were exceptionally cruel. These comments were seen more as harassment than anything else, which inspired Burke and Woullard to come up with their campaign idea.
In order to show how hurtful these comments can be, the two recruited CBS 670 The Score's Julie DiCaro and ESPN.com’s Sarah Spain to take part in this. For this campaign, the duo had everyday guys read the hurtful comments that were specific to Spain and DiCaro. Did I mention the guys had to read the comments out loud to the reporters? That’s when things got interesting.
Despite the two reporters showing complete composure under this fire (something to be commended for), you can see the more the guys had to read the comments, the more uncomfortable they got with them. These comments hit on sensitive issues such as domestic violence and even rape. These comments show the issue of female reporters facing harassment in a news field usually considered for males.
I never knew that female reporters were coming under fire just for voicing their opinions on something in the world of sports. To me, journalism is a field that allows people to voice opinions and share information with the public. News (in this case, sports news) is still news, so why is it that female reporters receive negative comments for voicing opinions on sports? I am sure that if a guy said the same thing they said, there would be no viral hating.
While this video may make this topic look like it is now an issue, it has been a problem for years. A Mashable article from 2014 underscores the issue, during the light suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.
Rice received a suspension due to allegations that he knocked his then-fiance out in a casino in Atlantic City. The suspension brought in massive amounts of criticism. This created a lot of problems for any female sports reporter that brought up the issue on Twitter. When ESPN reporter Michelle Beadle made comments, she was called a “bitch” along with numerous other profanities. While issues did start in 2014 (probably even sooner), online harassment and female sports reporting has now reached its peak.
I am in no way trying to start an argument about gender equality or sexual violence with this. After all, I lack the in-depth knowledge on these topics, only knowing the basic ideas. However, we do need to consider how those things are certainly not OK to say to someone on social media.
As an aspiring journalist, I believe that reporters should not be harassed for bringing information to light or even stating an opinion (especially one rooted in fact). If this kind of harassment continues, people in the field will lose their sense of safety since this can happen at any time on the internet. We need to consider what is said to others in their profession and that words truly can hurt someone.
