I don't know about you but I'm getting a little sick and tired of sports media's obsession with the partners of sports stars. In particular the wives and girlfriends of footballers.
I’m not sure about you, but I’ve never seen articles about the attractiveness of someone else’s wife (or girlfriend) as something I really want to see on a regular basis. And definitely not something I would expect to see under the header of Sport and/or Football. In fact I’d expect to see it in the journal of a prepubescent teenager who had just discovered the channels that only start at midnight!
Apologies because it’s not my intention to be flippant, but if I’m not then all I keep thinking about is how disgustingly pervy it all is. Because let’s be frank, it bloody is!
Is your personal life so lacking, that you have nothing better to do than dribble over pictures of women who are already involved? Even Nuts realised that wasn’t working any more!
Not only does it suggest that our so-called gutter press are actually camped out in bunkers underground, but it leaves me with wider concerns about sports journalism and my place in it.
Like every journalist, I’ve had to write stuff that I didn’t necessarily enjoy creating or feel was necessary. It’s what you do when you are building a career. You bite your tongue and attempt to get your head down.
It’s something I’ve struggled with, without ever being asked to rate the partners of a team of footballers. Anyone who knows me will know that that particular situation would not have ended well.
I understand not all journalists have the freedom to write what they would like, but I can imagine that after spending grands to get their degree or sports journalism diploma you’d be pretty pissed spending your afternoon’s deciding whose missus is more of a ten.
Honestly, is this really what it’s come to? Are we so desperate to create masses of 24-hour photo-story content that we unnecessarily delve into players family lives, with the possible fallout leading to even less women in sports media because they feel uncomfortable producing trash like that.
I haven’t included the article’s in question because I don’t see the point. We all know who and what I’m referring to. And if you don’t, just look for the anger on my twitter timeline.
But seriously we have to get past this kind of caveman style journalism. Surely it will only serve to damage our fragile industry and put some amazing people off working in it.
Here's an idea; if you are so damn keen to feature attractive women in your sports pages, then why don't you bother to write about our amazing sportswomen. Our football and netball stars, our medal winning athletes who continue to fight the sexist crap you troll out on a daily basis.
Because YOUR patronising coverage follows them despite their amazing talents. And frankly, they deserve a hell of a lot better from you content editors. I know it's a wild idea gents, but you never know, it just might work...
I’m not sure about you, but I’ve never seen articles about the attractiveness of someone else’s wife (or girlfriend) as something I really want to see on a regular basis. And definitely not something I would expect to see under the header of Sport and/or Football. In fact I’d expect to see it in the journal of a prepubescent teenager who had just discovered the channels that only start at midnight!
Apologies because it’s not my intention to be flippant, but if I’m not then all I keep thinking about is how disgustingly pervy it all is. Because let’s be frank, it bloody is!
Is your personal life so lacking, that you have nothing better to do than dribble over pictures of women who are already involved? Even Nuts realised that wasn’t working any more!
Not only does it suggest that our so-called gutter press are actually camped out in bunkers underground, but it leaves me with wider concerns about sports journalism and my place in it.
Like every journalist, I’ve had to write stuff that I didn’t necessarily enjoy creating or feel was necessary. It’s what you do when you are building a career. You bite your tongue and attempt to get your head down.
It’s something I’ve struggled with, without ever being asked to rate the partners of a team of footballers. Anyone who knows me will know that that particular situation would not have ended well.
I understand not all journalists have the freedom to write what they would like, but I can imagine that after spending grands to get their degree or sports journalism diploma you’d be pretty pissed spending your afternoon’s deciding whose missus is more of a ten.
Honestly, is this really what it’s come to? Are we so desperate to create masses of 24-hour photo-story content that we unnecessarily delve into players family lives, with the possible fallout leading to even less women in sports media because they feel uncomfortable producing trash like that.
I haven’t included the article’s in question because I don’t see the point. We all know who and what I’m referring to. And if you don’t, just look for the anger on my twitter timeline.
But seriously we have to get past this kind of caveman style journalism. Surely it will only serve to damage our fragile industry and put some amazing people off working in it.
Here's an idea; if you are so damn keen to feature attractive women in your sports pages, then why don't you bother to write about our amazing sportswomen. Our football and netball stars, our medal winning athletes who continue to fight the sexist crap you troll out on a daily basis.
Because YOUR patronising coverage follows them despite their amazing talents. And frankly, they deserve a hell of a lot better from you content editors. I know it's a wild idea gents, but you never know, it just might work...
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