Sport NZ-Isentia study of gender balance in sports news coverage - Paris Olympics and Paralympics

Female athletes' success at the Paris Olympics, where they won 8 of the 10 gold medals, contributed to an increase in media coverage of women's sport.

At the Paris Paralympics, half of the coverage was about women’s sport, which was less than at the Tokyo Paralympics. This drop was likely because female Para athletes won fewer gold medals in Paris (1) compared to Tokyo (6).

Key findings  

• At the Paris Olympics, 54% of the media coverage focused on female athletes, which is a 3% increase from the Tokyo Olympics. Across all sports news coverage during the Paris Olympics period, 45% was about women.
• At the Paris Paralympics, 50% of the media coverage focused on female athletes, which is a 17% drop from the Tokyo Paralympics. Across all sports news coverage during the Paris Paralympics period, 28% was about women, just 1% less than the Tokyo Games, despite the disparity in medal count. 
• Female journalists were well represented at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, providing more than half of the Games coverage for some media organisations. This is a significant improvement compared to Tokyo, where more than 90% of the media coverage for both Games was produced by males.

It is encouraging that we continue to see dedicated efforts by media, broadcasters, sports, athletes, and others to improve the visibility of female athletes and teams in sports news media.   

  It is worth noting that the New Zealand media landscape is undergoing significant change, with several major newsrooms restructuring, reducing in size, or closing altogether.  The gender balance of stories may not be significantly impacted by these moves, but they will impact the opportunity to see women in sports news coverage. They will also impact the opportunities for career paths into sports journalism.  

  Sport NZ and Isentia are proud to continue this study which is an opportunity to track progress and identify opportunities for improvement.  Thank you for your continued involvement and support as we work to grow collective advocacy in highlighting women in sports news coverage across Aotearoa.  

Download the reports below.