Erin Andrews tells peep hole victimization story on Oprah

Photo Credit: www.earthlingchic.com

I Tivo’d Oprah today and got to see a story that I’d been waiting for awhile. ESPN reporter Erin Andrews told the queen of talk television the story of a complete invasion of privacy as a female sports reporter.

This is the first and only interview Erin will conduct with herself as the subject of the story. Now that it’s over, she told Oprah she’s ready for football season to begin and, even more importantly, she’s ready to move on.

What Erin told Oprah was the story of a classic peeping Tom, only today’s peeping Tom lives in the age of a World Wide Web, an environment where anybody can create content and share it with the world.  While the Web is awesome in its own right, it takes no mercy upon sexy female journalists (especially in the sports world).

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Weblogs 2008: Best Sports Blog – Where are all the women?

The below picture explains it all – Weblogs 2008′s contest is underway, and this is in reference to their “Best Sports Blog” category, which contains no women.

You can vote here, though I don’t recommend you do.  The polls are about to close on this.

Given the fact that female sportscasters are almost taking over the industry, do you think there could ever be a day that it would happen in the blogosphere?

Women and sportscasting: Internet objectification, no regulation

Erin Andrews, sports reporter from Atlanta, GA. In 2007, she was voted "America's Sexiest Sportscaster" by Playboy Magazine

William Huston from Globe Media (Toronto) recently discussed how female sportscasters are often valued more for their looks than their knowledge of the game. This isn’t just one reporter’s observation; it’s a problem, for both sports fans and women.

Huston focused his article on the story of Norma Wick, a sportscaster in Toronto who had been employed by Global Television in Vancouver as well as Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment covering the Vancouver Grizzlies. She was 40 years old and turned down for a job at the sports network. She was told she lacked experience and she just didn’t have “the magic.” Not quite the case.

The social reach of the topic of female sportscasters being judged for their looks extends far beyond the society of our neighbors in the north.

Women have made huge advances in TV sports broadcasting over the past 10 years. However, this impact has met its share of backlash by their primary audience, as men and sports networks have increasingly objectified, rated, ranked, hired and fired them based upon their looks alone.

“As the numbers have grown, the importance of their physical appearance has increased. More than ever, networks place an emphasis on youth and beauty, and, by no surprise, Playboy is now publishing an annual list of the sexiest sportscasters. Within that environment, women continue to struggle for credibility as sports journalists.”

What’s really interesting is that as women increase their presence in the professional sporting industry, the objectification of their existence pervades, particularly the Internet.

Try typing the phrase “female sportscasters” into Google. What do you find? Posts about “hottest sportscasters” that include pictures and rankings.

Perfect example – check out Spike.com’s blog post on September 11 of this year, which reads,

“Watching sports is awesome. Nothing beats a Sunday at home, in front of the box with your mates and a cold one. This male nirvana is usually a female-free zone… unless there happens to be a sexy sportscaster roaming the sidelines. Nothing compliments a good game more than a fine female sports reporter, and now it’s your chance to vote for the one that takes you into overtime.”

Seriously guys? I mean yes, it’s important that sportscasters are good looking (both male and female), but when you start objectifying them and ranking them (and posting about it) you’re crossing a line.. a line that doesn’t yet exist.

Spike isn’t the only one.

For example, Huston writes,

“It was suggested on a blog that a reporter should be taken “into the woods” and assaulted.

“Frightening,” is the way NBC’s Andrea Kremer describes some of the commentary posted on websites.

“The vitriol that is spewed out is unbelievable,” she said.

Wick said the violent, misogynistic tone of the online commentary shocked her.

“It’s really disturbing stuff,” she said. “I found that the more analytical I was as a reporter, the more vicious the commentary.”

Similarly, Deadspin, a site that I’ve repeatedly criticized for the disgusting depiction of female athletes, was called out by Globe Media for the way they discuss women in the industry.

“Also on deadspin, this was the lead to a note about Hazel Mae moving to MLB TV, alongside a picture of her in a tight low-cut dress perched on a television studio desk: “The sultry NESN lead anchor temptress will have to find a new sports desk to prop her stair-mastered caboose on top of next year.”

In November of this year, Deadspin was rated by Juiced Sports as number 1 in the top 100 most valuable sports blogs, worth well over $16 million.

Not surprisingly, Will Leitch, the founder of Deadspin.com, declined a request to be interviewed. Leitch obviously doesn’t want to be responsible for what’s being said. (I’m sure he dodges these questions all of the time).

In my opinion, when you instruct writers and editors to post teasers for sexist, degrading comments to be posted (which contributes to your popularity), you’re just as guilty as posting them yourself.

That doesn’t exactly excuse the fact that what’s being said is disgusting (and wrong), and it exists on your site.

Deadspin featured on the cover of Penthouse in February 2008

Oh, but it got you on the cover of the February issue of Penthouse, didn’t it? (picture left).

Leitch posted about it, saying,

“Finally, at last, our father has something about which to be proud of us.”

Deadspin prides itself on the large volume of commenting. It even features a Commentist Manifesto, which reads,

“We have never quite understood what we did to deserve them. But nevertheless, here they are, and we want to make sure that space below our panting inanities continues to be pretty much funnier than anything else we read every day.”

But is the talk about women really that funny?

No.

Because it’s disrespectful, degrading, and – not to mention – defamation.

But it doesn’t help that the networks are encouraging this behavior by hiring girls who may not know everything about the sport, the team and the game. This doesn’t happen at all networks and is certainly not the case for all female sportscasters, but it’s a trend that is beginning to become noticed.

The viscious comments on sites such as Deadspin sparked an HBO interview roundtable back in Aprl about sports bogs (see video at the bottom of this post).

Bob Costas, who led the roundtable discussion, calls the blogosphere the “Wild west” of the Internet, a saying it is,

“A virtual bulletin board where anyone can post anything. Opinions, photos, videos, all blurring the line between news and gossip, truth and rumor, commentary and insult.”

The roundable included Buzz Bissinger (Pulitzer prize-winning reporter), Will Leitch (Founder of Deadspin), and Braylon Edwards (wide reciever of Cleveland Browns).

As you can see in the video (below) Costas and Bissinger are highly critical of Leitch, and rightfully so.

It’s promising to me that “the greats” of sports journalism like Bissinger and Costas do support the quick, quality information that the blogs promote, but not support the type of disgusting commenting that goes up on sites like Deadspin.

Costas makes a great point when he says,

“There are great sports blogs out there that are well written, make good points, are insightful and are funny. But there’s a very large percentage where the quality is poor, and where the tone is abusive.”

Very, very true.

However, in this video, they center their discussion around the humiliation of male sports stars. They neglect to discuss how female sportscasters and female athletes are being objectified and humiliated through misogynistic innuendos which are permitted.

In the video, Leitch mentions that he posts things up there “to make them look human.”

I beg to ask the question, how does ranking and judging girls on their “hottness” make them look human? It doesn’t. It makes them look like a piece of meat.

Bissinger’s closing argument (directed at Leitch) was,

“I think you are perpetuating the future, and I think the future in the hands of guys like you is really, really going to dumb us down to a degree that I don’t know if we can recover from.”

It’s the sport that suffers when that happens, and guys, you’re only hurting yourselves. As for female sportscasters, if you keep up the portrayal, there will be weak questions, bad content, yet pretty girls, who will dress sexier and become a key focus of every game.

That doesn’t sound like a good future for the industry… or for the future of women who truly are cut out for the job.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfTKA5l6fi0

Roundup: Dumbest things said on sports blogs

When the passion strikes me, I will occasionally be providing you with a roundup of some of the dumbest things I see on sports blogs. Apparently, some men feel the need to make degrading comments about women online.

What’s even more entertaining (to me) is how much money they’re making off of content such as this. Some of these blogs are worth over $15 million.

Can you believe that?

So this is an effort to show these guys exactly how dumb they look, even online.

WARNING: Some of these sites get paid based upon how many comments are up on their sites, so use discretion when deciding whether or not to comment.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

1) Pat Gray, Your Eyes Will Bleed:

“There seems to be a big “girl-power” push going on now though. In yesterday’s USA Today, they devoted an entire section to women pioneers in sports. Like Billie Jean King’s 1973 tennis victory over Bobby Riggs. Big deal. She was 29, and at the height of her career. He was 55 years old, and only won a couple major tournaments in the 30’s and 40’s! If she HADN’T beaten him, THEN you’ve got a story.”

Actually Pat, the BIG DEAL is that Title IX passed just before that match. Title IX AND Billie Jean King sparked a revolution for women that continued in sports 35 years later. The “clue phone” is ringing. I think you should answer it.

2) Deadspin posted on Jaime Nared, who was recently kicked off her mixed-gender basketball team in Portland, Oregon. Comments include:

(Big Slim Shade) “A girl playing basketball? What will they think of next?”

(Afino) “Take it while you can get it now, girl, because it’s all downhill from here in terms of people who give a shit about women playing basketball!”

Laugh it up, guys. Good thing Deadspin gives you a place to poke fun among intellectuals. This girl would kick all of your a$$es if you played her. And she’s what? Only 14 years old?

3) Again, from Deadspin (are we noticing a pattern here?). This blogger posted on a women’s hockey game, where Slovakia beat Bulgaria, 82-0. They oh-so-thoughtfully provided video and commentary,

“Contrary to what you probably thought, the Bulgarians can actually skate. Although figuring out what those stick things are for seems to be another matter.”

Again, the comments were yet another example of how supportive these readers are of women’s sports.

“That’s really not very lady-like.” (the earl of weaver) and “The goalie would have been better off just lying prostrate across the ice.” (Dan Daoust)

4) Larry Brown from Larry Brown Sports posted on 9/19 about how the Los Angeles Kings are holding tryouts for ice hockey girls (think Laker girls for ice hockey). Anyway, he certainly had no filter when discussing this piece of news.

“You might be inclined to go with the Laker girls over the Kings ice girls at first reaction, but I might have to change my initial thought based on what I saw from the Kings tryouts that took place recently. I’m not exactly sure what role ice girls have at a hockey game, but I’m all for anything that brings extra skin to a sporting event. The Kings have said that they’re looking for girls that will help represent the team as well as possible. My advice for them: You can teach anyone to skate better, but you can’t teach hotness. Feel me? Check out some of the talent on the ice“

Hey Larry, I bet these girls make more money that you do. Maybe they’re in better shape, too?

5) on 205th also discussed ice hockey girls, with some awesome commentary.

“Dallas + Ice Girls doesn’t really make much sense to me, you know since there is no ice in Dallas, except in drinks, but then again ice hockey in Tampa Bay doesn’t make sense either. Hey look, boobies!!”
(below this comment there was a picture of the cheerleaders on a boat at a lake)

Wow. Really cool. These girls make money off of you idiots.