Media Coverage

I remember sitting in the car listening to the radio back in 2002, when the radio announcers began to talk about how the previous night Lisa Leslie became the first women to dunk in a WNBA game. I remember thinking to myself that was neat but did not think about it too much. As, they continued to talk about it; the radio announcers began to make light of the event. That is when I began to pay attention. As the radio announcers began to make fun of the situation, making comments like it was about time, she was 6 ‘5 and with her arms up she was almost at the rim; they continue to mention a few other jokes about it. Then when they finished joking around, they congratulated her and even at that young age I remember thinking to myself that was an extremely strange way of congratulating her. Looking back on this event almost ten years later, I cannot believe the radio station allowed that portion of the show to be aired, showing that even though the coverage of female athletes has increased, they still are not anywhere near the coverage that male athletes experience. Over the last twelve years that I’ve followed sports, I have never heard the media make fun of a male athlete after he accomplished such a historical event in his sport event, showing that treatment of women sports still has a long way to improve.

Luis Carlos kin 338I.S6