AWSM Protests ESPN's Playmakers The Association for Women in Sports Media protests ESPN's Playmakers series and its portrayal of female sports reporters.
USA Today has reported that Thea Andrews plays the role of a sports reporter in the Playmakers series and works as a national correspondent for the new ESPN2 morning show, Cold Pizza. AWSM believes this arrangement raises a credibility issue for women who work in sports media.
On the Playmakers series, Andrews plays the part of sports reporter Samantha Lovett. In one scene, Lovett enters the locker room and has a flirtation with a player, touching him suggestively on the shoulder.
AWSM includes many broadcast and print female reporters and editors who work in newsrooms throughout the country. We condemn the stereotype portrayed in the Playmakers program. The Playmakers stereotype is insulting and inappropriate to the hundreds of women who cover sports today.
While AWSM certainly recognizes that there is a difference between acting and real reporting, featuring the same woman in both roles blurs the line between fiction and reality. Unfortunately, ESPN's viewers might not make the obvious distinction. It is unethical and unacceptable. And because, unfortunately, stereotypes still exist about female sports journalists, Playmakers is only doing harm by perpetuating them.
"Our concern is that this actress is also a national correspondent on a morning news show," AWSM President Roxanna Pellin-Scott said. "We understand Thea's character on Playmakers is fictional, but we think this portrayal is insulting and completely inappropriate.
"The general public may not recognize the difference between Thea Andrews the correspondent and the role that she plays on TV. They'll see her on ESPN with a microphone in her hand interviewing players."
AWSM urges ESPN to reconsider this arrangement of combining acting and news reporting. AWSM asks ESPN to show sensitivity and respect for women in the workplace.
For questions on this issue, Roxanna Pellin-Scott, AWSM president and an assistant sports editor at The Dallas Morning News, can be reached at 214-977-7896 or rpellin scott@dallasnews.com. Joanne Gerstner is a reporter at the Detroit News, who can be contacted at 1-800-678-6400 ext. 4644.
The Association for Women in Sports Media is an organization made up of women who work in sports media and the men and women who support them in their work. It was founded in 1987. www.awsmonline.org |
