The Globe and Mail Coverage of the Winter Olympic Games

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Abstract
This research is a content analysis by gender of the Globe and Mail’s coverage of the Winter Olympic Games from 1924 to 1992. Variables examined with respect to gender included: size and type of article/picture, sport, location, and source of article. One-way ANOVA and ANOVA with a Student-Newman-Keuls procedure were used to determine if significant differences existed between the above indices. The study found that female athletes were under-represented when compared to male athletes and women were frequently depicted in “sex appropriate” sports. Male athletes were written about four times (647 to 144) as much, and photographed three times (346 to 131) as much as females. The mean size of articles about female athletes was significantly larger than the articles about male athletes (F(1,6) = 5.41, p = .001). Women received less print space from 1924 to 1960 and more from 1964 to 1992. Articles were written by male reporters almost six times (431 to 75) more frequently than female reporters. Reasons for the findings are discussed.