(1) In Vincent's paper, he lists several factors that are key in measuring the coverage of female and male athletes in print media. The first one is quantity, which includes the amount of articles and photographs, as well as the number of words/paragraphs in each article and the size of each photo.
The next factor is quality, meaning which page the content appears on: front page, front page of sports, sports or other sections.
Third is position of the page, such as top, middle or bottom, because each position has its own meaning of important.
Content and quality of the photograph is fourth. This means whether the photo is black or white, and what the photo is of-action, competition, mug shot, etc.
Fifth-a balanced coverage (coverage being number, size, prominence and location) of females competing in "female inappropriate" sports with females competing in "female appropriate" sports should be provided.
Sixth-do not thread reports about female athletes onto reports about male athletes.
Seventh-do not portray female athletes in sexist of trivial ways.
Eighth-define female athletes through their athletic rather than gender role.
(2) The inferences and main conclusion of the study is that media are extremely powerful in spreading ideas of mainstream social value and beliefs of stereotyped gender roles. The paper mentions that parents are the most influential people in a child's life, and if they don't see media giving value to female athletes, they won't choose to have their daughter compete in athletics-an important part of a healthy lifestyle, especially in today's "fast food" society.
Also, the media portray the female body in images that are idealized, sexualized and unrealistic to young females. Overall, the paper says it is important that young girls "be able to identify with sporting role models that are determined, powerful, independent, and strong female athletes that are valued by society," without being based on constructed stereotypes of gender roles.
(3) I think that Vincent's recommendations are realistic for equitable media coverage of female and male athletes. From my own experiences, I know many females that are athletes at high levels. They understand that it is ok for women to be athletic and "feminine" at the same time. Personally, I think the media should be more conscious about giving equal coverage to females. I have been a beat writer for two women's sports teams at Iowa, and I always push for my articles to be on the front page and have a photo with them. However, I do understand that media have financial obligations and that male sports articles typically receive more attention by readers. It will be a process and there is still a ways to go before female and male coverage is equal, but with people like Vincent making the issue prominent, hopefully the day will come sooner rather than later.
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