Four Faculty Members Contribute to New Book on Women’s Sports and Media
A new book — Media, Women, and the Transformation of Sport — examines the coverage of women athletes and sports from Title IX to NIL. UT School of Journalism and Media faculty members contributed around a third of the chapters
When School of Journalism and Media Assistant Professor Shannon Scovel was asked to contribute to an upcoming book on women, media, and sport edited by Pamela Creedon, she was deeply honored.
“Creedon’s first book on women’s sport media was like a fundamental text for me as I was understanding who I am as a scholar and how I think about women’s sports,” Scovel said. “So, just to be part of a book she’s a part of is really exciting.”
That excitement only grew when she learned that other journalism and media faculty colleagues were also contributing to the book. The school has a strong cohort of sports faculty and Scovel said having multiple experts contributing to the topic in one book highlights that.
Released on December 20, Media, Women, and the Transformation of Sport is an edited collection with 11 chapters dedicated to examining the coverage of women athletes and sports from Title IX—a law enacted in 1972 to prevent sex-based discrimination at schools—to the present day.
School of Journalism and Media faculty members who contributed to the book include Scovel, now-retired Professor Julie Andsager, Assistant Professor Guy Harrison, and Professor Erin Whiteside.
“Around a third of the chapters in this book are written by the School of Journalism and Media faculty,” Andsager said. “I think it speaks volumes about the quality and diversity of what researchers are doing here at the school.”
Andsager said Creedon reached out to her a couple years ago about contributing to an upcoming book about women’s sports and media. An old friend of Andsager, Creedon hoped she might be interested in contributing after reviewing one of Andsanger’s most recent articles.
While honored to contribute to a sports publication, since her primary area of expertise focuses more on media, health, and public opinion, she knew the school had a wealth of expertise in this area and recommended Creedon invite some of her colleagues to be contributors.
Each of the journalism and media faculty members focused on a different aspect within the realm of women, media, and sport for their chapter.
“The landscape for women’s sports is really dynamic right now and it is so important that we as scholars continually be thinking about those changes and what they mean for women athletes,” Whiteside said. “Our students benefit from faculty who are active researchers and scholars who can bring their ideas into the classroom.”
Andsager’s chapter examines Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and media coverage of athlete injuries. Harrison examined women’s experiences working in sports media for his chapter. Scovel’s chapter deals with name, image, and likeness (NIL), and athlete self-representation on social media and lastly, Whiteside examined the history and value of Title IX in her chapter.
“I think it says that we as a school have established ourselves as a hotbed for those seeking expertise in the area of gender in sports media and communication,” Harrison said. “I think it also says that our school is a destination for aspiring scholars who want to study in that field.”
Four Faculty Members Contribute to New Book on Women’s Sports and Media written by Ernest Rollins and originally published on the College of Communication & Information site.