Still Battling for Equity: Examining Biological Sex Portrayals Through the Lens of the Gold Coast During Australian Prime Time Coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games

Abstract

This study examined differences in the Seven Network’s primetime coverage of male and female athletes who participated at the 2018 Commonwealth Games that were held in Australia. Over 31 hours of total coverage was analyzed for clock-time, name mentions, and the descriptions of athletes by announcers divided by biological sex. Results found that male athletes received the bulk of the clock time and were featured more in two of the three most-telecasted sports: swimming and track cycling. However, there were few other significant results in the word for word descriptors of success, failure, physicality, and personality, which indicates that the announcers on the Seven Network provided a relatively balanced depiction of athletes. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.