Reporting Language Differences in the Olympics Based on Gender

Sadly, the media still perpetuates gender stereotypes. As we watched the morning news Olympic coverage of Lindsay Vaughn and Julia Mancuso, it was unfortunately evident that the announcers were more interested in their “emotional states” than in their skiing abilities. The previous evening, Vaughn crashed during a ski run and Mancuso was stopped mid-run. Mancuso was extremely disappointed and the media caught her shedding some tears after her run was stopped. The next day the announcers were talking about how there was a “cat-fight” between the two skiers and things were “icy” between them rather than focusing on the disappointment each of them faced after years of training. Even Mancuso stated that she was frustrated with the media attention on their relationship rather than on the actual skiing. She posted on her Facebook page, “Save the drama for your mama.”

However, announcers covered a male athlete’s reaction in another sport differently. When Kramer lost his bid for Olympic gold due to an illegal lane change in speed skating, he also had an emotional reaction to his circumstances captured on camera. NBC reports on the website used very specific language, “kicked a lane divider in anger” and “an agitated Kramer took out his frustrations on his coach,” to describe his physical reaction to losing. No announcer said, “Kramer had a hissy fit after realizing the mistake.” No one talked about his tears or his "emotional state." His actions were reported in factual, rather than emotional language.

Additionally, during some of the NBC coverage of the women’s skiing, a female reporter continuously referred to the female athletes as “girls.” Not once did we hear a reporter refer to male athletes as “boys.”

Athletes perform at their physical best during Olympic competition. Why can’t announcers rise to the same level of excellence in their reporting?