Comments on: Is netball invisible to mainstream media?

By: admin

admin — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:08:27 +0000

Thanks for the link – I really enjoyed reading this article and thought you both came up with some excellent ideas. I have posted a link to it on my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/netballmatch and tweeted about it too. Let us know what feedback you get.

By: 3ftRule

3ftRule — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 01:20:34 +0000

here are some ideas from Cliff Bingham and I had regarding promotion of netball in an Australian context. http://www.makingthenut.com/content/shaking-anz-championship
For me the issue of having the results of womens sporting achievements included in the news is critical. The example of NZ, where it is mandated that womens sport receive television coverage, proves that it works.

By: admin

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:38:45 +0000

Sadly, I think you are right. It seems like sexism to me but we have to do something to force change as the media aren’t going to suddenly realise the error of their ways. Any suggestions welcome!

By: 3ftRule

3ftRule — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 23:48:25 +0000

In Australia it is also frustrating. While all the games in the ANZ Championship are broadcast on free-to-air television there is still not enough media coverage. Its not as bad as the Guardian with most newpapers running a story a week but compared to the pages for “mens” sports the coverage is really poor. What really annoys me is that the netball is rarely featured in the television news. The sporting achievements of men completely dominate and even their antics off the field considered most newsworthy. It doesn’t add up because we know we have the supporter numbers so I really do think the lack of coverage is down to old fashioned sexism. It is up to the fans to change it – they have to demand more coverage

By: lone pack wolf rider

lone pack wolf rider — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:54:03 +0000

netball FTW !!

By: admin

admin — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 14:55:59 +0000

Well done! Really, we should all do the same on a regular basis and keep pestering until we get some kind of response – which of course could take a while. You’re absolutely right about young girls (and boys) being influenced by what they see in the media and we need to see more role models for young girls. Let us know what responses, if any, you receive. Hopefully, you at least will keep on playing netball and any other sporting activities you do despite the lack of attention our sport and female athletes get.

By: Chloe

Chloe — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 00:18:50 +0000

Emailed a few newspapers.
‘I am a 16 year old girl and I would just like to ask why there is not more coverage of netball within your papers, it may be easy to dismiss this comment which you most likely will do, but considering England are ranked third in the WORLD for netball, and they have no coverage of this, it is appauling. If this was the football team they would be saluted.

Young girls are influenced to play sport because of media coverage of their potential goals, therefore with no coverage the thousands of girls who play at a younger age are BOUND to be discouraged by the lack of attention in the media and therefore feel no real aspiration, unlike the millions of boys looking upto football stars such as Rooney, Torez and Ronaldo. It is EXTREMELY disheartening as a young player.

20 million people currently play netball in more than 70 countries. This is not reflected in our media today.’

By: admin

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:27:59 +0000

Thanks for the info. I didn’t know about the situation with NZ Broadcasting Authority, if only we could do something similar here. Good point about giving credit to The Express, it makes sense to let them know that netball fans appreciate what they do and encourage them to keep up the good work. I have also emailed the Guardian about their lack of coverage of netball events and I await their response with bated breath!

By: Rona

Rona — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:18:00 +0000

Don’t forget that New Zealand tv is OBLIGED to feature netball after it was written into the contract for the NZ Broadcasting Authority that they HAD to feature more womens’ sport to counteract rising levels of poor health and obesity. Because the netballers were doing well, they featured them and so it snowballed as people realised that it was a great sport to watch.

Unfortunately, in the UK, football and the sponsorship £ rules all. Add to this the fact that sport is not “cool” for women and it’s not going to get much interest.

The Express HAS got a great netball column online and the Times occasionally features netball. And, of course, there’s great coverage on Womensportreport.com. Write to the editors of these publications and tell them how much you enjoy what they write: it’s a lot easier to get more of something than to start from scratch!