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Recently in Salon Media

Media
"None of us are hip"
An interview with Allan Siegal, language czar of the New York Times and editor of its new style and usage guide.
By Susan Lehman
[11/05/99]

Media
Chinese take-out
Accusing the New York Times of a hit piece, Brill's Content does one of its own.
By Sean Elder
[11/01/99]

Alt
Bye-bye beatnik
Two unusual takes on Jack Kerouac's death and legacy. Plus: Viagra raves, zines that shouldn't exist and real-life Halloween scares.
By Jenn Shreve
[10/29/99]

Media
O.J.'s "I Found JonBenet!" and other upcoming St. Martin's titles
After the unexpected P.R. bonanza of J.H. Hatfield's Bush bio, the imprint reveals its fall lineup.
By Sean Elder
[10/21/99]

Media
The skinny on damage control
A well-placed Web site stole the thunder of a "20/20" exposé.
By Sean Elder
[10/20/99]

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I do not follow sports. But while the details of who made what play and who won what series may have slipped my radar, I haven't failed to notice one glaring fact: In sports reporting, women's teams (college and pro) almost always come second. I've observed that WNBA games are scheduled for 10 or 11 at night, while NBA games get prime time play. I can't remember the last time a women's sports event or issue received front-page coverage; perhaps it was Women's World Cup. When I have seen female sports stars displayed prominently, they're usually barely clothed and hawking a product or posed on the cover of a men's magazine. (You want media attention? Show us your sports bra!)

As Webb puts it: "I don't think it's [women's sports] treated with any respect. A lot of the editors, of course, come from earlier times when women's sports weren't on the map at all. Also, through the years it really has been seen as something that is covered after the 'real' sports stories."

Sports Jones declared its intention to give women's sports equal coverage in an impressive editorial package last fall. The site recognizes that every female sporting event occurs simultaneously in two arenas: the playing field itself and the culture at large.

In one prominent story, Sports Jones looks at Heather Sue Mercer's discrimination lawsuit against Duke University, which forbade her to play on their all-male football team, in the context of a small but growing group of college women who are making the cut. In a review of Pat Griffin's book "Strong Women, Deep Closets," Sports Jones explores the discrimination faced by lesbian athletes.

There are profiles of female athletes as well as quirky takes on well-hyped topics such as Martina vs. Venus.

Webb readily admits that Sports Jones' coverage of men's and women's sports isn't 50-50. Webb concedes, "Our staff is still mostly men, and we write about the things we're interested in. But we try more consciously to take women's sports seriously. We're trying as actively as possible to have more women writing, too." They're off to a good start.

I was hoping to get sassy, smart coverage of women's athletic issues from the zine Girl Jock. Unfortunately, the quality of the editorial output is also about 50-50. The interview with kick-boxer Michelle A'Boro was interesting enough, and I got a good chuckle out of the advice column, "What Was That $#@! Smell?" But I'm hard pressed to understand what a recipe for microwaving hotdogs has to do with anything female or athletic.

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