Abstract

In feminist media research, media sport was, for a long time a neglected topic. It is only lately that gender aspects have been considered, either in relation to the sports departments or to sports reporting themselves. It is even more recently that attention has paid in this area to the other axes of difference, such as race, sexual orientation, trans- and intersexuality. Pioneering studies were conducted in the Anglo-American world, and German-speaking research is still lagging behind. This is mainly due to the fact that, unlike the Anglo-American research, it has been largely restricted to the gender aspects of media sport. Sports departments are still considered the last bastion of hegemonic White masculinity and so it is not surprising that male-coded values and prejudices determine journalistic work. The findings of media research on sports reporting reveal numerous—albeit increasingly subtle—forms of discrimination against female athletes, along with homosexual, Black, trans- and intersex athletes.