IS that pint of Guinness in front of you half-full or half-empty? Depending on your response to that question, you might regard a new survey by the brewing giants into media coverage of the Six Nations Championships as either further proof of the unfair treatment of women’s sport or as an indication that progress, albeit modest, is being made.
Nolli Waterman, for one, has an optimistic outlook. The former England captain turned broadcaster and Guinness ambassador believes that the attitudes revealed by the survey show there is an improved understanding of and support for women’s rugby, although she is also convinced that a great deal of work still needs to be done before anything approaching equality is achieved.
The title sponsors of the men’s Six Nations, Guinness initially planned to analyse 1,000 articles in the UK media - 500 each on the men’s and women’s tournaments. But while it was easy to reach the required figure for men’s coverage, there were fewer than 200 reports on the women’s Championship. (And on the whole, those reports were shorter than those on the men’s tournament). The disparity was even more marked on social media, where the men’s Six Nations was the subject of roughly ten times as many posts.
The language used in the articles, gleaned both from newspapers and from rugby websites, also revealed a difference in attitudes. For example, the men’s game was invariably referred to simply as ‘rugby’, with the term ‘men’s rugby’ only appearing 14 times, compared to 234 for ‘women’s rugby’.
As it is not that long ago that no women’s Championship existed at all, the continued pre-eminence of the men’s game is hardly surprising. But Waterman believes the fact that the Women’s Six Nations was a standalone event this year has already had a positive impact, and admits to being pleasantly surprised by the outcome of the survey.
“For so long, so much emphasis has been on the men’s tournament, making it the main event,” she says. “Now we’re lucky that we’ve got two of the best tournaments in the world, stretching over 13 weeks rather than just seven.
“The Guinness report came out far more positive in terms of coverage than any of us were expecting. My perception was that it would be far more negative than it actually was.
“But there are little reminders too. For example, when you’re writing about men’s rugby, why do you just write ‘rugby’, whereas with women you would write ‘women’s rugby’?”
“It doesn’t take much to add one word to make a huge difference. For example, when Ben Youngs won his 100th cap, it was said he was the first England back to do that. He wasn’t: Katy Daley-McLean was. If you just put ‘men’s’ in your description of Ben Youngs, that recognises the achievement of Katy Daley-McLean, who’s got an MBE and is a World Cup-winning captain.”
Such recognition is one way in which women can become more visible within the sport, and Waterman thinks there has been an improvement across the board in that respect. “We’re seeing more women across different roles within the media - on our screens, in the commentary box, and also in the [outside-broadcast] truck in terms of the production,” she adds. “There is a lot more opportunity, which is fantastic.
“And the volume. There’s so much more being written. The research showed there was ten times as much coverage on social media of the men’s tournament that there was for the women’s - but in the past that has probably been far higher. We can always do more, but there has been a really big shift this year, which is cool.”
While welcoming that “big shift”, Waterman is convinced that everyone with an interest in rugby needs to contribute if progress is to continue. “For me it’s about people in decision-making roles being willing to listen and make changes. Often we point the finger at the governing bodies, and yes, they have huge responsibility with where they funnel their funding, but there’s also responsibility for brands to step up and invest in women’s sport.
“It’s up to the media to expand their coverage and share stories, and not pat themselves on the pack that there’s a small piece about the women’s game when it’s a Grand-Slam-winning match. Let’s cover it in a proper way.
“And to really make a big societal shift, I think it’s the responsibility of us as females to inspire more women to say ‘Yes, I can do it,’ whether it be sport or anything else. But I also think there’s a real role for dads - to take their sons, not just their daughters, to a women’s game and talk about it in a really positive, excited way like they would with men’s sport.
“The biggest thing is we’ve got to be comfortable with change, and unfortunately some people are a little bit stuck with where they want to be. We’re always told as athletes to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. I think that’s where we all need to be.”
