It's Time to Have "The Talk"

Ok kids, it's time for Aunty Meredith to give you all "the talk." For all you boys out there, you can stick around, but "the talk" is not directed towards you. And at this point I am going to stop putting the phrase "the talk" into quotations. So, grab your sleeping bag, snuggle up around the campfire, and get ready for Aunty Meredith to give you the talk.

And yes, this is the birds and the bees talk and by birds and the bees I obviously mean men and women working in sweet harmony in the world of sportscasting! Where did you think I was going with that? sheesh. But let me tell you a little secret kids, it isn't true. Men and women do not work in harmony in the world of sports journalism and you might as well know that now before you start your careers.

When I first began sportscasting I looked at my sex as an advantage. I was the only female sportscaster on a college news program; I provided diversity among the sportscasting team. This wasn't a smart way of thinking. Although being a female may have helped me get the job, I should have focused more on whether or not I was chosen because I was, in fact, a solid sportscaster.

It wasn't until I became the Director of Sports for my news program that I first felt the sting of sexism. And it wasn't necessarily that my fellow male counterparts blatantly looked down on me but there was a certain level of distrust. For instance, I would receive calls and emails to make sure I didn't "miss" important stories that were going on in sports. Would that happen to a male Sports Director? I think not. And let me tell you another secret, doing sports for a localized news program isn't rocket science, Local sports first, everything else second. It's a pretty self explanatory formula. And then there was the rewriting of my scripts or simply not using my stories. There were times as an Assistant Sports Director that I would write stories and have them not show up in the script, with other stories put in their place instead. You would think once I became Sports Director that this would all change but no, my stories still were rewritten, highlights and v.o's cut without my permission, and essentially my title of Sports Director became just that, a title, and nothing else.

Now before you label this as a bitter diatribe, I know that I could have done more to reclaim my title of Sports Director. I know I should have put my foot down and spoken up when I bit my tongue instead but I didn't and I am telling you all this so that you can stand up for yourself when the time comes. Because let me tell you something ladies, respect in the world of sports is a hard thing to gain. Men will never think you know enough, no one will trust you to run a sports department, and even other woman in the field will hate you because you are their competition. Because remember, there are only so many female sportscasting positions to go around.

But don't wave your white flags just yet, look at this as a helpful warning, something I would have liked to have heard as a naive freshmen. Being a female sportscaster is difficult, don't listen to those news anchor girls who complain about not getting respect, being a woman in sports is harder. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. Getting a foot in the door as a female is fairly easy, but do not rest on that. Continually brush up on your sports knowledge, strive to be the best, and when anyone treats you like you don't deserve to be in the position you're in, stand up for yourself. The second they know they can walk all over you, they'll never stop.