Examines Japanese Newspaper Coverage during the 2004 Olympic Games
from the Perspective of Gender
Abstract
This study joins the "Sportwomen in the 2004 Olympic Games: A Global Research Analysis of Media Coverage", and examines Japanese newspaper coverage during the 2004 Olympic Games from the perspective of gender. The sample in this study is taken from the Yomiuri. Content analysis was conducted to compare all the articles and photographs of female and male athletes on all pages. In addition to the Yomiuri, the Olympics photographs that appeared in the Asahi and the Mainichi newspapers are analyzed in the same way as the Yomiuri.
In non-Olympics, the coverage of female athletes occupied less than 6% and there were a very small number of female sporting events. If the analysis of the coverage was conducted at another time, female athlete would receive more coverage than in this study. There will though continue to be great differences of coverage between males and females.
On the other hand, in coverage of Olympics, female athletes received relatively equal newspaper coverage compared to male athletes. This is because the number of female athletes and female sporting events increased to the same level as male's, and female athletes got almost as many medals as male athletes.
However, seeing the Olympic photographic coverage of the athletes in the newspaper separately according to nationality, Japanese athletes' coverage is found to reflect their results in the games for both gender, whereas in foreign athletes' case, gender stereotype of sports can be perceived both qualitatively and quantitatively. The representation of gender in the newspaper is not likely to disappear easily.
These representations of sport by the media have become an obstacle to the realization of gender equality and equity.
Key Words: Newspaper coverage gender Athens Olympic Games
抄録
本研究は，"Sportwomen in the 2004 Olympic Games: A Global Research Analysis of Media Coverage"に参加し，2004年オリンピック期間中の日本の新聞報道をジェンダー視点から検証したものである．分析対象は読売新聞であり，全頁に掲載された女性選手および男性選手の記事および写真に対して内容分析を行った．さらに，読売新聞に加え朝日新聞と毎日新聞に掲載されたオリンピック写真も同様に分析した．
オリンピック以外の大会では，女性選手の報道は6％より低く，競技種目も限定されていた．分析期間が異なれば，本研究よりも女性選手の報道が増加すると考えられるが，女性選手と男性選手の報道には大きな差がある．
一方，オリンピックでは，女性選手は男性選手と同程度の報道を受けていた．その理由は，女性の競技種目数や参加選手数が男性と同程度に増加したこと，女性選手が男性選手と同程度のメダルを獲得したことによる．
しかし，日本選手と海外の選手に分けて写真報道を見ると，日本選手の写真報道は男女ともに競技成績を反映したものであるが，海外選手の場合には，質的にも量的にもスポーツのジェンダーステレオタイプが見られた．紙面上のジェンダー表象が容易には無くなる気配はない．メディアを通じたこれらのスポーツ表象は，ジェンダーの平等と公平の実現の妨げとなる．
キーワード：新聞 報道 ジェンダー アテネ オリンピック