Blog Post #2: ESPNW: Is it Good Enough?

ESPN, considered by most to be the “Worldwide Leader in Sports”, covers men’s sports every day with extreme vigor. But what about women’s sports? In 2010, ESPN introduced ESPNW, a special section of their website dedicated to “connecting female fans with the sports they love and follow.” Finally, fans of women’s sports had a steady source of journalism dedicated to representing the side of sports that is normally rejected. But was it enough?

            After thoroughly investigating ESPNW, I believe that the massive sports media site has not done enough to accurately represent women’s sports. First of all, it was extremely difficult to find the link to ESPNW from ESPN’s homepage. After a few minutes of careful searching, I was able to locate the link at very bottom of the homepage, under the section “More Sports”.

espnW is hidden all the way at the bottom of the ESPN worldwide homepage.

 After clicking the link, I was taken to the ESPNW homepage, where the headlining article discussed a player from the NFL. Really? The homepage for ESPNW is covering men’s sports? Something doesn’t add up. 

When I finally found the espnW homepage, I was greeted by a headlining article discussing an NFL player.

Although I read a few well-written articles and discovered a very good system of feedback (people are only allowed to comment on articles through their Facebook accounts, thus limiting the amount of anonymous sexist comments), I still believe the site is too hidden on the ESPN homepage and doesn’t get the attention it deserves. 

The beginnings of espnW