A picture says a thousand words - and the lack of visual representation for women’s sport in the media says a lot about sexism.

That’s according to Lunchtime Live listener Nicky, who got in touch with the show to discuss a noticeable gender gap in some sports journalism.

“There was an article that Newstalk recommended and I bought the newspaper last week,” she said.

“I was browsing through with my cup of tea and I got a pen and numbered every photo in the sports section.

“95 were men and three were women.

“Of the three, two were an ad by Sky TV… and there were three women.”

Ahead of today’s show, Nicky tested another paper for its representation of women sports players.

“There were 185 men in photographs - and nine women,” she said.

Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke after finishing fifth in the women's 400m final during day seven of the 2022 European Championships in Munich, Germany. Picture by: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

She noted one photo of English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur was 28 by 16 inches long, while a picture of Katie Taylor was three by seven inches.

“I meant to send a smart letter to say The Irish Examiner or The Independent and say, ‘Oh you made a mistake - you put a woman in your sports section’ - but I never got around to it,” she said.

'The quality is phenomenal'

Sports fan Paul called into the show to say he “agreed and disagreed” with Nicky’s assessment of appreciation for women’s sports.

He noted that last year, several of his male friends were “not bothered” to watch the women’s soccer team play in the World Cup.

This year, however, many of those friends are heading to the Aviva Stadium tomorrow to see Ireland play against England for the women’s Euro 2025 qualifiers.

“We should have a monthly magazine dedicated totally to women in sport here in Ireland,” he said.

“You will fill it with information and photographs every single month, I don’t care what anybody says, between GAA, soccer, athletics, basketball, rugby, boxing.

“The quality in women’s sports across the board, the quality is phenomenal.

“I'm 100% heterosexual, but I'm also 100% feminist when it comes to women.”

Covering women's sports

Cork GAA player and Hear Me Roar podcast host Valerie Mulcahy told the show women’s sport is “embraced” more in the US than it is Ireland.

“It’s so important to TG4, RTÉ, Virgin, all the different media channels and papers covering women’s sports,” she said.

“[We need to] ensure that we are creating a more equitable sporting society.”

Valerie said putting in the effort to showcase women’s sports now will lead to a future where the coverage will happen naturally.

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