Advertising Student Aims to Elevate Women in Sports Media

By Sophie Fowler, class of ’26

Bailey Smith poses in her UO lacrosse uniform
Bailey Smith ’24, a former UO women’s lacrosse player, earned her undergraduate degree from the SOJC in advertising and minored in sports business. She decided to pursue her Advertising and Brand Responsibility Master’s because she wanted to understand how brands can authentically move toward social responsibility. Photo courtesy of Bailey Smith.

For her Advertising and Brand Responsibility Master’s capstone project, Bailey Smith ’24 explored the portrayal of women and their lack of representation in sports media. Her project offers insight into the current media environment and the improvements necessary for women to attain equal status in sports media coverage.

For the former University of Oregon women’s lacrosse player, it hit close to home.

“I didn’t notice the lack of representation of women in the media as much in high school,” Smith said. When she got to UO and began studying advertising, she started noticing the true severity of gender discrepancies in media, especially with smaller programs like women’s soccer and lacrosse.

“I began to realize more and more the inequalities female athletes face, specifically the ways they have been ignored or poorly portrayed by sports media. It diminishes awareness and weakens audience appeal,” Smith said.

Smith earned her undergraduate degree from the SOJC in advertising and minored in sports business. She decided to pursue her Advertising and Brand Responsibility Master’s because she felt she had more to learn about the industry and what her place in it would be.

“The connection of advertising with brand responsibility is crucial for brands in the way they advertise their products or services to align with consumers’ constantly evolving wants and needs,” Smith said. “We see a huge shift in consumers wanting brands to align with their beliefs or the causes they stand with, myself included. I wanted to understand how brands can authentically move toward social responsibility, and I wanted to be a part of this movement.”

Because of her love of sports, she knew she wanted to focus her capstone project on a women’s sports-related topic, but couldn’t settle on a theme. So she sought the guidance of UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC) Carolyn Silva Chambers Distinguished Professor of Advertising Christopher Chávez, director of the Advertising and Brand Responsibility Master’s, who helped her find case studies related to sports. Smith chose to delve into the poor portrayal and lack of representation of women in sports media. Then she decided to build a magazine around the idea.

magazine spread with a photo of a female snowboarder and the words "Women's sports make up 15% of the total sports media landscape."
magazine spread with mostly blank white space, except for a small box with the words "This is 15%"

For her capstone project, Bailey Smith ’24 produced a magazine focused on the poor portrayal and lack of representation of women in sports media. The text on the image on the right reads "This is 15%." Images courtesy of Bailey Smith.

In her magazine, Smith broke down Title IX, the 1972 landmark federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, and pointed out that while Title IX increased female participation in sports, it didn’t improve media representation of women’s sports.

“Women are rarely seen in association with sports; young girls often lack role models in the sports industry,” she wrote.

Then, using qualitative and quantitative data, her magazine focused on the impact hegemonic masculinity, framing theory, gender-bland sexism and the media environment have on women’s sports.

Bailey Smith playing lacrosse for UO
Bailey Smith ’24, a former UO women’s lacrosse player, focused her capstone project on the lack of representation of women in sports media. Photo courtesy of Bailey Smith.

“Sports culture has created a system where men are seen as dominant and expected to be in charge while women are expected to follow, resulting in power structures, promotion of traditional gender roles and gender inequalities,” Smith wrote in the magazine. “Sports culture values toughness, being aggressive, competitiveness, physical strength, looking muscular, large body size and even violence.”

Although she recognizes that there has been improvement over the years, there’s still plenty of work to do, Smith said.

In her magazine, Smith shared some tips for what businesses, consumers and the media could do to boost female representation, including:

  • Supporting women’s sports publications.
  • Purchasing subscriptions to streaming services that advance women’s sports and empower female athletes.
  • Acknowledging the discrimination and inequalities that women have endured and continue to face.

“I want to get this magazine and information out about the lack of representation and keep pushing women’s representation in sports,” Smith said.

Explore Bailey's Project

Sophie Fowler, class of ’26, is a third-year journalism major with a minor in multimedia. She is a member of the Clark Honors College and an intern with GoDucks Media, the SOJC Communications Office and TrackTown USA. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.