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Ed Werder will die on the hill that female representation in sports media is a non-issue

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A seemingly innocuous tweet from Sports Illustrated staffer Charlotte Wilder about a vacancy at her publication Monday led to a tense Twitter back-and-forth involving her, former ESPN NFL reporter Ed Werder and current ESPN personality Mina Kimes.

The messy exchange began when SI posted a listing for a job on its breaking-news team and Wilder offered advice to potential candidates, particularly female ones.

If you can stand sitting near me in the office this is a v cool opportunity. Especially if you're a woman trying to get into sports, you should message me — DMs are open https://t.co/CI6uyFQAKV

— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) June 18, 2018

Seems innocent enough, right? Women are notably underrepresented in sports media, which can make the industry an intimidating one for young female writers. Wilder was offering the type of guidance that everyone needs and women don’t always get from male colleagues and supervisors.

Werder, however, found the premise offensive.

So men need not apply? Any others ineligible? https://t.co/GwcCrFtmak

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

And thus began an increasingly chippy back-and-forth.

Oh WOW you're right, Ed, sorry for attempting to make sports media more than 10% female, my bad

— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) June 18, 2018

I just always associated SI with hiring the best regardless of race, sex and other factors. https://t.co/hIMoWpbHfS

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

Well unfortunately a lot of women and people of color who ARE the best often get passed over during hiring processes at EVERY publication, so it's important to make an extra effort

— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) June 18, 2018

Oh so you’re saying the rest of the industry is racist and sexist except for you. https://t.co/lGkwqtBMHu

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

Can you even read? It's truly astounding that THAT is what you're taking away from these tweets

— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) June 18, 2018

Just read aloud what you WROTE. You essentially made it clear you’re excluding males regardless of ability. I READ the words you wrote. https://t.co/kO0x9TTZRa

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

At a certain point, ESPN’s Mina Kimes decided to chime in, apparently thinking she might convince her former colleague that fighting for greater female representation in sports media doesn’t mean discriminating against men.

@TheWilderThings encouraging women to apply for a position isn't the same thing as “excluding” men. it's helping female applicants network, which can be a challenge given the massive gender imbalance in our industry (which I'm sure you know exists).

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) June 18, 2018

Her effort did not work.

Read her original post as an aspiring young male sports writer and tell me she’s not disqualifying you from getting the job. https://t.co/cs2FVTCJk8

— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) June 18, 2018

If Kimes and Wilder haven’t been able to get through to Werder, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to, but let’s try anyway.

Women, by all estimates, make up a disproportionately small share of the sports-media industry. They are underrepresented in the ranks of reporters, columnists, editors and nearly every other role in the industry. Despite what people like Werder might say, this is not merely a matter of women lacking interest in these jobs or having lesser qualifications for them. It’s often a result of either explicit or implicit bias against female candidates, of sexual harassment and sexual assault that drives women away and of preconceptions about which roles are appropriate for women and which ones aren’t. In a world where just about every female sports reporter, anchor or analyst has stories of overt sexism, objectification or even harassment, there’s no possible argument that sports media currently represents a true meritocracy.

So when Wilder tweets that she wants to help female candidates specifically, she’s not trying to bar the door to keep men out. She’s simply hoping to make the industry a bit more hospitable toward women who might otherwise be tempted to run away from people who secretly (or not-so-secretly) wonder whether they belong.

The post Ed Werder will die on the hill that female representation in sports media is a non-issue appeared first on Awful Announcing.


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