Abstract
This chapter analyzes the findings of the two studies conducted for this book in terms of whether or not sports journalists took a more critical, substantive perspective when covering King, Swoopes and Griner. Some evidence was found that journalists were exploring wider-ranging issues inherent with gay and lesbian athletes. The chapter also compares the results to similar studies of the coming out stories of former NBA player Jason Collins and former football All-American Michael Sam. Collins and Sam were covered much more extensively, suggesting that the coming out stories of male athletes are much more newsworthy. The chapter also features comments and insights about how coming out stories should be covered gleaned from extensive interviews with four prominent gay and lesbian sports journalists.
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Cassidy, W.P. (2019). It’s About the People. In: Sports Journalism and Women Athletes. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30526-0_4
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