Michele Kort and Ms. don't think women can cover sports

We're yet again in the punching bag years for feminism, where one person after another attacks it.  Not just hackstresses on long running CBS sitcoms with tiny bits of talent, but institutions as well.


The latest to attack feminism was . . . Ms. magazine.





Last week, Anita Little gleefully announced on the magazine's blog:



As sports writer Dave Zirin points out in the upcoming issue of Ms., the NFL has a responsibility to use some of its vast capital–both economic and cultural–to address the problem of domestic violence. It  accounts for 48 percent of violent-crime arrests among NFL players, compared to an estimated 21 percent nationally, according to FiveThirtyEight writer Benjamin Morris.


Sports writer Dave Zirin?


Our own Ann rightly objected:

 

Oh, Michele Kort, just shut the f**k up.

You're a hack and a liar who stole for your book on Laura Nyro and didn't provide credit.


You're a two-bit whore who begged online for help with your book -- your very bad book -- that had an eye at the keyhole to Laura's bedroom but couldn't write about music because you don't know s**t about music -- and when you got help, you couldn't even muster a thank you to all the people who gave you stories, who gave you references.


And now you do more damage, hiring a man to write about domestic abuse and sports.

And instead of admitting your mistake when confronted with it, you insist it's no big deal.


No big deal?


From page 32 of Women's Media Center's "The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2014:"



In Sports Journalism ... 90 percent male, 90 percent white; sports editor ranks have far to go 
Despite recording an increase in the number of women of color who are sports journalists, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports ’ most recent report card, nonetheless, graded the more than 150 newspapers and websites it evaluates an F, overall, for the third time in a row for their hiring practices among women. 
For the second time in a row, the institute graded those organizations C+, overall, for their hiring efforts among minorities. 
Released every other year since its start in 2006, this Associated Press Sports Editors- commissioned 2013 report evaluated sports news staffing in 2012. 
"There continued to be a failing grade for gender in all five categories of sports journalism hiring," said Richard Lapchick, director of the sports institute, which also monitors hiring in major league sports. “It is encouraging that the APSE has continued to request the report knowing that the news would not be good. I applaud its determination to get better.” 
Lapchick noted the deleterious impact of ongoing cuts in the nation’s newspapers on hiring in general. But he lauded ESPN for being one of few news organizations that has increased its hiring of women and racial minorities. ESPN, along with The Sporting News, accounted for the bulk of female hires in sports departments. 
“ ... Of the 11 women who were sports editors at this level, six worked for ESPN and two worked for The Sporting News ,” he said. “If the ESPN and The Sporting News sports editors who are women were removed, the percentage of female sports editors would drop from 13.9 percent to 4.2 percent.” 

Also, compared to 2010 data, the report card showed that: 
* The number of female sports columnists slipped from 9.9 percent to 9.7 percent. 
* The number of female sports editors increased to 9.6 percent from 6.3 percent. 
* The number of female assistant sports editors rose to 17.2 percent from 10.5 percent. 
* The number of female copy editors/designers increased to 19.6 percent from 16.4 percent. 
* The number of women and people of color who were sports editors increased 7.4 percent, rising to 16.8 percent from 9.4 percent. 
* The number of women and people of color in sports reporter slots increased by 0.7 percent and now account for 23.9 percent of the total in that category. 
* The percentage of women and people of color who were copy editors/designers increased 6.5 percent and now account for 30.7 percent of workers in that category. 
* Of the 35 women who were columnists included in the survey, 23 worked for ESPN. Without those ESPN staffers, the percentage of female columnists would slip from 12.8 percent to 4.8 percent of all columnists. 



In this climate, Ms. decides to commission a sports report and they run to a man write it.


And a man who's already published by The Progressive and The Nation.


And when rightfully confronted by our own Ann, Michele Kort puts the "bull" in bulldyke by sounding like a traditional "Mad Man" excusing her own sexism in hiring with "it just so happens that Dave Zirin has expertise on this particular issue about violence and the NFL, a topic we wanted to cover."

First off, many women covering sports have expertise in that area.

Second, Dave Zirin doesn't.

So sorry, Mitch, long before you discovered hairy back Dave Zirin, Wally and Mike were following his work and applauding it (for example Wally and Mike both picked Dave's book as the book of 2005 -- nearly ten years ago).  They know this isn't his area of expertise.  They also know he does no long form journalism and writes on the level of a high school newspaper.


Poor Michele Kort, she's jut someone who not only holds women back but, when confronted with an error, refuses to take accountability for her actions.



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For more on this topic, see Ruth's "What Ann said" and  Rebecca's "what ann said (ms. doesn't think women can talk sports)."