Insight Sport: News Corp’s latest commitment to women and gender-biased sports

We wanted to address the under-representation of some of the country’s biggest athletes by giving them a regular presence across all of our platforms.

We wanted to become an ally for athletes and governing bodies, create communities where fans and skeptics can co-exist and learn more about some of Australia’s best talent and the world of women’s sport.

In turn, by devoting significantly more resources and time to reporting on women’s sport, we have adjusted our mindset.

The data clearly tells us that Australians want more coverage, opinion and in-depth articles on women’s sport.

HOW FAR HAVE WE COME

Over the past 24 months, we’ve been closely monitoring our audience data and the response has been overwhelming.

In 2022, we delivered a 54 percent increase in sports content for women across digital, social, video and print. This resulted in an 83% increase in consumption of the content.

Our subscriber base spent 10,000 hours reading and engaging with our coverage of Netball, AFLW, NRLW and Investigations, which brought the greatest returns.

We uncovered serious incidents of alleged abuse when Lisa De Vanna exposed the toxic culture within the Matildas.

We’ve uncovered the truth about what really ended Liz Cambage’s career as Opals in a major investigation after receiving video of the former WNBA star attacking Nigerian players and racially slurring them.

We uncovered the dire financial situation at Netball Australia, pressed for answers as the league faced financial ruin and did not shy away from accusations that racial issues were rife in the sport.

We’ve led the discussion and reporting on trans athletes in sport and exposed the horrors of abuse and toxic cultures in multiple sports including hockey, swimming and triathlon.

Our reporting does not and will not discriminate.

In a year when Australia hosts the Women’s Soccer World Cup, the Diamonds vie for glory at the Netball World Cup in South Africa and 100-year-old athletes enter the final year of preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympics, here we are more than committed to making sure women’s sport gets the coverage it deserves.

INSIGHT SPORT will not replace the 54 percent increase in coverage in 2022, but will amplify it.

A monthly themed digital print edition, an online destination and hundreds of articles per year add to our already diverse content offering.

We want to build a bridge to connect athletes with their fans. We want to help break taboos, raise standards across all codes from grassroots to elite, and most importantly, we want athletes to tell their stories and engage the big issues that matter to them.

“10 years from now it will be less about having an ‘inclusive moment for women,'” said Sally Fitzgibbons. “We will only be athletes, men or women. It will only be about performance.”

WHAT IS INSIGHT SPORT?

In its launch month, INSIGHT SPORT will be a weekly edition covering four themes: BODY, PRIDE, EQUALITY and the International Women’s Day POWER edition.

A guest editor will serve as an ambassador for each issue, with Australian Olympic champion Libby Trickett leading our first issue.

In the coming weeks, we’ll hear from netball and AFLW superstar Ash Brazill on why she didn’t want to be Australia’s first openly gay netballer and the personal struggles she’s endured to be her true self.

Megan Schutt reveals her personal anger at being told as a young player that women’s cricket “forced” her to be a lesbian as she calls on Cricket Australia to up their game in promoting inclusivity.

Charlotte Caslick and Sally Fitzgibbons discuss pay parity, what it means, why their sports are leaders and what the rest of the country needs to do.

On International Women’s Day, we will identify and celebrate the 100 most influential people in women’s sport and call on leading sport CEOs to commit to five key improvements they will oversee over the next 12 months.

“There’s so much pressure to move forward and step up and be equal,” says life champion Janelle Pallister. “It will not be about women and not about men, but all together harmoniously.”

We strive to tell these important stories in depth and detail so that while our newspaper readers have access to our best content, the full stories are fully available through our websites.

Originally published as Insight Sport: News Corp’s latest commitment to women and gender-biased sports