Media Representation of Iranian Female Athletes Case study of Rio 2016

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze four Iranian newspapers (two Farsi languages and two English language newspapers) to argue how they represent Iranian female athletes in Rio Olympic games 2016 in their Photographic and headline coverage.

This study begins with background information on the history of the female sport and then proceeds to the female sport in Iran before and after the 1979 Islamic revolution, is followed by an analysis of preceding studies on the representation of female athletes.

Following this, the research discusses the approach of the media towards Iranian women. Finally, studies the approach of the Islamic Republic of Irans media towards women in the field. This study accomplished through a qualitative content analysis of data collected from four different newspapers.

Although analyzing the Iranian mass media representation of female sport is proving the previous studies regarding unequal representation of the female sport, but it also reveals that the approach of the English language and Farsi language newspapers toward female sport are not the same. While the National theme is the first most frequent theme in English language newspapers, the Gender theme is the most frequent theme in Farsi.

The study also reveals that the Iranian media represent female athletes as a Muslim Female, and being an athlete is a secondary issue. The results of this study prove that in both headlines and photographic coverage, the focus is on the religious theme other than athleticism.

Keywords: female athlete, Muslim athletes, Media, Mass Media, Religion, Iran, Olympics.