Grade Your Newspaper
PART 1 - YOUR NEWSPAPER
Collect the Tuesday, Friday and Sunday sports section of your local newspaper. (If
your local newspaper does publish on one of these days, leave that day blank.) as
males to play sports.
DATE for the Tuesday edition (For example, enter "05-08-01" for May 8, 2001)
DATE for the Friday edition (For example, enter "05-11-01" for May 11, 2001)
DATE for the Sunday edition (For example, enter "05-13-01" for May 13, 2001)
PART 2 - MEASURING COLUMN INCHES
For each of the three days in the week you are analyzing, first go through the sports
section and classify each story according to the seven (7) article categories that
you see in Part 3 (below).
Mark on each article the category number that corresponds to each type of story.
Next, measure the total number of column inches for each story and write the length
next to the category number (Example: "Category 3: 16.5 inches"). If no story has
been written in the category on that day, count it as "0".
Do count boxed score summaries as part of the total; they are sometimes printed
in smaller type. And make sure that, if the article jumps to a second page, you
include the complete continuation in your calculation for that article and it’s
category. Do not include headlines, photographs or advertisements in your measurements—just
the article and scores that appear inside of it. Do not be concerned about the width
of the column as it may vary.
Special cases: In a sport like auto racing which is predominantly male, count the
sport in the male category unless the story mentions female racers, in which case
count half the column inches in the male category and half the column inches in
the female category. Treat track and field sports the same way; if both male and
female competitors are mentioned in the same story, half the column inches would
be scored in the male category and half in the female category.
PART 3 - ADD UP EACH DAY'S MEASUREMENTS
Add up the total number of column inches for all stories in each of the following
categories; you should use a separate piece of paper or note pad. Enter the daily
total in the box that corresponds to the category:
1. Boys' Youth, Middle School and High School Sports
2. Girls' Youth, Middle School and High School Sports
3. Men's College, Olympic and Adult Amateur Sports
4. Women's College, Olympic and Adult Amateur Sports
5. Professional Men's Sports
6. Professional Women's Sports
7. Horses, Dogs, Fish(ing), etc.
PART 4 - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ALL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ENTERED BELOW WILL BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL
The Women's Sports Foundation will not publish your name, the newspaper's name,
nor any other personally identifiable information. However, we do request that you
provide this data for our internal use.
If the Foundation publishes data based on your responses to this questionnaire,
we will
not use the newspaper's name or the city's name. Instead, we will
use a generic description such as "a large, daily newspaper in Oklahoma."
Newspaper name:
City:
(The newspaper's location may be different from the town or city in which you live.)
State:
(abbreviations are ok: OK, MD, CA, etc.)
What is the newspaper's Zip Code?
There may be an occasion where the Foundation would like to speak with you about
the report card you filled out. Please give us your name and a way to reach
you:
(e-mail address; and/or phone number+area code; and/or mailing address/city/state/ZIP)
I am a: (check as many as apply)
The Women’s Sports Foundation has my permission to publish the results of this report
card. I understand that my name, the name of my school and any other personally
identifiable information will be kept confidential.
Great job! You're done. Click the submit button to calculate the grade.