Dushku was the only woman working in the office. Her shift began in the evening when the Champions League matches happened. If the game started at 9:00 p.m., journalists would have to stay until 11:00 p.m. to get everything ready for the next day’s paper.

Dushku had asked her colleagues not to give her special treatment because of her gender. She too would take late-night shifts.

Dushku ended up working at Kosova Sot until 2017. She said that although she faced prejudice, sexist language towards sports journalists was not as widespread as it is today. As the General Secretary of the Basketball Federation in Kosovo, Dushku is now responsible for the smooth management of the sport on a daily basis. She said that she continues to face disparaging comments about how having a woman as General Secretary is damaging to the sport.

Dushku said that the negative comments come mostly from men who hate seeing women in leadership positions. She attributes this to living in a patriarchal society where men are assumed to be in the right.

Bardh Rugova, a lecturer in sports journalism at the University of Prishtina’s Journalism Department, is happy there are women sports journalists. He sees progress over the last 20 years, despite it being slower than in other professional fields.

Through his sports journalism course, Rugova aims to provide students with a basic knowledge about the sector and to enable them to gather information and write sports articles. Sports journalism, as Rugova sees it, is often underestimated. He tries to emphasize to his students that just because sports journalism is entertainment, that does not mean that it should not be objective and professional. He laments that in Kosovo, sports journalists often function more like fans.

Rugova finds the ongoing sexist language directed at women in this field disturbing. He said there has long been a mindset that “since the audience is dominated by men, let’s use male-centric language,” or “look, she’s on television and so I have the right to say anything to her.” He added that men tell women who try to be involved in sports to “go play with dolls, go watch telenovelas, sport belongs to us.”

Rugova and Dushku both commented that a persistent problem is the objectification of women sports journalists.

“I appreciate it when a female moderator asks me a question,” said Dushku. “In Kosovo, football is still considered only for men, and so [people think] Qëndresa should not comment on football, or any other woman.”

Dushku said that the prejudices were even more prevalent during her time as a journalist than they are now.

“At that time, they thought that only men should cover sports events, that only men should go out on the ground, that only men should cover the Champions League and that only men can stay up until 12 a.m.,” said Dushku. “I overcame these prejudices and I believe that consequently other girls have found sports journalism more accessible.”

She calls on newsrooms and sports associations to include more women on their panel shows and that one way to tackle this would be to put more women in leadership roles in the industry.

Feature Image: Majlinda Hoxha / K2.0.

Timeout

Challenging the dominance of men in sports journalism.

Fatjona Rudi

Timeout

Challenging the dominance of men in sports journalism.

Fatjona Rudi