This study compared how selected broadsheet newspapers from three countries covered
female and male tennis players competing in the 2004 Wimbledon Championships. From the UK, The
Times; from the US, The New York Times; and from Canada, The Globe & Mail were examined. This
cross-national comparison extends the work of Vincent (2004) who performed an analysis of three
British newspapers’ coverage of Wimbledon (one broadsheet and two tabloids). Content analysis
was used to compare the amount and prominence of the coverage devoted to female and male tennis
players in all articles and photographs during the Wimbledon Championships fortnight (20 June–5
July 2004). Data were also collected one day prior to the Championships and one day following for a
total of 16 days. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine statistically significant differences
(p<.05). Male players had significantly more total coverage than female players and significantly
more articles/photographs. However, the size of the articles/photographs was not significantly
different. The Times had the greater disparity in total space allocated to males versus females and
significantly more total space devoted to Wimbledon coverage than the other two newspapers.
Reasons for the results are discussed and compared to previous quantitative studies examining the
newspaper coverage of other sport events.