A new Brazilian site dedicated to talking about gender issues through the use of data journalism launched on Aug. 10 with a focus on the 2016 Summer Olympic Games happening in Rio de Janeiro.
The team of journalists behind Gênero e Número (Gender and Number) told the Knight Center in July that each month will address a new theme related to important current events.
“We especially want to work to improve the debate and to go beyond the niche in which the discussions [about gender] usually take place. Our proposal is to take journalism about gender out of the niche. To pop the bubble,” said Natalia Mazotte, project co-director and a teaching assistant for the Knight Center.
With a focus on the Olympics this month, the site uses infographics, videos and data visualization to discuss gender issues related to the international sporting event.
For example, an interactive article uses data to show that while the number of women athletes competing in the games is rising, women’s representation in sports federations and Olympic committees remains low.
There is also an interview with U.S. duathlete Chris Mosier, the first transgender man to be part of the U.S. men’s national team and founder of TransAthlete.com. Mosier discusses the progress (or lack thereof) of countries in recognizing transgender athletes and allowing them to compete.
Another article used an infographic comparing the salaries of Brazilian soccer superstars Marta Vieira da Silva and Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior in an article about disparate pay for women and men athletes.
The graphic breaks down how much each goal made during play would be worth if the players were paid by goal. With an annual salary of USD $400,000 and 130 goals scored for the national soccer team, Marta would make USD $3,900 per goal, according to the site. Yet, Neymar makes USD $14,500,000 each year and scored 50 goals, which comes out to about US $290,000 per goal scored for the national soccer team.
There is also a special section dedicated to infographics. One breaks down the broadcasting time dedicated to women's athletic events on major sports shows during a set period of time.
The editorial team at the new Brazilian site wrote that it debuts with "strict journalistic investigation" amid the "standards and gender asymmetries still so entrenched in the courts, pools, tracks and scenes of sport."
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
