Few would say that women's sports struggle for media attention. In Australia, newspapers report a lot more on men's sports, and when female athletes are discussed, they are often treated in an ignorant manner. The reports are usually written in an exaggerated style and focus more on personal matters rather than the actual sporting performance of the female athlete. In an era of equality and open-mindedness, how is this possible? Tonight, Media Watch reports on this issue as we examine the portrayal of the versatile Ellyse Perry in Australian media. The role of media in society is to provide people with unbiased information. Thus, journalists must strive to be as impartial as possible, to provide accurate information. However, many journalists overlook this fact and at Media Watch we can reveal that Perry has been unfairly portrayed in the media and that, undeniably, some articles breach the Australian Journalistic Association (AJACE) Code of Ethics. The first article was published in the Sunday Telegraph on November 16, 2013 by Phil Rothfield. It highlights Perry's physical performance not only in a football game, but also in his personal life. The headline states that "Ellyse Perry was kicked and punched while playing soccer and told she was too soft to play sports." Perry is represented as a "too sweet" and "glamorous" girl, which suggests that she has acquired the status not of an athlete but of a model. The audience is able to subconsciously agree with such a proposition even before reading the rest of the article. The opening paragraph further reinforces this view of Perry as "Australia's most marketable sportswoman". This convinces the reader to admire Perry because of his appearance instead of...... middle of paper...... Altau's article is more consistent with AJACE than the article by Rothfield. The media is in a very powerful position to set the agenda for discussions about sport. In the case of Ellyse Perry, the Australian media does not always take Perry's sporting achievements seriously. The Australian media chose to portray Perry as either a girl with "too soft glamour" or as an "all-around" respectable woman whose success was as much attributable to her personality as to her sporting achievements. In the future, it would be desirable to have more reports similar to the second Sydney Morning Herald article, as this report was unbiased, fair and contained an authentic portrayal of Ellyse Perry based on AJACE standards. Overall, a plausible portrayal of women, which is good for Perry.…