(Dear Toronto Star)
I am writing to convey my extreme disappointment with the Star's coverage of the Olympics, especially the events of Wednesday February 24. Canadian women won no fewer than four medals that day - an outstanding result by any measure. And yet, the front page of thestar.com featured a large photo of the men's quarterfinal hockey game, and a prominent article about the Russian team's response to the game.
The women's results were buried in two much smaller photographs - not only below the fold, but below Rosie DiManno's degrading column "Best Babes of the Games."
At 12:52 pm, I checked thestar.com again, only to find that the women's medal results had been bumped off the front page entirely, while the hockey picture - and the "Best Babes" column - remained.
The visual impact of this layout is that men's sports are more important than women's, no matter the result, and no matter if a medal was even awarded for the game. Not only that, but these women should first be prized for their beauty, and only then recognized for their athletic achievement.
There is more to these games than the men, and there is more to these Games than hockey. Women have won 11 of 15 Canadian medals to date, and they are still reduced to "Best Babes" status, far less important than a men's quarterfinal hockey game. This kind of reporting does a disservice not only to all of our Olympic athletes, but also to the credibility of the Star itself as an unbiased news source.
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I'm furious about this. Bad enough that the women's athletic results rank below the men's, but to then place them below a "Best Babes" column is really outrageous. The really sad thing, though, is that it's not just the Star doing it - newspapers across the country are displaying this same layout. (Minus at least the "Best Babes," anyway...)
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