Women in baseball: roundtable on sports media in wake of Jared Porter scandal

Now former Mets GM Jared Porter was recently implicated in a sexual harassment scandal, sending a number of lewd and explicit pictures and text messages to a foreign reporter in 2016 — when he was working in the Cubs front office. The Mets fired Porter soon after ESPN reported the scandal, and the Cubs are conducting an investigation. But is that enough, and why is the sports media environment historically conducive to this behavior? NBCS Cubs reporter Maddie Lee is joined by a panel of veteran women sports journalists in Hall of Fame baseball writer Claire Smith, ABC7 Chicago’s Dionne Miller, WBEZ’s Cheryl Raye-Stout, and FOX 10 Phoenix’s Siera Santos. The group discusses the Porter scandal and share stories of their experiences in a male-dominated field.

(3:10) - Reactions to Jared Porter's actions with the Cubs in 2016

(8:30) - Progression in locker rooms today. Player behavior has improved over the years from where it was in the early days of women sports reporting

(15:00) - Examples of players/management misbehaving in locker rooms and on the beat towards women journalists

(22:00) - Advice to young women about sports journalism and how they might be unfairly perceived compared to their male counterparts

(29:50) - Personal stories of media members and teams backing women who were scared or didn't know what to do.

(33:20) - What will come from the MLB and Cubs Porter investigations and how can the sports industry improve its work environment?