Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2006
Capstone Advisor
Robert Lloyd
Honors Reader
William Glavin
Capstone Major
Magazine, Newspaper, and Online Journalism
Capstone College
Public Communications
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Creative
Subject Categories
Journalism Studies
Abstract
The involvement of women in athletics has exploded over the last 10 years. This project capitalizes on this changing dynamic by creating a prototype of a women’s college sports magazine called Players. No such magazine currently exists in the United States, but I believe there is a market for it among teenage female athletes who are interested in women’s college sports. Without Players, females have only male-dominated publications like Sports Illustrated or ESPN for general sports coverage, or they can read more female-friendly publications such as Shape and Fitness, which cater to an active lifestyle but do not cover sports. Women’s basketball fans can read Women’s Basketball, but it is a fairly obscure magazine that is hard to find, and it does only a mediocre job of covering women’s basketball and nothing more. Players, however, gives young female athletes and sports fans exactly what they are looking for in a magazine: NCAA news, player profiles, workout tips, fashion advice and entertainment.
Going into this project, it was called to my attention that this generation seeks its news in short and simple messages. With that in mind, I kept the articles relatively brief and used many graphic elements and bold colors to keep my readers visually interested. I also focused--within the five broad categories mentioned previously--on topics that would grab readers’ attentions and hold them there, such as sports-themed films and issues of sexuality, for example.
The goal of this magazine is to level the playing field between men’s and women’s sports coverage. Fans of men’s sports have a seemingly endless supply of magazines to reference, while women’s sports fans have only one. And no magazine provides a steady, in-depth view of women’s NCAA sports. I believe, however, the time has come for fans of women’s sports to have an equal opportunity to read and learn about their favorite teams and athletes, hence the creation of Players
Recommended Citation
Plotino, Stephanie, "PLAYERS The first magazine dedicated to young female athletes and women’s college sports fans." (2006). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 707.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/707
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