'Taxing And Thankless': Journalist's Thread On Covering Women's Cricket is an Eye-opener

It comes as a harsh truth that the Indian female cricket team does not have the same fan base as their male counterparts. The reason, however, is not known. Elaborating on the same, freelance journalist Annesha Ghosh shared a detailed Twitter thread about the realities of covering women’s cricket in India. She has deemed it as a “thankless, taxing, financially unrewarding,” job. She mentions how only a few journalists have gone out of their way to cover women’s cricket in person. “It often involves giving up days off/voluntarily working extra hours/shelling out of one’s own pocket to be able to document matches/stories first-hand,” she wrote.

She further mentioned how most cricketers who are part of the national mix, and even their families, know who these journalists are and acknowledge their effort. “And it’s important I mention this because when all else seems futile, it’s only their stories AND humility that keep the journalists going,” she wrote. Have a look:

The journalist further talked about how over the years she has noticed that the majority of India’s women cricketers are as welcoming towards newcomers in this space as they are towards those they’ve seen for years. However, it majorly depends largely on the honesty of the journalists’ work and intent.

In the end, she highlighted how she has written all of this after seeing an industry colleague’s “work being used without authorisation – journalistically and financially massively unfair -on the pretext of an effort being made to promote the women’s game.”

The thread has gone viral and has garnered tons of responses. Tbh, we have never given serious thought to the careers of women in sports though they have made an enormous contribution. It’s a case of sexism in India as well. Things are changing. Awareness campaigns could be of help. But, Govt. has to make an enormous effort. Have a look at Tanzania,” commented a Twitter user.

Another person wrote, “Thanks for doing this thankless job.. those of us who support women’s cricket and the Indian women’s team are indebted to you and that’s the simple truth… Wishing you the best!”

What are your thoughts on the same?

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