Associate Professor at St Mary’s University, Twickenham (SMU) Dr Daragh Minogue has presented the first Sport Media & Identity Network report at the D Word Conference.
The D Word Conference is the biggest diversity conference in the sports media, taking place at Stamford Bridge earlier this week. The conference saw 200 guests invited including current director of BBC Sport, Alex Kay-Jelski.
Current and former students from St Mary’s were also in attendance at the home of Chelsea Football Club .
Recommendations for Improving Diversity in Sports Journalism (2024) is the first Sport Media & Identity Network report to be published and has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
The report is the cumulative work from four one-day conferences hosted at different universities across the UK between 2022 and 2024. These included St Mary’s University, Northumbria University, Loughborough University, and Sheffield Hallam University, where academics and journalists from North America and Europe shared their research and professional experience.
Speaking on the Sport Media & Identity Network Dr Daragh Minogue said, “The aim of the network is to help build a more diverse and inclusive sports media. We hope this will be the first of several impact events where we see industry leaders implement our recommendations.”
The network is chaired by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
The D Word aims to connect senior executives from the sports media industry with EDI experts, experienced professionals, and emerging journalists. The conference places diversity firmly on the agenda for the industry’s key decision makers while evaluating progress made in this critical area over the past decade.
