Equity in Sports Broadcasting Wins USCB's First Southeast Emmy Student Production Award
USCB alumna, video producer and soccer player Sophia Peach has won the university’s first Southeast Emmy Student Production Award for Live Sporting Event/Game. The Southeast Student Production Awards encourages the pursuit of excellence in video production and focuses public attention on outstanding achievements produced by students.
Peach (Class of 2022, Communication Studies) entered her Capstone project entitled “Play Like A Girl: An Equitable Sports Broadcasting Production of USCB vs. Ave Maria Softball Game.” She worked with Associate Professor of Communications Dr. Caroline Sawyer and USCB’s Sports Information Department to complete her research project and digital production.
Peach’s project looked at disparities in media production techniques for coverage of men’s and women’s sporting events. In the abstract accompanying her video, she asks, “Men’s and women’s sports are portrayed differently by the media. Is this because the production team does not use the same level production techniques for women as they do for men?”
To highlight what equitable media coverage at the collegiate level would look like, Peach produced a USCB women’s softball game implementing player graphics, packages, and different camera angles — all common techniques in coverage of men’s sports to make games more exciting.
"I'm so proud of Sophia Peach and the work that she has done," said Sawyer. “Over the course of our program and her time her at USCB, Sophia has grown into a very skilled and sought-after video producer. This award is a recognition of her skill and what we are doing here."
The former Sand Shark soccer player also presented “Play Like a Girl” at USCB’s 2022 Student Research and Scholarship Day, where she won the event’s social justice award and earned first-place honors in the Descriptive category.
Sophia Peach (Class of 2022, Communication Studies), won USCB’s first Southeast Emmy Student Production Award for her video production entitled “Play Like A Girl: An Equitable Sports Broadcasting Production of USCB Softball vs. Ave Maria.”
