NBC 5’s Peggy Kusinski says female sports reporters have come a long way

NBC 5's Peggy Kusinski shares her experiences as a female sports reporter in Chicago for over two decades. (Lena Blietz/ Medill)

By Lena Blietz

For Peggy Kusinski, being a woman shouldn’t be a defining characteristic in a career as a sports reporter.

“We’re all here now, we’re all doing the job. Let’s move past that, it’s been almost 50 years,” Kusinski said.

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Kusinksi offers advice for aspiring journalists, regardless of gender.

“I would say this to any men getting into the business as much as I would say it to any women. The way you carry yourself has a lot to do with how the people you are interviewing will react to you,” Kusinski said.

In 2015, only one in ten sport stories were produced by women, according to the Women’s Media Center. This is a seven percentage point drop from the previous year.

NBC 5’s Peggy Kusinski shares her experiences as a female sports reporter in Chicago for over two decades.(Lena Blietz/Medill)