Abbey Way: Channel 7 sports journalist hits back at sexist trolls
‘I usually leave this but I don’t want a bar of it today’: Channel 7 sports journalist Abbey Way has hit back at sexist trolls targeting her online, after a simple comment turned nasty.
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Sports journalist and Channel 7 personality Abbey Way has hit back at sexist trolls who belittled her online.
At just 29 the rising star has worked for Fox Sports and is currently a Channel 7 sports journalist hosting cricket, racing and soon AFL, not to mention being the granddaughter of Olympic gold medallist Herb Elliott and married to Fox Racing journalist Ben Way.
She has also been hand-picked to cover the Tokyo Olympics alongside the likes of Bruce McAvaney, Johanna Griggs, Mel McLaughlin and Hamish McLachlan.
It is safe to say she knows a thing or two about sports.
Yet when she left a simple comment of a crown emoji on a picture of Nathan Fyfe on Channel 7’s AFL Instagram page, that didn’t stop a group of men needlessly trolling her.
“Lady wants a Fyfe,” a commenter named Jameson Negri wrote, tagging four of his friends.
He then referred to her as a “bitty”, which is a slang term defined as “bitch, girl, woman, especially one that is promiscuous” and accused her of deleting his comments – something she would not even have the opportunity to do since it was not her post nor her page.
He wrote “got a blue tick and tryna censor me”, referring to Gelmi’s verified status on the platform.
Gelmi called out the men on her personal Instagram, writing “I usually leave this but I
don’t want a bar of it today. ‘Lady’ is a sports journo at the network that made this post AND a Freo (Fremantle) supporter. Grow up.”
The prevalence of sexism and misogyny against females in sport online reached a boiling point last year when an incredible action shot of AFLW star Tayla Harris mid kick attracted a disgusting array of comments from men.
At the time, poster Channel 7 chose to delete the image rather than address the behaviour of the commenters, which was widely criticised, but Harris took back the power when she reported the image herself with the caption “Here’s a pic of me at work … think about this before your derogatory comments, animals.”
Her actions have since been immortalised in a bronze statue and the moment proved to be a milestone for women’s sports and how female athletes are treated.
Since then Channel 7 have made efforts to closely moderate their comments and delete or ban sexist or depreciative comments, but many are still not getting the message.
Every post involving professional AFLW players attracts an array of negative remarks or others missing the point completely by complaining that their negative comment has been deleted.
However, for every negative comment there are many more comments or support, positivity or competitive spirit.
Originally published as Abbey Way: Channel 7 sports journalist hits back at sexist trolls
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