Empowering Women’s Sport & Journalism | Jess Hayden | #9

Jess Hayden is the editor of Contested, an app that empowers sports fans to help athletes get the recognition they deserve. She is a former women’s rugby journalist and digital sports sub-editor at The Times and The Sunday Times. In March 2024, Jess published her first book, The Red Roses: Behind the scenes with the England Women’s Rugby team, offering an in-depth look at one of the world’s most successful women’s sports teams.

Jess has a history of breaking agenda-setting exclusives in women’s rugby and played a key role in the Sportswomen of the Year Awards from 2020, becoming the lead reporter for the prestigious event in 2023. She also had a weekly segment on The Ruck, The Times’ rugby podcast, and hosted her own series during the Women’s Rugby World Cup. Jess has also written for titles such as World Rugby, The Guardian, the British and Irish Lions and more. She even served as BBC Radio 2’s NFL correspondent for the 2020 Super Bowl.

Jess completed an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Government at Swansea University, before staying on to complete a master’s degree in International Journalism. She was Vice President of Women’s Rugby and served on the university’s rugby board.

In episode nine of JournoCast, Jess discusses the process of writing her book and how she nearly lost the deal after England lost to New Zealand in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final. She also shares insights from her work on The Times’ sports desk and her experiences as a female journalist in the industry.

➡️JournoCast brings you stories from those who live and breathe the media landscape on a daily basis, shining a light on their hard work and providing insight into their roles and motivations⬅️

#rugby #england #journocast

🎶 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6DzK...

Check out Jess on X: https://x.com/_JessHayden

Visit Contested: https://contested.com/

You can find her book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Roses-Be...

✅ Feel free to get in touch via the comments or below:

X: https://x.com/MrLewisThompson
Instagram:   / journocast  
Email: [email protected]

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction

00:39 - Jess’ book: The Red Roses

03:52 - How Jess nearly lose her book deal

05:34 - How The Red Roses came together

07:42 - In camp with the England Women’s Rugby team

09:42 - Jess’ ‘surreal experience’ with England rugby

12:07 - Jess’ involvement with journalism

13:57 - How Jess got into The Times

16:22 - First full-time job at Times Sport

18:27 - Gender bias in the industry

22:40 - How can Journalism do better?

25:32 - Leaving The Times / Contested

31:42 - Jess’ advice

32:47 - Importance of grassroots sport