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MEDIA LITERACY AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE Strategies, Debates and Good Practices Guidelines for a Non Sexist Representation of Women Politicians in the Media Núria Fernandez Garcia Department of Journalism Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona nuria.fernandez@uab.cat Abstract Studies examining media coverage of politics have found female politicians to be disadvantaged as compared with their male counterparts, as women tend to attract lower overall attention and to receive less substantive coverage than men. Women politicians receive more coverage of their appearance and family, and less coverage of their position on issues than do male politicians. These differences can erode a woman politician’s credibility. Media should be aware of this fact. This paper presents a guidelines for a non sexist representation of women politicians in the media addressed to the media, the journalist professional associations and departments of communication studies in the universities. Keywords: Women politicians, media representation, guidelines 1. Introduction Different studies point out that while the entrance of female politicians into the political sphere is becoming more frequent, gender biases disseminated by the media are still significant (see Kittilson and Fridkin 2008). Because the media have become the public sphere in which the identity of the politician is constructed (see Ross 2000), those gender biases can have electoral consequences. Thus, gender differences in media coverage may influence women’s participation in public life, voters’ evaluations of male and female candidates, candidates’ choice of campaign strategies, and people’s view regarding women’s role in the political arena (Dolan 2004; Kahn 1994, 1996; Kittilson and Fridkin 2008; Norris 1997). Although some disparities exist between the different studies analyzing the relationship between gender and the news coverage a politician receives, there is a significant amount of research that suggests that the press covers men and women politicians differently. Some studies suggest that women receive less coverage and less prominent coverage relative to male candidates (Kahn 1992, 1994, 1996; Kahn and Goldenberg 1991; Trimble 2007); women receive less substantive coverage than do men (Aday and Devitt 2001; Braden 1996; Heldman, Carroll and Olson 2000); women’s viability as candidate contenders is often framed more negatively than men’s (Falk 2008; Fernandez 2010; Kahn 1994, 1996; Lawrence and Rose 2010); news reports on women leaders tend to 35
MEDIA LITERACY AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE Strategies, Debates and Good Practices focus on personal appearance than on issues (Braden 1996; Norris 1997; Ross 2000; Witt, Paget and Mattews 1994); women are more likely to have their titles (such as Senator or Representative) dropped and they are more often referred to by their first names or as ‘Ms.’ or ‘Mrs.’ (Falk 2008); women politicians are more likely to be described in terms of the personal traits associated with traditional ‘female’ stereotypes (Kahn 1994); media refer to women more informally than men (Baider 2007); the press discusses “female” issues more frequently when covering women politicians and reports “male” issues more extensively with men politicians (Kahn 1991, 1994; Kahn and Goldenberg 1991); news coverage is more likely to emphasize women politicians relation to powerful or influential men (Baider 2007; van Zoonen 2006); the press is more likely to cover women candidates as losers (Anderson 2002; Falk 2008); media use more highly charged language to report the speeches of female politicians (Gidengil and Everitt 2003); and, when men are quoted they are more often than women backing their statements with reasoning or evidence (Aday and Devitt 2001). 2. Visibility and Quality of the Coverage Earlier studies concluded that male politicians usually receive more press attention than women (Kahn 1992, 1994, 1996; Kahn and Goldenberg 1991; Norris 1997; Scharrer 2002; Serini, Powers and Johnson 1998). For example, Norris (1997) found that female Prime Ministers and Presidents received a smaller amount of press coverage in the week after their election than did equivalent male leaders. However, more recent works have showed that, as women have attained higher levels of representation over time, the amount of coverage has balanced (Atkesonn and Krebs 2007; Devitt 1999; Kittilson and Fridkin 2008) or even reversed to women’s advantage (Banwart, Bystrom, and Robertson 2003; Bystrom, Robertson and Banwart 2001; Trimble 2007). Quantity is important because if women receive less coverage they may enjoy less name recognition (Jalalzai 2006; Kahn and Goldenberg 1991), and the politicians who have less coverage are less likely to be recognized and be supported by the polls (Kahn 1996). But even if women do not receive less coverage than men, quality of coverage may differ. Different researches have found that women politicians are more likely to be identified in spousal or parental roles than men (Banwart, Bystrom and Robertson 2003; Falk 2008), the press coverage is more likely to focus on how women look and what they wear than do reports of men politicians, and media are more likely to focus on the age of a woman politician than a male politician (Braden 1996; Bystrom, Robertson and Banwart 2001; Falk 2008; Fernandez 2008). Falk (2008) also suggests that women are more likely to have their professional background dropped in news stories, so they are shown with less experience. With regard to gender, different studies show that the gender of women politicians is more likely mentioned than male’s (Bystrom, Robertson and Banwart 2001; Falk 2008; Gidengil and Everitt 1999; Heldman, Carroll and Olson 2000; Norris 1997). As Falk (2008) points out, this mention of women 36
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