Gender, Party, and the Press: Media Coverage of the Second “Year of the Woman”
Press, Julia R.
2019
- The 2018 election cycle was marked by many as the second “Year of the Woman.” Much like in 1992, considered the first such “Year of the Woman,” issues of gender were on the political forefront in 2018, as a Supreme Court justice nominee faced allegations of sexual misconduct. More female candidates ran in 2018 than ever before, particularly in the Democratic party, suggesting the galvanizing ... read moreinfluence of this political climate. This study seeks to examine whether media coverage of candidates in 2018 was similarly affected by the gendered political climate, and whether coverage patterns varied by party, given the widespread anti-Trumpist midterm sentiment. I examined both the gender and party of the candidates being covered and of the sources covering them. My content analysis examined 745 articles covering three salient midterm races—the Georgia gubernatorial race and the Arizona and Tennessee Senate races. I concluded that in-depth media coverage of male and female candidates is more equitable and representative than previous studies have indicated. Female candidates received even more positive resource assessments and more male trait coverage than their male counterparts. Partisan coverage was driven more by party than by gender, though left-leaning outlets provided less issue-based coverage per article than their non-partisan and right-leaning counterparts. Male journalists tended to favor Republican candidates in their coverage and female journalists somewhat favored Democrats. Articles that focused on gender typically concentrated on female Democrats’ intersectional identities or the conflicting cues female Republican candidates send to voters.read less
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- pz50h841m
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