Synopses & Reviews
Gender is one of the primary fault lines running through contemporary American politics. The political agenda has become deeply polarized by such issues as affirmative action, abortion rights, and welfare reform. In short, gender politics, once regarded as marginal, has emerged as one of the core dividing lines in identifying politicians, parties, issues, and voters in America.
Not surprising, the way media covers gender politics has long been a matter of contention. The issue at the heart of this book is whether, as critics suggest, media coverage of women in America reinforces rather than challenges the dominant culture, thereby contributing towards women's marginalization in public life.
This collection of original essays by twenty-one top academics and journalists is the first book to systematically examine the impact of the media on women's power in America. It focuses on how the role of American women as citizens, political leaders, and feminist activists has been influenced by the media, for better or worse, in recent decades. Using multimethod approaches involving surveys, content analysis, focus groups, interviews, and personal experience, the authors analyze the role of women as journalists, the impact of campaign coverage, images of women in power, and coverage of women's movement and feminist policy issues.
Women, Media, and Politics will be an important resource for students interested in contemporary political and social debate.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-264) and index.
About the Author
Pippa Norris is a lecturer at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government where she also serves as Associate Director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.
Table of Contents
Notes on Contributors Introduction: Women, Media, and Politics Pippa NorrisPart I. Women as Journalists
1. Women as Journalists, David H. Weaver
2. What Difference do Women Journalists Make?, Kay Mills
Part II. Campaign Coverage
3. How Women Campaign For the U.S. Senate, Kim Fridkin Kahn and Ann Gordon
4. Running As a Woman: Gender Stereotyping in Women's Campaigns, Shanto Iyengar, Nicholas A. Valentino, Stephen Ansolabehere, and Adam F. Simon
5. A Gender Gap Among Viewers?, Montague Kern and Marion Just
6. Media Framing of The Gender Gap, Everett Carll Ladd
Part III. Changing Images of Women in Power
7. Media Coverage of Women in the 103rd Congress, Susan J. Carroll and Ronnee Schreiber
8. Women Leaders Worldwide: A Splash of Color in the Photo Op, Pippa Norris
9. The First Lady, Political Power, and the Media: Who Elected Her Anyway?, Betty Houchin Winfield
Part IV: Framing the Women's Movement, Feminism, and Public Policy
10. Feminists and Feminism in the News, Leonie Huddy
11. Framing The Women's Movement, Anne N. Costain, Richard Braunstein, and Heidi Berggren
12. Talk Radio and Gender Politics, Andrew Kohut and Kimberly Parker
13. How Can Media Coverage of Women be Improved?, Maurine H. Beasley
References
Index