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Researching L O B A L gender and politics M E D I A

A hands-on analytical research project simulation M O N I T O R T I N G

P R O J E C T

GMMP@Soc&Kom Researching gender, politics and the media: Case Marin

This resource offers an opportunity to engage the students with a full-fledged quantitative and qualitative content analysis, with original material. The resource can be used as a course-long illustration and discussion prompt for journalism, political science, or gender studies course, or as one example in a methods-oriented course.

The Case Marin entails over 150 international news stories on the Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, from her nomination in December 2019 to the end of October 2020.

The resource includes: Background brief on the topic (in this handout) Coding scheme (in this handout) "Close-up": link to 11 key stories for qualitative analysis (in this handout) All the stories coded (as a separate Excel file) Background Brief: "Crisis, Politics and Gender, Case Finland"

“We used to be famous for Nokia. She’s the new Nokia,” says Anna-Liina Kauhanen, a reporter and columnist for Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s leading daily newspaper.

- Rachel Donadio, How a Millennial Prime Minister Is Leading Finland Through Crisis, The Vogue UK, 1 April 2020

In December 2019, Finland received a burst of global media publicity when Ms. Sanna Marin, a Social Democrat, became the youngest prime minister in the world. While Sebastian Kurz of Austria claimed the title a month later, stories on Marin continued to appear, not only leading with her age but with a keen focus on gender. The media publicity was accentuated with stories of five women occupying key ministries in the new government.

The first month of her cabinet that was formed in the midst of a crisis: The previous PM, Mr. Rinne, stepped down after losing confidence over his handling of a postal strike.

Then the corona pandemic brought about another crisis of both national and global magnitude of which has been unprecedented in recent history. PM Marin and her cabinet faced an unexpected and unprecedented challenge. At the same time, Marin had become an international celebrity of sorts, a Millennial influencer who navigates her country through rough times. She has joined the handful of young, strong female politicians who make headlines around the world.

How does the international press depict PM Marin, What gendered themes emerge in the coverage of PM Marin, in the context of the crisis? What can the case reveal about journalism and gender, globally? What themes are internationally intriguing? How can the case inform research around gender, politics, and journalism; in particular in the context of crises?

This research material – international news collected from Google News from 9 December 2021 through 30 October 2020 – prompts you to analyze and discover themes and patterns of international news coverage. You can also use the global GMMP analyses to discover if and how the portrayal of PM Marin reflects broader patterns of politicians in the news. "Close-Up": A collection of stories

This list includes 11 examples of the international coverage on PM Marin, one per month between December 2019 and October 2020.

Please consider not only the content but the context. How may the medium and/or its country of origin shape the content, style, and tone of the story? Does a particular story represent a typical story or is it atypical – and in what way (based on the quantitative analysis)? What can you learn from a qualitative close reading of the stories vs. quantitative analysis?

1. December. CNN: Finland's Sanna Marin to become world's youngest prime minister at 34 2. January. India Times: Meet the PM of Finland Sanna Marin, a complete fashionista 3. February. Ms Magazine: Women and Politics: The Uphill Battle for the Top Job 4. March. Vogue UK: Sanna Marin, The Youngest Prime Minister In The World, Talks Sexism, Imposter Syndrome, and Sustainability 5. April. The Guardian: Are female leaders more successful at managing the coronavirus crisis? 6. May. Irish Times: Women leaders are doing better, but not for the reason you might think 7. June. Style: Meet Sanna Marin – Finland’s female millennial prime minister, from an LGBT family, leading the war on coronavirus 8. July. BBC: Coronavirus: Big choices for EU leaders on recovery billions 9. August. Sky News: Finland's prime minister Sanna Marin 'happy and grateful' as she marries partner 10. September. Jacobin: Finland Is Rallying Around a Six-Hour Workday — And So Should We 11. October. Daily Mail: Is it OK for female leaders to look sexy? As Finnish PM Sanna Marin poses in a blazer with nothing underneath, two writers give their opposing views

Coding Grid

Medium 09 News media 10 Magazine 11 Other

Language 02 Swedish 03 English 04 Other

Origin of the story 01 Finland 02 Sweden 03 USA 04 UK 05 Europe 05 Other

Size of the story (in relation to other stories in the same publication) 01 Large 02 Mid-size 03 Small 04 Other

Type of story 01 News 02 Commentary 03 News + commentary 04 Portrait 05 Other

Source 01 Own editorial unit 02 Domestic news agency 03 Foreign news agency or media 04 Free-lance 05 Other 06 No source named

Coding Grid

Marin: Role (1) 01 Professional (PM, professional politician) 02 Actor or member of a group (e.g., women ministers) 03 Marin’s career and other personal aspects 04 Marin’s childhood (e.g., poverty, parents) 05 Reportage on another story on Marin (Finnish) 06 Reportage on another story on Marin (foreign) 07 Marin not the main actor 08 Other

Marin: Role (2, if several roles) 01 Professional (PM, professional politician) 02 Actor or member of a group (e.g., women ministers) 03 Marin’s career and other personal aspects 04 Marin’s childhood (e.g., poverty, parents) 05 Reportage on another story on Marin (Finnish) 06 Reportage on another story on Marin (foreign) 07 Marin not the main actor 08 Other

Marin: Role (3, if several roles) 01 Professional (PM, professional politician) 02 Actor or member of a group (e.g., women ministers) 03 Marin’s career and other personal aspects 04 Marin’s childhood (e.g., poverty, parents) 05 Reportage on another story on Marin (Finnish) 06 Reportage on another story on Marin (foreign) 07 Marin not the main actor 08 Other

T H E

G

Researching L O B A L

gender and politics M E D I A

M O N I T O R T I N G

P R O J E C T

GMMP@Soc&Kom