Still on the Beaten Path
HIJ18210.1177/1940161212473508The 473508International Journal of Press/PoliticsDan and Iorgoveanu Research Article The International Journal of Press/Politics 18(2) 208 –233 Still On the Beaten Path: © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permission: How Gender Impacted the sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1940161212473508 Coverage of Male and Female ijpp.sagepub.com Romanian Candidates for European Office Viorela Dan1 and Aurora Iorgoveanu2 Abstract This study discusses variations in the media coverage of the most prominent male and female EP candidates from Romania in the four weeks leading up to Election Day (May 8 to June 7, 2009). The verbal- and visual-framing analyses conducted focus on the visibility of these candidates, their viability (horse-race frame), and the balance between issue-related coverage (issue frame) and gendered coverage (trivialization frame). Our sample encompasses 249 news stories from the web sites of the most influential broadsheets and tabloids in Romania, namely, Cancan, Evenimentul Zilei, Gândul, and Libertatea. The results point toward a gender bias on the part of media. Whereas women dominated the tabloid outlets, men were featured prominently in the broadsheets. The trivialization and the issue frames appeared more often for female candidates, whereas the results for the horse-race frame were mixed. While factors other than gender (such as experience) might have influenced the coverage of these particular candidates, it is still too early to proclaim equal treatment in the media, especially since women were considered unable to deal with the issues they were linked to. Keywords media framing, gender, media bias, Eastern Europe 1Free University of Berlin, Germany 2National School of Political and Administrative Studies, Bucharest, Romania Corresponding Author: Viorela Dan, Institute for Media and Communication Studies, Free University of Berlin, Garystrasse 55, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
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