WOMEN IN THE ASSEMBLY: Representations of Female Assembly Members in the Welsh Press Weihua Ye PhD in Journalism Studies 2014 WOMEN IN THE ASSEMBLY: Representations of Female Assembly Members in the Welsh Press Thesis submitted for the award of PhD Weihua Ye 2014 Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies To Andrew, who is the love of my life To my aunt, who is a second mother to me To my beloved parents, who encouraged me to follow my dream DECLARATION This work has not been submitted in substance for any other degree or award at this or any other university or place of learning, nor is being submitted concurrently in candidature for any degree or other award. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date: 28th December, 2014 STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date: 28th December, 2014 STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. The views expressed are my own. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date: 28th December, 2014 STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available online in the University’s Open Access repository and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date: 28th December, 2014 STATEMENT 4: PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BAR ON ACCESS I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available online in the University’s Open Access repository and for inter-library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Academic Standards & Quality Committee. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date: 28th December, 2014 Acknowledgements First, and most of all, I wish to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Prof. Karin Wahl-Jorgensen at JOMEC at Cardiff University. I would not have been able to finish this project smoothly without her kind and outstanding guidance, and her patience and encouragement! Thank you so much for everything, Karin! I would also like to thank all my lecturers and friends at JOMEC who provided their precious advice and help during this research process. I want to extend my special thanks to Dr. Cindy Carter for her inspiration on this research topic. What’s more, I am deeply indebted to you, Cindy, for your support and insights all these years! I am also grateful to the late Dr. James Thomas for his insightful suggestions on my MA! And Dr. Paul Bowman and Dr. Andy Williams, I will not forget your kindness and help! Thank you also to Andrew Salkeld, Bill Riley and Shaun McCarthy for your valuable suggestions and language support! Of course, thanks also to Nick Mosdell for your insightful advice on the coding sheet and your help on SPSS. Many thanks to Cindy, Dr. Heather Savigny, Dr. John Jewell and Prof. Liesbet van Zoonen for reading my thesis and your invaluable suggestions! I am also grateful to Prof. Jenny Kitzinger for sending me your article on press coverage of women scientists, even before it was officially published. I am deeply indebted to all my friends at JOMEC who offered me their help both academically and personally. I am grateful to the 28 Welsh Assembly Members, and also Katie O’Brien, who participated in this research project and offered their valuable opinions and precious time. Thank you to all: Christine Chapman; Julie James; Julie Morgan; Jenny Rathbone; Leighton Andrews; Mick Antoniw; Jeff Cuthbert; Keith Davies; Mark Drakeford; Vaughan Gething; Suzy Davies; Janet Finch-Saunders; Antoinette Sandbach; Andrew RT Davies; Byron Davies; Paul Davies; Mark Isherwood; David Melding; Bethan Jenkins; Elin Jones; Leanne Wood; Dafydd Elis-Thomas; Lindsay Whittle; Alun Ffred Jones; Kirsty Williams; Eluned Parrott; William Powell and Aled Roberts. A big thank-you to all the people who’ve helped me throughout this research project, especially my second coder, Cheng Yingzhe, and two friends who offered their support and help during the interview-transcribing process. I am extremely grateful to you, Leighton and Paul! Thank you for helping me with the interview records! I also wish to say thanks to the librarians at various libraries, especially those working at Cardiff Central Library. Last, but certainly not least, I am truly grateful to Andrew and my family whose love and support is of great importance to me! iv Abstract This study highlights the significance of equal participation of men and women as central to the future health of politics and the democratic process in Wales. Following affirmative action taken by two major Welsh political parties, the National Assembly for Wales has been notable for the high level of female representation among its membership since the legislature was created in 1999. The large number of women in the Assembly is a unique phenomenon both politically and geographically. However, the question that remains unanswered is this: in spite of equal political representation in the Assembly, are men and women now treated equally and fairly by the Welsh press? This research is the first comparative study of press representations of men and women in a political institution that has an almost equal number of male and female representatives. It specifically attempts to examine how 12 Welsh newspapers portrayed female Assembly Members [AMs] during a three-month Welsh national election period as well as during a later three-month routine press coverage period. It draws on content and discourse analyses of the press coverage of over 3000 articles from about 1000 newspaper editions during the two periods studied. It is also based on data generated by in-depth interviews with 28 AMs from the current Assembly. This study shows that when there has been a relative equal participation of women in a political institution over a period, the gender issue initially remains noticeable and “business as usual”. However, over time, more complex media representations of male and female politicians have been observed and gender bias has gradually become less salient and controversial than before, both in colleagues’ perceptions of women politicians and in media representations, because gender parity has become a norm. I would argue that when affirmative action is taken, even for a brief period, to achieve a gender balance in political institutions such as the Welsh Assembly, then the participation of female politicians is gradually normalised over time. It also seems that the political culture changes both in terms of how media cover women and in terms of male and female politicians’ perception of the role of gender in the political process. In short – a temporary artificial push, to equalise representation between the genders, has resulted, in Wales, in dynamic changes in the culture of media coverage of women politicians and their capabilities, and in the nature of Assembly debate. It seems to be having a longer term impact on the culture of journalism, the experiences of female politicians and the attitudes of the public towards women politicians in that women continue to be elected despite the withdrawal of artificial election measures. v Contents Declaration………...…………………………………………………………………... iii Acknowledgements ………...…………………………………………………………..iv Abstract ………...…………………………………………………………………….…v Contents ………...……………………………………………………………………....vi List of Tables ………...……………………………………………………………....... xi CHAPTER 1 Introduction ………...………………………………………………………….…..........1 Background ………...……………………………………………………………….1 The History of the Welsh Press and Welsh Identity ………...……………............5 The Roles of Major Welsh English-Language Newspapers ………………..….... 6 Overview of the Research Project …...………………………………………..…...8 Chapter Outlines ………...…………………………………………………………10 CHAPTER 2 Literature Review ………...………………………………………………………….…14 Introduction: Outline and Initial Intention ………...…………………….……....14 Women and Politics: Representations of Women Politicians in the Media ………...…….……………..15 Public and Private Spheres ...…………………………………………………….15 Feminist Perspectives ………...…………………………………………………..19 (I) What is feminism?………...……………………………………………...……...19 (II) The History and Theories of Feminism………...………………………...…….21 Cultural Perspective: Women and the Media ………...………….……………..30 Representing Women Politicians in the News Media ………...………….……..35 Women Politicians in the UK ………...…………………………………………..40 Representations of Women Politicians in the UK Media ………...………...…..43 Welsh Perspective ………...………………………………………………..……..45 Conclusion ………...…………………………………………………………..….....46 vi CHAPTER 3 Methodology ………...…………………………………………………………….......... 49 Introduction ………...……………………………………………………………......49 12 Welsh English-language Newspapers and the Research Sample ………….…..50 Content Analysis of the Newspaper Texts and Images ………...…………...……..58 Discourse Analysis of the Newspaper Texts and Images ………...………..............63 In-depth Interviews………...…………………………………………………….….67 Conclusion ………...………………………………………………………………....70 CHAPTER 4 Overview of the Welsh Press Coverage of the Assembly Members …………..….…..72 Introduction ………...……………….……………………………………………....72 Research Scale ………...……………………………………………………....…….73 How extensive is the press coverage of the Assembly and its AMs? ……….….....75 I. Welsh Public’s Interest in Politics ………...………..………………………...….…75 II. Welsh Press Coverage of the National Assembly ………...……………………….79 1). Number of Articles in Each Issue