Women War Correspondents: Three Generations on the Frontlines or the Sidelines? A content analysis of the newspaper coverage written by leading American women correspondents in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and Iraq wars by MELISSA FENNELL, B.A. A thesis submitted to The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of (Master of Arts) School of Journalism and Mass Communication Carle ton University, O ttaw a, ON © copyright 2005 Melissa Fennell Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Library and Bibliotheque et Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-16423-5 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-16423-5 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. i * i Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract Using detailed case studies of newspaper articles written during the Vietnam, Persian Gulf, and Iraq wars this study provides a content analysis of the work of three generations of women war correspondents to identify any links, similarities or differences that can be found in their coverage. Specifically, the primary aspect of coverage, news frames and use of sources are examined. The complex relationship between the American military and media and the gendered nature of the journalism profession are also considered in an effort to understand how the professional experiences of these women could have influenced the coverage they produced. Overall, this thesis aims to generate further dialogue, within the field of academic media history, about the contributions and experiences of female war correspondents over the years. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements This project would not have come to fruition had it not been for the thoughtful guidance of my supervisor, Dr. Barbara Freeman. Thank you for allowing me to shape this project as I envisioned it. Your words of advice, source suggestions and diligent editing are much appreciated. Thanks also goes to Dr. Kirsten Kozolanka, Dr. Deborah Gorham and Dr. Ross Eaman for providing a thoughtful and engaging environment in which I could discuss my research. To my colleagues and friends in the MA programme; Angela, Matt, Lee- Anne, Cathy, Kathleen and Tyler, I am so grateful for the laughter and memories that we have shared during this crazy adventure that is graduate studies. Thank you for being a part of my journey. To Cindy Kardash-Lalonde of the Reader’s Digest Resource Centre for keeping me company and sane as I attempted to research and write this thesis during one of the hottest summers in Ottawa’s history. My gratitude also goes to Paul Heyer, Penelope Ironstone-Catterall and Herbert Pimlott of the Department of Communication Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, three wonderful academic mentors and friends, who instilled in me a love of communication scholarship and believed that I could contribute something valuable to it. To the many wonderful people I am blessed to know in my ‘other’ life outside of academia, particularly Amanda, Maggie, Kelly, Marci, Liz and Brittan. Thank you for always encouraging my pursuits. Finally, to my wonderful parents, Neil and Connie Fennell, who somehow always manage to have an endless supply of support, encouragement, and love to offer. Thank you for always believing in me and my dreams. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Title Page Abstract Acknowledgments iii Table of Contents iv Introduction 1 Chapter One 17 News Cultures, Military Culture, Gendered Culture Chapter Two 34 Media, War, and Women Journalists Chapter Three 71 Methodology Chapter Four 95 Discussion Chapter Five 138 Conclusion Tables of Data Table 1: Primary Topic & Aspect of Coverage / Correspondent 147 Table 2: Primary Topic & Aspect of Coverage / War Table 3: Primary News Frames / Correspondent 148 Table 4: Primary News Frame / War Table 5:Source Occupation & Credentials/Correspondent 159 Table 6: Source Gender / War Table 7: Source Occupation& Credentials & Gender/Correspondent 150 Appendices Appendix A: Sample Coding Sheet 151 Appendix B: Sample Coding Calculation Sheet 152 Lists of Articles Elizabeth Pond 153 Gloria Emerson 155 Molly Moore 157 Elizabeth Neuffer 159 Kirsten Scharnberg 161 Katherine Skiba 163 Bibliography 165 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Introduction Today, media consumers have come to expect real-time war coverage, delivered to them as it happens, thanks to extensive advances in print, broadcast and multi-media on the Internet. While the technology that makes it all possible is relatively new, the audiences’ desire to know is not. Indeed, they have clamored for updates and information on the wars and conflicts which have raged around the globe. Recognizing this demand for news of the ‘theatre of war’, and their competition’s willingness to meet that demand, journalists have risked their lives to report stories from international battlefields. While the stories that they tell, and the images that they capture, have played a pivotal part in the history of journalism, the work of war correspondents, particularly the women, is seldom adequately acknowledged within that history. It is because of this obvious gender gap in the history of war reporting that this project centers around research questions focused on women’s experiences reporting war. Specifically, this thesis asks how do women war correspondents cover war and what factors could account for, or contribute to, similarities or differences in the print coverage provided by three generations of female correspondents? In order to answer these questions this project examines the coverage produced by six accomplished American women reporters, each reporting for a large to mid-sized American daily newspaper during the Vietnam, Persian Gulf or 2003 Iraq wars, to assess the kinds of coverage they provided and evaluate the impact their work could have on a larger academic media history of women 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 war correspondents. The work of Elizabeth Pond ofThe Christian Science Monitor, Gloria Emerson of The New York Times, , Molly Moore of The Washington Post, Elizabeth Neuffer of The Boston Globe, Kirsten Scharnberg of The Chicago Tribune and Katherine Skibaof The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and is examined using qualitative analysis and a coding system that is explained in chapter three. This thesis argues that during the Vietnam, Persian Gulf and Iraq wars these six correspondents produced a wide variety of coverage, including stories that fell outside of the traditional feminine domain of ‘soft’ news, cited few female sources, and that the coverage they produced, and their overall experiences of reporting war, was the result of several factors. It was found that these factors could include the restrictions placed on them during the conflict by the government and military, the military’s attitude towards women at the time and the political outlook and gendered nature of the newspapers they worked for as well as their adherence to particular kinds of news values. These findings are substantiated by evidence found through a detailed content analysis which is explained in the methodology chapter of this thesis. In order to assess what factors could account for the similarities, differences, and links in the kinds of coverage produced by three generations of war correspondents this research borrows from several theoretical approaches in mass communication,