Suchergebnisse

While feminism is a heterogeneous and complex ideological perspective, mainstream news media have routinely portrayed it in simplistic terms and as social deviance. Within a context of increasing visibility of public women in the political arena in the United States – many of them self-proclaimed feminists – this study examines and illustrates the ideological struggle for defining 'feminism' in mediated discourse. A textual analysis of more than 200 US news websites stories from 2007 to 2011 shows how this struggle for meaning centers on women in the political public sphere. In doing so, this article addresses the consequences of such coverage for women and gender equality.

Empirical and anecdotal evidence shows that the news media are male-dominated. This study updates the extant literature on women's representation in the op-ed pages of ten U.S. newspapers. A content analysis showed that female authors are moving beyond topics traditionally linked to females and are writing columns on topics such as politics and economy. However, they remain a minority, and, thus, women's voices have yet to gain more visibility in the world of opinion writing in U.S. journalism.

Using indexing theory as a framework, this content analysis of 2003–2007 Time coverage explores the range of dissenting voices of the war in news dialogue. Findings show that war criticism remained constant throughout the years and was largely targeted toward the Bush administration. While most dissent originated from official sources, American and Iraqi civilians did have space to voice their dissatisfaction. Journalists themselves became increasingly vocal in their condemnation of the war. These results suggest that clashes between public opinion and official perspectives have implications in news coverage and promotion of debate about current affairs.