Women, Media and Politics

Gender is one of the primary fault lines running through contemporary American politics. The political agenda has become deeply polarized by such issues as affirmative action, abortion rights, and welfare reform. In short, gender politics, once regarded as marginal, has emerged as one of the core dividing lines in identifying politicians, parties, issues, and voters in America. Not surprising, the way media covers gender politics has long been a matter of contention. The issue at the heart of this book is whether, as critics suggest, media coverage of women in America reinforces rather than challenges the dominant culture, thereby contributing towards women's marginalization in public life. This collection of original essays by twenty-one top academics and journalists is the first book to systematically examine the impact of the media on women's power in America. It focuses on how the role of American women as citizens, political leaders, and feminist activists has been influenced by the media, for better or worse, in recent decades. Using multimethod approaches involving surveys, content analysis, focus groups, interviews, and personal experience, the authors analyze the role of women as journalists, the impact of campaign coverage, images of women in power, and coverage of women's movement and feminist policy issues. Women, Media, and Politics will be an important resource for students interested in contemporary political and social debate.

Table of Contents:
Notes on Contributors Introduction: Women, Media, and PoliticsPippa Norris: Part I. Women as Journalists 1: David H. Weaver: Women as Journalists 2: Kay Mills: What Difference do Women Journalists Make? Part II. Campaign Coverage 3: Kim Fridkin Kahn and Ann Gordon: How Women Campaign For the U.S. Senate 4: Shanto Iyengar, Nicholas A. Valentino, Stephen Ansolabehere, and Adam F. Simon: Running As a Woman: Gender Stereotyping in Women's Campaigns 5: Montague Kern and Marion Just: A Gender Gap Among Viewers? 6: Everett Carll Ladd: Media Framing of The Gender Gap Part III. Changing Images of Women in Power 7: Susan J. Carroll and Ronnee Schreiber: Media Coverage of Women in the 103rd Congress 8: Pippa Norris: Women Leaders Worldwide: A Splash of Color in the Photo Op 9: Betty Houchin Winfield: The First Lady, Political Power, and the Media: Who Elected Her Anyway? Part IV: Framing the Women's Movement, Feminism, and Public Policy 10: Leonie Huddy: Feminists and Feminism in the News 11: Anne N. Costain, Richard Braunstein, and Heidi Berggren: Framing The Women's Movement 12: Andrew Kohut and Kimberly Parker: Talk Radio and Gender Politics 13: Maurine H. Beasley: How Can Media Coverage of Women be Improved? References Index

About the Author :
Pippa Norris is a lecturer at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government where she also serves as Associate Director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

Review :
"Great textbook. I have used it for several semesters."--Pat Washington, San Diego State University "Women, Media, and Politics is an ideal reader for the interdisciplinary study of women and American media and politics. I recommend the text for use in gender studies, communication, and political science courses, and I look forward to using it."--Jean M. Ward, Lewis and Clark College "This is an outstanding collection of readings that are current and on an important area of public policy. They should prove to be a catalyst for classroom discussion."--Dr. Robert Langran, Villanova University "A realistic appraisal of what women candidates face as they meet the press which are more likely to focus on one woman doing something outlandish than a lot of women doing something historic."--Anita Perez Ferguson, President of the National Women's Political Caucus "This latest collection edited by Norris includes works by some of the finest media and gender scholars in the US....Everett Ladd's clearly written and intelligently argued chapter on how the media talk about the gender gap is especially commendable. In the final section, Andrew Kohut and Kimberly Parker have a strong piece on gender and talk-back radio....The good articles are so good that students and scholars alike will want this collection for their own." -- hoice