Date of Award
12-2009
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Departmental Honors
Department
Political Science
Abstract
Media coverage in political campaigns helps shape public opinion and can be a factor in people determining how to vote. Thus, bias evident in the coverage of political candidates should be a concern for a society which values fair elections. In the 2008 general election, for the first time in 24 years, a woman was on a major party ticket. The treatment of female candidates historically has been sexist. To understand the media coverage of Sarah Palin I chose to look at editorials in The New York Times. I compared her editorial references to Joe Biden’s in The Times. Then, to better understand the 2008 coverage and the treatment of gender in political campaigns, I analyzed the 1984 election. I read the editorials about Geraldine Ferraro and George Bush Sr. I looked specifically at the number of editorials which covered the candidates and how they were framed by The Times in those editorials. As a result of this research I found that the women were treated differently from the male candidates. They received substantially more coverage and were framed by their gender. The implication of these differences is that the women will have a more difficult time getting elected.
Recommended Citation
Reeves, Katherine Shaunesi, "Media Gender Bias in the 1984 and 2008 Vice Presidential Elections" (2009). Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects. 32.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/honors/32
Included in
Copyright for this work is retained by the student. If you have any questions regarding the inclusion of this work in the Digital Commons, please email us at .
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Damon Cann