Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T21:05:48.038Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Testing the Saturday Night Live Hypothesis: Fairness and Bias in Newspaper Coverage of Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2010

Melissa K. Miller ,
Jeffrey S. Peake  and
Brittany Anne Boulton
Melissa K. Miller
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University
Jeffrey S. Peake
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University
Brittany Anne Boulton
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Studies of press coverage afforded women running for public office indicate that historically, women tend to garner less coverage overall and that the coverage they do receive tends to focus disproportionately on their appearance, personality, and family status at the expense of their qualifications and issue positions. This study examines newspaper coverage of U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Notably, Clinton did not allege that she was receiving too little coverage or coverage that focused disproportionately on her clothing or appearance. Rather, she charged that she was being treated negatively relative to her chief rival, U.S. Senator Barack Obama. More than 6,000 articles from 25 leading newspapers from across the country were content-coded from Labor Day through Super Tuesday in order to assess Clinton's coverage on two dimensions: traditional and tonal. On a range of traditional indicators of bias, such as coverage amount and mentions of candidate appearance, Clinton's coverage clearly broke established patterns typically afforded women presidential candidates. However, the tone of Clinton's coverage was decidedly negative relative to her male competitors. Normative implications of this mixed bag of fairness and bias are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 169 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aday, Sean, and Devitt, James. 2001. “Style over Substance: Newspaper Coverage of Elizabeth Dole's Presidential Bid.” Press/Politics 6 (2): 52–73.Google Scholar
Alexander, Deborah, and Andersen, Kristi. 1993. “Gender as a Factor in the Attribution of Leadership Traits.” Political Research Quarterly 46 (3): 527–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldrich, John H. 1980. Before the Convention: Strategies and Choices in Presidential Nomination Campaigns. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Karrin Vasby. 1999. “Rhymes with ‘Rich,’ ‘Bitch’ as a Tool of Containment in Contemporary American Politics.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 2 (3): 599–623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Karrin Vasby. 2002. “From Spouses to Candidates: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, and the Gendered Office of U.S. President.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 5 (1): 105–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, Andrew W., and Barrington, Lowell W.. 2005. “Bias in Newspaper Photograph Selection.” Political Research Quarterly (4): 609–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, Andrew W., and Peake, Jeffrey S.. 2007. “When the President Comes to Town: Examining Local Newspaper Coverage of Domestic Presidential Travel.” American Politics Research 35 (1): 3–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartels, Larry M. 1985. “Expectations and Preferences in Presidential Nominating Campaigns.” American Political Science Review 79 (3): 804–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braden, Maria. 1996. Women Politicians in the Media. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press.Google Scholar
Bystrom, Dianne G., Banwart, Mary Christine, Kaid, Lynda Lee, and Robertson, Terry A.. 2004. Gender and Candidate Communication: VideoStyle, WebStyle, NewsStyle. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bystrom, Dianne G., Robertson, Terry A., and Banwart, Mary Christine. 2001. “Framing the Fight.” American Behavioral Scientist 44 (12): 1999–2013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, Susan, and Schreiber, Ronnee. 1997. “Media Coverage of Women in the 103rd Congress.” In Women, Media and Politics, ed. Norris, Pippa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 131–48.Google Scholar
Clinton, Hillary Rodham. 2003. Living History. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
CMPA (Center for Media and Public Affairs). 2008. “Election Watch '08: The Primaries / How TV News Covered the GOP and Democratic Primaries.” Media Monitor 22 (1): 1–7.Google Scholar
Connell, R.W. 1995. Masculinities. Cambridge, UK: Polity.Google Scholar
Duerst-Lahti, Georgia. 2006. “Presidential Elections: Gendered Space and the Case of 2004.” In Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics, ed. Carroll, Susan J. and Fox, Richard L.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 12–42.Google Scholar
Duerst-Lahti, Georgia. 2008. “Seeing What Has Always Been”: Opening Study of the Presidency. PS: Political Science and Politics 41 (4): 733–38.Google Scholar
Estrich, Susan. 2005. The Case for Hillary Clinton. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Falk, Erika. 2008. Women for President: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Fiske, Susan T., Bergsieker, Hilary B., Russell, Ann Marie, and Williams, Lyle. 2009. “Images of Black Americans: Then, ‘Them,’ and Now, ‘Obama!’” DuBois Review: Social Science Research on Race 6 (1): 83–101.Google ScholarPubMed
Gallup, Alec, and Newport, Frank. 2006. The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 2005. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Gentzkow, Matthew, and Shapiro, Jesse M.. 2006. “Media Bias and Reputation.” Journal of Political Economy 114 (2): 280–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graber, Doris A. 2006. Mass Media and American Politics. 7th ed.Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Graf, Joseph. 2008. “New Media – The Cutting Edge of Campaign Communications.” In Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, ed. Semiatin, Richard J.. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 48–68.Google Scholar
Hayes, Andrew F., and Krippendorff, Klaus. 2007. “Answering the Call for a Standard Reliability Measure for Coding Data.” Communication Methods and Measures 1 (1): 77–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heldman, Caroline, Carroll, Susan J., and Olson, Stephanie. 2005. “She Brought Only a Skirt.” Political Communication 22 (3): 315–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, and Terkildsen, Nayda. 1993a. “The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office.” Political Research Quarterly 46 (3): 503–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, and Terkildsen, Nayda 1993b. “Gender Stereotypes and the Perception of Male and Female Candidates.” American Journal of Political Science 37 (1): 119–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jalalzai, Farida. 2006. “Women Candidates and the Media: 1992–2000 Elections.” Politics & Policy 34 (3): 606–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. 1995. Beyond the Double Bind: Women and Leadership. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamieson, Kathleen Hall, and Waldman, Paul. 2003. The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories That Shape the Political World. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kahn, Kim Fridkin. 1992. “Does Being Male Help? An Investigation of Gender and Media Effects in U.S. Senate Races.” Journal of Politics 54 (2): 497–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahn, Kim Fridkin. 1994. “The Distorted Mirror: Press Coverage of Women Candidates for Statewide Office.” Journal of Politics 56 (1): 154–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahn, Kim Fridkin. 1996. The Political Consequences of Being a Woman: How Stereotypes Influence the Conduct and Consequences of Political Campaigns. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Kahn, Kim Fridkin, and Goldenberg, Edie N.. 1991. “Women Candidates in the News: An Examination of Gender Differences in U.S. Senate Campaign Coverage.” Public Opinion Quarterly 55 (2): 180–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahn, Kim Fridkin, and Kenney, Patrick J.. 2002. “The Slant of the News: How Editorial Endorsements Influence Campaign Coverage and Citizens' Views of Candidates.” American Political Science Review 96 (2): 381–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiousis, Spiro. 2005. “Compelling Arguments and Attitude Strength: Exploring the Impact of Second-Level Agenda Setting on Public Opinion of Presidential Candidate Images.” International Journal of Press/Politics 10 (2): 3–27.Google Scholar
Kiousis, Spiro, Bantimaroudis, Philemon, and Ban, Hyun. 1999. “Candidate Image Attributes: Experiments on the Substantive Dimension of Second Level Agenda Setting.” Communication Research 26 (4): 414–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, Edward. 2005. The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Lawless, Jennifer. 2004. “Women, War, and Winning Elections: Gender Stereotyping in the Post–September 11th Era.” Political Research Quarterly 57 (3): 479–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawless, Jennifer. 2009. “Sexism and Gender Bias in Election 2008: A More Complex Path for Women in Politics.” Politics & Gender 5 (March): 70–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeper, Mark. 1991. “The Impact of Prejudice on Female Candidates: An Experimental Look at Voter Inference.” American Politics Quarterly 19 (3): 248–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Limbacher, Carl. 2003. Hillary's Scheme: Inside the Next Clinton's Ruthless Agenda to Take the White House. New York: Crown.Google Scholar
Morris, Dick. 2004. Rewriting History. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Noonan, Peggy. 2000. The Case Against Hillary Clinton. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 1997. “Women Leaders Worldwide: A Splash of Color in the Photo Op.” In Women, Media, and Politics, ed. Norris, Pippa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 149–65.Google Scholar
Page, Benjamin I. 1996. Who Deliberates? Mass Media in Modern Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Peake, Jeffrey S. 2007. “Presidents and Front-Page News: How America's Newspapers Cover the Bush Administration,” Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 12 (4): 52–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PEJ (Project for Excellence in Journalism). 2007. “The Invisible Primary – Invisible No Longer: A First Look at Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign.” http://www.journalism.org/node/8187 (April 3, 2009).Google Scholar
PEJ (Project for Excellence in Journalism). 2008. “Character and the Primaries of 2008: What Were the Media Master Narratives About the Candidates During the Primary Season?” http://pewresearch.org/pubs/854/candidate-character (April 13, 2009).Google Scholar
PEJ (Project for Excellence in Journalism). 2009. “State of the News Media 2009: An Annual Report on American Journalism.” http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1151/state-of-the-news-media-2009 (August 3, 2009).Google Scholar
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. 2008. “Many Say Coverage Is Biased in Favor of Obama.” http://pewresearch.org/pubs/862/campaign-news-interest (Accessed April 14, 2009).Google Scholar
Polsby, Nelson W., and Wildavsky, Aaron. 1988. Presidential Elections: Contemporary Strategies of American Electoral Politic. 7th ed.New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Rosenwasser, Shirley M., and Dean, Norma G.. 1989. “Gender Role and Political Office: Effects of Perceived Masculinity/Femininity of Candidate and Political Office.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 13 (1): 77–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sapiro, Virginia. 1981/82. “If U.S. Senator Baker Were a Woman: An Experimental Study of Candidate Images.” Political Psychology 2 (1): 61–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiffer, Adam J. 2006. “Assessing Partisan Bias in Political News: The Case(s) of Local Senate Election Coverage.” Political Communication 23 (1): 23–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Kevin B. 1997. “When All's Fair: Signs of Parity in Media Coverage of Female Candidates.” Political Communication 14 (1): 71–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smooth, Wendy. 2006. “African American Women and Electoral Politics: Journeying from the Shadows to the Spotlight.” In Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics, ed. Carroll, Susan J. and Fox, Richard L.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 117–42.Google Scholar
Streb, Matthew J.Burrell, Barbara, Frederick, Brian, and Genovese, Michael A.. 2008. “Social Desirability Effects and Support for a Female American President.” Public Opinion Quarterly 72 (1): 76–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, Amy. 2005. “Hillary in 2008? Not So Fast.” Washington Monthly 37 (7/8): 32–37.Google Scholar
Sykes, Patricia Lee. 2008. “Gender in the 2008 Presidential Election: Two Types of Time Collide.” PS: Political Science & Politics 41 (4): 761–64.Google Scholar
Tomasky, Michael. 2001. Hillary's Turn: Inside Her Improbable, Victorious Senate Campaign. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Weber, Max. 1978. Economy and Society. Ed. Roth, Guenther and Wittich, Claus. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar