Just the Facts? Media Coverage of Female and Male High Court Appointees in Five Democracies

Abstract

In this article, we examine gender differences in news media portrayals of nominees to high courts and whether those differences vary across country and time. Although past research has examined gender differences in news media coverage of candidates for elective office, few studies have looked at media coverage of high court nominees. As women are increasingly nominated to courts around the world, it is important to examine how nominations are covered by the news media and whether there is significant variation in coverage based on gender. We analyze media coverage of high court justices in five democracies: Argentina, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United States. We compare coverage of women appointed to the highest court with coverage of the most temporally proximate male nominees. We also compare coverage over time within each country as well as between countries that nominated women early with those that did so more recently. We find some evidence of gendered coverage, especially with regard to the attention paid to the gender of the women appointees.

Unchained Succubus: A Queer New Institutional Analysis of U.S. Supreme Court Nomination Hearings

“…It may be that if more women serve as judges they may feel less of a need to express a “women's perspective” (Kenney 2013, 41–42). The presence on women on courts has also been construed almost as a novelty in media coverage (Escobar-Lemmon et al 2016). In a profession dominated by men, the appearance of women there challenges society to confront gender stereotypes (257).…”

“…Focus on Sotomayor's Wise Latina speech effectively draws upon common stereotypes applied to Hispanic women (for example, being emotional and tough) and permeated into the hearings themselves (Escobar-Lemmon et al 2016, 265). This was evident when Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar relayed a story during the hearings where a constituent who worked in an airport in her home state asked, “Are you going to vote for that woman?” The worker explained to the senator his concern that Sotomayor would let her “emotions get in front of the law.” 27 Such an exchange uniquely captured the debate of Sotomayor's concern for empathy in deciding cases.…”