She Persisted … and so did He

Abstract

After years of recorded misogyny, the release of an Access Hollywood tape on 7 October 2016 revealed Trump stating he grabs women by their genitals without their permission. This study examines the gatekeeping process of traditional and online media covering this issue, focusing specifically on source use. A content analysis (N = 847) of television, newspaper, and online media shows that television and conservative sources have the highest gender disparity in source use; whereas online media focus the most on female perspectives. Results also show that many Republicans paid lip service to Trump's actions, but overall defended him-dismissing the severity of sexual violence while maintaining hegemony. Male sources had a positive relationship with defending Trump and a negative relationship with defending survivors. Female sources had a positive relationship with defending survivors only. Conservative and television sources defended Trump more than survivors; liberal, online, and newspaper sources defended survivors more than Trump. Overall, women are still marginalised within the political process by both traditional news media and politicians.

Media Framing on Coverage of Motorway Rape Incident: A Study of Cable Channels in Pakistan

“…In relation to the accusations against Donald Trump of sexual violence and misogyny, Blumell (2019) found that female sources were more likely to defend survivors and not Trump, while the opposite was true for males. Television media used male sources significantly more than print and online media, while also using female sources less; print media uses male sources significantly more than on-line, but there is no significant relationship between their use of female sources.…”

“…"While discussion of military women in the media spiked [after the crime], their actual voices did not; 75% of articles in both newspapers did not include female sources at all". The gender of source in gender violence stories matters, as Blumell (2019) found in her analysis of stories in American cable television stations, national newspapers, and the most shared online articles related to the release of a recording of former U.S. President Donald Trump's conversation about grabbing women by their genitals: "…not only did female sources defend survivors more than male sources, there was a negative relationship with male sources and defending survivors.…”

Is news for men?: Effects of women’s participation in news-making on audience perceptions and behaviors

“…Women are also more likely to be quoted as eyewitnesses or as sources sharing their personal opinions. Even when a story topic directly involves women-such as former president Trump's misogynistic acts-cable TV and conservative outlets are likely to use twice the number of female than male sources (Blumell, 2019). These differences in sourcing patterns highlight the gendered areas of expertise ascribed to men and women (Shor et al, 2015).…”