The rules of the (leadership) game: Gender, politics and news

Abstract

The abiding interest of researchers to explore the nature of political communication continues to provoke lively debates about who controls the moveable feast of the news agenda -politicians or journalists. This article argues that despite journalistic claims of impartiality, a careful, multilayered analysis of print and broadcast news of a general election (New Zealand, 2008) and, more specifically, reportage about the leaders of the Labour Party (Helen Clark) and National Party (John Key) demonstrates clear bias against the long-serving (older female) incumbent in favour of the (younger male) challenger. This bias is manifest in several ways, including the visibility of the two leaders measured by column inches, their uses as quoted sources and the tone and tenor of reportage. Whilst we found few examples of explicitly sexist commentary, there were numerous ways in Clark's personal attributes, including her sex and age, were slyly used to undermine her continued suitability for the top job.A parliament composed wholly or mainly of women politicians is not a prospect to be regarded with enthusiasm. Were political office to become the ambition of the fair sex and were standing for Parliament to become the latest craze of fashion, there would be many dreary and neglected homes throughout the country sacrificed on the altar of political ambition. (Editorial, The

Women politicians in the UK press: not seen and not heard?

“…It signals that what they have to say is important. In addition, a direct quote is less likely to be distorted or misreported, even more significant in a press that studies have shown to display sexist tendencies in terms of reporting women (Gill, 2007;Ross and Carter, 2011) and women politicians in particular (Harmer andWring, 2013, O'Neill andSavigny, 2014;Ross and Comrie, 2011;Ross et al, 2013;Van Zoonen, 2006 Male MPs appear in more straightforwardly political stories over each of the years sampled, and on overall average, 11% more often. In contrast, female politicians appear in more stories related to wider society or events, about 14% more often on average.…”

“…Given their relative low media profile, women -as seen in the Dorries example -may feel under more pressure to use methods outside of the purely political to attract media attention, a strategy not without its hazards (Ross and Comrie, 2011). Whatever the original source of this focus on the non-political or appearance, women are likely to find themselves in a bind about whether to attempt to capitalise on this means of obtaining coverage, or to opt out, risking media invisibility.…”

“…Baird (2009) condemns coverage that casts women as decorative, not substantive, which she says is sexist precisely because it distracts from women's political ideas. This fascination with the personal and superficial continues to undermine women politicians' contribution to public life and is a regular cause of complaint by women politicians (Ross, 2002;Ross and Comrie, 2011;APPG Women in Parliament, 2014;O'Neill and Savigny, 2014). Speaking to be removed, it's the press.'…”

“…The acid test is to ask ourselves the question, 'would this happen to a male politician?' While these examples are ones that have courted controversy, nonetheless they also serve to reinforce a dominant trope: that the British press treats female politicians differently, focusing on appearance and clothes in particular (Garcia-Blanco and Wahl-Jorgensen, 2011;Harmer and Wring, 2013;Ross, 2002;Ross and Comrie, 2011). Campus (2013), in her work on women political leaders, highlights the tensions between retaining femininity and credibility in the choices women make in clothing.…”

“…The attention paid to margatert Thatcher's hair and voice, when she first became Prime Minister in the UK, is a case in point. But strategies to capture the media spotlight in this way are risky, according to Ross and Comrie (2011), since they can undermine a woman's otherwise important and serious input into political life. This critique, of course, is one that suggests that clothes themselves cannot be political, a position that has been contested by scholars over the years (Warner, 2014;Johnson and Lennon, 1999) and one that deserves further academic attention.…”