Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-22T01:49:42.977Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Changing Norms of Gendered News Coverage: Hillary Clinton in the New York Times, 1969–2016

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2018

Diana Zulli
Diana Zulli*
Affiliation:
Purdue University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Research on female politicians suggests that women face a double bind. Female politicians must embrace their femininity but not be too feminine, and they must demonstrate masculinity without deviating from gender norms. Hillary Clinton has often struggled with this balance, which has resulted in conflicting and inconsistent portrayals of her in the news. To examine the extent of this coverage, this study provides a longitudinal analysis of Clinton's personal and professional media coverage in the New York Times. A content analysis of news coverage of Clinton from 1969 to 2016 shows that she has largely not been bound to gender labels, gender traits, or mentions of physical appearance. In addition, Clinton was not overly discussed as a novelty or norm challenger. These findings contradict previous literature, demonstrating a potential trend away from using gender as a descriptor for or limitation to female politicians.

Keywords

Hillary Clintongender issuesgender traitsgender rolesNew York Times
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 15 , Special Issue 3: Special Symposium on Michelle Obama , September 2019 , pp. 599 - 621
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2018 

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

Anderson, Karrin V. 2002a. “From Spouses to Candidates: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, and the Gendered Offices of the U.S. President.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 5 (1): 105–32.Google Scholar
Anderson, Karrin V. 2002b. “Hillary Rodham Clinton as ‘Madonna’: The Role of Metaphor and Oxymoron in Image Restoration.” Women's Studies in Communication 25 (1): 1–25.10.1080/07491409.2002.10162439Google Scholar
Brown, Mary E. 1997. “Feminism and Cultural Politics: Television Audiences and Hillary Rodham Clinton.” Political Communication 14: 255.Google Scholar
Burrell, Barbara C. 2000. “Hillary Rodham Clinton as First Lady: The People's Perspective.” Social Science Journal 37 (4): 529.Google Scholar
BurrellesLuce. 2014. “2014 Top Newspapers, Blogs, and Consumer Magazines.” http://www.burrellesluce.com/resources/top_media_outlets Accessed July 20, 2017.Google Scholar
Bystrom, Dianne G, Robertson, Terry, and Banwart, Mary. 2001. “Framing the Fight: An Analysis of Media Coverage of Female and Male Candidates in Primary Races for Governor and U.S. Senate in 2000.” American Behavioral Scientist 44 (12): 1999.Google Scholar
Campbell, Karlyn K. 1998. “The Discursive Performance of Femininity: Hating Hillary.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 1 (1): 1–19.Google Scholar
Carlin, Diana B, and Winfrey, Kelly. 2009. “Have You Come a Long Way, Baby? Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and Sexism in 2008 Campaign Coverage.” Communication Studies 60 (4): 326–43.Google Scholar
CNN. 2007. “Dems Favor Hillary Clinton for 2008, Poll Shows.” March 19. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/14/democrats.poll/. Accessed March 28, 2017.Google Scholar
Cohen, Jeffrey E. 2009. Going Local: Presidential Leadership in the Post-Broadcast Age. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Edwards, Janis L, and McDonald, Austin. 2010. “Reading Hillary and Sarah: Contradictions of Feminism and Representation in 2008 Campaign Political Cartoons.” American Behavioral Scientist 54 (3): 313–29.Google Scholar
Engel, Pamela. 2014. “Here's How Liberal or Conservative Major News Sources Really Are.” Business Insider, October 21. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-your-preferred-news-outlet-says-about-your-political-ideology-2014-10 (accessed March 28, 2017).Google Scholar
Faris, Robert, Roberts, Hal, Etling, Bruce, Bourassa, Nikki, Zuckerman, Ethan, and Benkler, Yochai. 2017. “Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 US Presidential Election.” Berkman Klein Center Research Publication 2017-6. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3019414. Accessed May 30, 2018.Google Scholar
Foran, Clare. 2016. “Hillary Clinton's Feminist Triumph.” The Atlantic, July 28. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/hillary-clinton-presidential-nomination-dnc/493556/. Accessed March 25, 2017.Google Scholar
Gardetto, Darlaine C. 1997. “Hillary Rodham Clinton, Symbolic Gender Politics, and the New York Times: January–November 1992.” Political Communication 14 (2): 225–40.Google Scholar
Golan, Guy. 2006. “Inter-Media Agenda Setting and Global News Coverage.” Journalism Studies 7 (2): 323–33.Google Scholar
Gottfried, Jeffrey, Barthel, Michael, Shearer, Elisa, and Mitchell, Amy. 2016. “The 2016 Presidential Campaign—A News Event That's Hard to Miss.” Pew Research Center, February 4. http://www.journalism.org/2016/02/04/the-2016-presidential-campaign-a-news-event-thats-hard-to-miss/. Accessed May 28, 2018.Google Scholar
Harp, Dustin, Loke, Jaime, and Bachmann, Ingrid. 2010. “First Impressions of Sarah Palin: Pit Bulls, Politics, Gender Performance, and a Discursive Media (Re)Contextualization.” Communication, Culture & Critique 3 (3): 291–309.Google Scholar
Heldman, Caroline, Carroll, Susan, and Olson, Stephanie. 2005. ” ‘She Brought Only a Skirt’”: Print Media Coverage of Elizabeth Dole's Bid for the Republican Presidential Nomination.” Political Communication 22 (3): 315–35.Google Scholar
Herrnson, Paul S, Lay, J. Celeste, and Stokes, Atiya. 2003. “Women Running ‘As Women’: Candidate Gender, Campaign Issues, and Voter-Targeting Strategies.” Journal of Politics 65: 244–55.Google Scholar
Hopmann, David N, Vliegenthart, Rens, De Vreese, Claes, and Albæk, Erik. 2010. “Effects of Election News Coverage: How Visibility and Tone Influence Party Choice.” Political Communication 27 (4): 389–405.Google Scholar
Horn Sheeler, Kristina, and Anderson, Karris Vasby. 2013. Woman President: Confronting Postfeminist Political Culture. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press.Google Scholar
Href, Mailto, and Yang, Carter. 2000. “Hillary Clinton Wins N.Y. Senate Race.” ABC News, November 7. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=122553. Accessed March 8, 2017.Google Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, and Terkildsen, Nayda. 1993a. “Gender Stereotypes and the Perception of Male and Female Candidates.” American Journal of Political Science 37 (1): 119–147.Google Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, and Terkildsen, Nayda. 1993b. “The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office.” Political Research Quarterly 46 (3): 503–25.10.1177/106591299304600304Google Scholar
Jamieson, Kathleen H. 1995. Beyond the Double Bind: Women and Leadership. Oxford University Press on Demand.Google Scholar
Kahn, Kim F. 1992. “Does Being Male Help? An Investigation of the Effects of Candidate Gender and Campaign Coverage.” Journal of Politics 54 (2): 497–517.Google Scholar
Kittilson, Miki G, and Fridkin, Kim. 2008. “Gender, Candidate Portrayals and Election Campaigns: A Comparative Perspective.” Politics & Gender 4 (3): 371–92.Google Scholar
Korthagen, Iris. 2015. “Who Gets on the News? The Relation Between Media Biases and Different Actors in News Reporting on Complex Policy Processes.” Public Management Review 17 (5): 617–42.Google Scholar
Krippendorff, Klaus. 2013. Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Lawless, Jennifer L. 2004. “Women, War, and Winning Elections: Gender Stereotyping in the Post-September 11th Era.” Political Research Quarterly 57 (3): 479–90.Google Scholar
Mandziuk, Roseann M. 2008. “Dressing Down Hillary.” Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies 5 (3): 312–16.Google Scholar
McCombs, Maxwell. 2004. Setting the Agenda: The Mass Media and Public Opinion. Cambridge, UK: Polity.Google Scholar
McGinley, Ann C. 2009. “Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and Michele Obama: Performing Gender, Race, and Class on the Campaign Trail.” Denver University Law Review 86709.Google Scholar
Meeks, Lindsey. 2012. “Is She ‘Man Enough’? Women Candidates, Executive Political Offices, and News Coverage.” Journal of Communication 62 (1): 175–93.Google Scholar
Meeks, Lindsey. 2013. “All the Gender That's Fit to Print: How the New York Times Covered Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin in 2008.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 90 (3): 520–39.Google Scholar
Noveck, Jocelyn. 2016. “Hillary Clinton, the Candidate We Know So Well and Don't.” AP News, June 16. https://apnews.com/15afa5acc3094d9d96adbd823800cc60. Accessed March 22, 2017.Google Scholar
Parry-Giles, Shawn J. 2014. Hillary Clinton in the News: Gender and Authenticity in American Politics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Parry-Giles, Shawn J, and Blair, Diana M.. 2002. “The Rise of the Rhetorical First Lady: Politics, Gender Ideology, and Women's Voice, 1789–2002.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 5 (4): 565–99.Google Scholar
Reston, Maeve. 2014. “Bill and Hillary's Deal: A 52-Year Pact.” Los Angeles Times, July 19. http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-bill-hillary-clinton-marriage-52-years-20140718-story.html. Accessed March 16, 2017.Google Scholar
Scharrer, Erica. 2002. “An ‘Improbable Leap’: A Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Hillary Clinton's Transition from First Lady to Senate Candidate.” Journalism Studies 3 (3): 393–406.Google Scholar
Shoemaker, Pamela, and Cohen, Kiba. 2006. News Around the World: Content, Practitioners, and the Public. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Sklar, Kathryn K. 2008. “A Women's History Report Card on Hillary Rodham Clinton's Presidential Primary Campaign, 2008.” Feminist Studies 34 (1/2): 315–22.Google Scholar
The New York Times. 2012. “About the Company.” http://www.nytco.com. Accessed July 20, 2017.Google Scholar
Tonkiss, Fran. 2004. “Analysing Text and Speech: Content and Discourse Analysis.” In Researching Society and Culture, ed. Seale, Clive, 367–82. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Ward, Orlanda. 2016. “Seeing Double: Race, Gender, and Coverage of Minority Women's Campaigns for the US House of Representatives.” Politics & Gender 12 (2): 317–43.Google Scholar
Willis, Derek. 2015. “Hillary Clinton, and Names Fit to Print.” The New York Times, March 13. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/14/upshot/hillary-clinton-and-names-fit-to-print.html?mcubz=0. Accessed November 4, 2015.Google Scholar
Zaller, John. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar