Carol M. Liebler

Tracking gender differences: A comparative analysis of network correspondents and their sources

Content analysis of 159 stones broadcast on ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC during the first one hundred days of the Clinton Administration found few differences between women and men correspondents in their choice and treatment of male and female sources. Male sources were used more often than female sources and were more likely to be shown in a professional capacity, regardless of the reporter gender or policy issue covered. Results confirm that gender‐biased reporting still exists, and that women report the news no differently than their male counterparts.

Old-Growth Forests on Network News: News Sources and the Framing of An Environmental Controversy:

The old-growth forest debate involves two sides (“procut” and “prosave”) presenting competing views of the issue. Television news stories may reflect one or the other of these frames through (1) choice of sources, (2) choice of visuals, and (3) reporters summary remarks. We examined four years of coverage on ABC, CBS, and NBC, and found that while the distribution of visuals was inconclusive, source use and reporter wrap-ups predominantly reflected the procut frame. This may be because the procut frame emphasized an unambiguous conflict that was more amenable to brief explanations.

Beauty, binaries, and the big screen in China: character gender in feature films

This study examines gender constructions of the main characters in Chinese top-grossing feature films, 2002–2011, and the sex of content creators in relation to film content. Content analysis of 332 characters reveals that women are more likely than men to be young, sexualized, and conform to an ideal image. Male characters are older and reflect traditional Chinese norms of masculinity. Women are rarely present among content creators and are most likely to be writers or producers. Findings indicate that Chinese film content reflects the growing Chinese beauty economy.

Enhancing Theory Courses with Racially Inclusive Research

Media scholars engaged in research on media, race, and ethnicity have noted that theory is rather elusive in this scholarship area (Poindexter and Stroman, 1981; Liebler, 1989; Perloff, 1995; Bramlett-Solomon, 1996). While many studies have examined media and race concerns and have included race variables, few of these studies are theory based. How to expand theory in media and minorities research through journalism education was the focus of a Minorities and Communication Division panel at the 1996 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference (AEJMC) in Anaheim, Calif. (Revisited, 1996). The panel cited the need for theory in media and race research to form a clear picture of race and ethnicity factors in media processes, contents, and effects. Specifically noted by the panel was the need for theories that might provide prediction and understanding of the roles and experiences of people of color, especially journalists of color. A polling of the panel-session attendees revealed that only two of the 34 audience members recalled discussing race and media concerns in their graduate or undergraduate media-theory courses.’ This was despite the fact that the variable race can be found in the earliest communication research (Blumer, 1933; Peterson and Thurstone, 1933; Holaday and Stoddard, 1933). Contributing to the problem is the fact that media theory texts have been slow to include substantive discussions of media and race.z That is, the scarcity of inclusive research in theory courses is underscored by the paucity of race, ethnicity and culture discussion in media theory texts. This “ s ym b o 1 i c ann i hi 1 at i o n ” seems a1 1 the more surprising given our field’s increased attention to theory in the fields of media sociology and feminist and cultural studies, all of which bring focus to concepts relevant to the discussion of race.

Cory L. Armstrong (Ed.). Media Disparity: A Gender Battleground

“I am struck by how much has changed—and also by how much has stayed the same,” writes Gaye Tuchman in her preface to Media Disparity: A Gender Battleground. This one phrase nicely sets up what fol...