Ingrid Bachmann

WHO IS THE LADY IN THE WINDOW

In many countries, women are not only running for office; they are winning. This comparative study investigates how newspapers—decision makers’ predominant information medium—frame new female government heads during their first-200-days-in-office in Germany, Liberia and Chile. International and national reports are systematically analyzed to understand how female leadership is transitioning within the public sphere. International frames and national frames show gender-mediated differences across boundaries and media. Conclusions drawn from two international sources and each countrys national paper of record also suggest routinization and normalization of news presentation, regardless of cultural, social and political contexts.

News Platform Preference as a predictor of political and civic participation

Scholars have observed the influence of online and offline media use on the promotion of political and civic engagement. Findings indicate a positive correlation between media use and participation. This study moves beyond such effect on participation. Using data from an original national US survey, this article explores the effects of News Platform Preference Scale – a construct that measures the contrast between online and traditional news use in a continuum – on participatory behaviours. Controlling for usual online and offline media use, results show that a preference for digital media has strong positive effects over political and civic participation, suggesting these media may indeed be different.

Spaces For Feminist (Re)Articulations: The blogosphere and the sexual attack on journalist Lara Logan

This discourse analysis explores traditional and feminist articulations of rape in online mediated discourse regarding the sexual attack on CBS journalist Lara Logan in Egypt in February 2011. Examination of 175 stories and links in the top ten news blogs in the United States showed that the blogosphere contested traditional rape narratives that blamed Logan for the attack and conceptualized rape through a more varied means. In doing so, bloggers engaged in a struggle for meaning, and mainstreamed feminist understandings of sexual violence within the online public space.

OPENING THE GATES

In the light of newspapers’ struggle to maintain readers and viability in the digital era, this study aims to understand better how newspapers in Latin America are responding to this shift toward user-generated and multimedia content. Using a content analysis of 19 newspapers from throughout Latin America, this study found that newspaper websites are bringing citizens into the virtual newsroom on a limited basis, allowing them to interact with each other and with the newspaper but only to a modest degree. Thus, while all newspaper websites have some multimedia content and most have Facebook and Twitter accounts, few allow readers to report errors, submit their own content, or even contact reporters directly. Further, most online newspaper articles include photos, but video, audio and hyperlinks rarely are used. These results further our understanding of how online interactivity is changing the traditional role of journalists and how Latin America is responding to the challenge.

Socialized for News Media Use How Family Communication, Information-Processing Needs, and Gratifications Determine Adolescents’ Exposure to News

Adolescence is a key period in the development of individuals’ news habits, but little is known about the processes involved in the process of news media socialization. This study proposes an integrated model in which the influence of family communication on motivations and behaviors of adolescents in relation to news consumption occurs through the development of personality traits related to information processing (namely, need for cognition and need to evaluate). Structural equation modeling of data from a representative survey of 2,273 adolescents, aged 13 to 17, provide support for the theorized model, such that concept-oriented communication within families is associated to news exposure indirectly, via personality traits and motivations. Thus, the study provides an initial assessment of one way children are socialized to become news enthusiasts and news avoiders. It also provides empirical evidence that information-processing traits are influenced by family communication patterns, confirming what hitherto was theoretical speculation.

El consumo de noticias de los adolescentes chilenos: Intereses, motivaciones y percepciones sobre la agenda informativa

En un contexto de proliferacion de medios y creciente acceso a diversos contenidos mediaticos, se vuelve necesario examinar las motivaciones de las audiencias jovenes para consumir informacion. El estudio de este grupo etario es relevante, dado que la adolescencia es un periodo fundamental en la socializacion civica de las personas. Esta investigacion explora como chilenos de 13 a 17 anos consumen noticias, en un contexto mediatico de multiples soportes, convergencia y cultura movil. Pocos estudios se centran en los habitos informativos de este grupo especifico. A partir de un cuestionario cuantitativo autoaplicado en 2013 a 2.273 adolescentes en establecimientos educativos de cuatro regiones del pais, se analizan sus habitos de consumo, interes en las noticias, percepcion sobre la importancia de los temas de la agenda y motivaciones informativas. Los resultados muestran que los jovenes encuestados se informan principalmente a traves de redes sociales como Facebook, en detrimento de los medios convencionales. El tema que menos les interesa es la politica tradicional, que, a su juicio, es el que mas aparece en las noticias. Sus motivaciones en el consumo informativo se relacionan con el deseo de defender sus puntos de vista y de transmitir informacion a otros. Ademas, estiman que su representacion en la agenda informativa es inadecuada y negativa. Estos resultados sugieren una deuda pendiente de la industria informativa con los jovenes.En un contexto de proliferacion de medios y creciente acceso a diversos contenidos mediaticos, se vuelve necesario examinar las motivaciones de las audiencias jovenes para consumir informacion. El estudio de este grupo etario es relevante, dado que la adolescencia es un periodo fundamental en la socializacion civica de las personas. Esta investigacion explora como chilenos de 13 a 17 anos consumen noticias, en un contexto mediatico de multiples soportes, convergencia y cultura movil. Pocos estudios se centran en los habitos informativos de este grupo especifico. A partir de un cuestionario cuantitativo autoaplicado en 2013 a 2.273 adolescentes en establecimientos educativos de cuatro regiones del pais, se analizan sus habitos de consumo, interes en las noticias, percepcion sobre la importancia de los temas de la agenda y motivaciones informativas. Los resultados muestran que los jovenes encuestados se informan principalmente a traves de redes sociales como Facebook, en detrimento de los medios convencionales. El tema que menos les interesa es la politica tradicional, que, a su juicio, es el que mas aparece en las noticias. Sus motivaciones en el consumo informativo se relacionan con el deseo de defender sus puntos de vista y de transmitir informacion a otros. Ademas, estiman que su representacion en la agenda informativa es inadecuada y negativa. Estos resultados sugieren una deuda pendiente de la industria informativa con los jovenes.

Where Are the Women? The Presence of Female Columnists in U.S. Opinion Pages

Empirical and anecdotal evidence shows that the news media are male-dominated. This study updates the extant literature on women’s representation in the op-ed pages of ten U.S. newspapers. A content analysis showed that female authors are moving beyond topics traditionally linked to females and are writing columns on topics such as politics and economy. However, they remain a minority, and, thus, women’s voices have yet to gain more visibility in the world of opinion writing in U.S. journalism.

Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi Hearing Coverage: Political Competence, Authenticity, and the Persistence of the Double Bind

ABSTRACT Despite inroads made toward gender equality, research has shown that news coverage of female politicians typically follows gendered lines that disregard women’s competence in political affairs. Grounded in a feminist theoretical framework, this textual analysis examines articles from eight news websites covering then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2013 congressional testimony about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The findings suggest that though this news media coverage shows there has been progress regarding how a notable female politician was represented, this discourse still employs stereotypical feminine frames and questions her competence as a leader. Moreover, coverage hinted at a new bind pitting competence against authenticity, with Clinton’s emotional displays during the hearing deemed as either a lack of control that undermined her capability or an insincere show of emotion to escape blame for the situation.

The spectacle of politics: Wendy Davis, abortion, and pink shoes in the Texas ‘fillybuster’

Abstract Despite important inroads, women’s marginalization in the public sphere is still very real. From a feminist theoretical perspective, and informed by Guy Debord’s conceptualization of the society of spectacle, this study examines local and national newspaper coverage of Wendy Davis’s filibuster to block an abortion-restricting bill in the Texas State legislature in 2013. Qualitative and quantitative assessments show that gender was particularly encoded and marked in the mediated discourse, with reports focusing on Davis’ personal life and giving her celebrity status. The filibuster became a political spectacle that reified dominant gender values and norms.

The Impact of Melodramatic News Coverage on Information Recall and Comprehension

In many countries, television newscasts are increasingly relying on personalization and emotion exacerbation in their news coverage, arguably as a means to attract audiences. Such features are prominent in Latin American cultural products based on melodrama, such as telenovelas. While often deemed to be bad journalism, there is mixed evidence on the impact of such news treatment on knowledge acquisition, especially with audiences more attuned to these formats. Based on an experiment in Chile, this study tests the effects of melodramatic coverage on viewers’ recall and comprehension of news items. Results show that melodramatic treatment favors recall, but not comprehension of data included in the news reports. Comparisons across news treatment by gender, age group, and socio-economic status suggest that rather than overall differences, specific demographic groups are more affected by melodramatic news.