Tracking Media Bias
June 11, 2008
Researcher Erika Falk documented what she sees as sexist bias against Hillary Clinton. “She wasn’t treated like the typical male candidate,” says the communications expert at Johns Hopkins University. Falk analyzed the first month of campaign coverage in the top six circulating American newspapers, including USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.She found that Clinton:
- Was more likely than Obama to have her legislative title dropped and be referred to by her first name or by her gender.
- Was mentioned in just 65 per cent of the number of articles as Obama. Only nine stories mentioned Clinton without mentioning Obama; 38 stories mentioned Obama without Clinton.
- Had fewer paragraphs written about her than Obama did - 631 about her and 934 about him.
- Was less likely to see her name in a headline than Obama: 59 stories had headlines with “Obama” to just 36 with “Clinton.”
via Broadsides
