National Press Foundation releases journalism guidelines for covering women in politics
Source: National Press Foundation
In both state and federal legislatures, women make up less than a third of representatives – far below equity, despite huge strides in the past 50 years. News coverage today, for perhaps the first time in U.S. history, treats women running for office with sincerity rather than novelty. The quantity of stories has increased significantly in the past decade, but the quality – while improved – remains uneven.
A 2023 Pew Research Center poll found that 62% of Americans say the media focuses too much on the physical appearance of women candidates, while the same percentage say there’s not enough focus on their policies. Nearly 60% say showing emotion hurts a woman’s chances of getting elected, but only a third say it hurts a man’s chances. Almost half say having young children disadvantages women compared to 7% for men. Yet, as evidenced by the 2024 campaign, not having biological children can be weaponized against women candidates as well.
As members of society, journalists inevitably encounter and may internalize misogynistic attitudes, requiring keen awareness of biases and assumptions when reporting on women candidates and politicians – especially when gender intersects with race, sexuality, socioeconomic status and other identifying factors that have historically been discriminated against and disempowered.
Read here the full article published National Press Foundation on 1 August 2024.
Image by National Press Foundation
In both state and federal legislatures, women make up less than a third of representatives – far below equity, despite huge strides in the past 50 years. News coverage today, for perhaps the first time in U.S. history, treats women running for office with sincerity rather than novelty. The quantity of stories has increased significantly in the past decade, but the quality – while improved – remains uneven.
A 2023 Pew Research Center poll found that 62% of Americans say the media focuses too much on the physical appearance of women candidates, while the same percentage say there’s not enough focus on their policies. Nearly 60% say showing emotion hurts a woman’s chances of getting elected, but only a third say it hurts a man’s chances. Almost half say having young children disadvantages women compared to 7% for men. Yet, as evidenced by the 2024 campaign, not having biological children can be weaponized against women candidates as well.
As members of society, journalists inevitably encounter and may internalize misogynistic attitudes, requiring keen awareness of biases and assumptions when reporting on women candidates and politicians – especially when gender intersects with race, sexuality, socioeconomic status and other identifying factors that have historically been discriminated against and disempowered.
Read here the full article published National Press Foundation on 1 August 2024.
Image by National Press Foundation