Case Study: Contemporary Media Research Issue, Ethics & My Topic

Case Study: Contemporary Media Research Issue, Ethics & My Topic
By Darcy Delaney



Photos provided by Time Magazine


The contemporary media research issue of the news media’s coverage of female political candidates has numerous faults within the common ethics of journalism. Ethical codebooks usually list fair and balanced coverage as one of the main components in which all journalists should adhere. However, according to the information from five sources listed below, it is not being followed by all news organizations.

The first source I found was Journalism.org’s The State of the News Media 2009. This source emphasized how news magazine coverage has created biases against current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primaries. According to the article, current President Barack Obama appeared on the cover of Time 13 times and Newsweek 12 times during the 2008 race. However, Clinton only appeared on Time three times and Newsweek twice during the same time period.

The second source, the Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, provided an article that illustrated some of the biases the media have created against Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primaries. The site referenced The Center for Media and Public Affairs. The Center found that by the time of the Iowa Caucus, 84 percent of the news coverage Obama received was positive, while only 51 percent of the coverage Clinton received was positive.

The Temple News online, a third source agreed, but did not provide percentages. Instead, this Web site used examples of media biases like when Chris Stover, the author of the article wrote, “For example, MSNBC’s David Shuster said in February that former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton was “being pimped out” by her mother. Yet no one says anything about Sen. John McCain’s traveling, blogging daughter.”

The fourth source, Communication Currents, also emphasized that the media coverage of Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primaries were biased. However, this source suggested that these biases existed in coverage of Clinton, the biases were not as strong as previous female candidates had seen.

About.com: Women’s Issues provided a list of articles written about this topic in relation to sexism. “In her Shoes” is a blog by Linda Lowen. This blog allowed the reader to understand how many members of a viewing (or reading) audience can become frustrated with biased coverage.

Overall, each one of these five sources provided information that agreed there were biases in the media against Clinton during this election. While this happens, it is not ethical.

News organizations are supposed to provide factual, balanced and unbiased information to their audience. This does not seem to be the case with political coverage of this election or any election prior. It is important to understand that these biases exist in order to make the necessary changes in the media so that these differences in political coverage no longer occur.

Diversity and My Study by Darcy Delaney

Diversity and My Study
By Darcy Delaney


Photo provided by MSNBC

The topic of my thesis is the portrayal of female political candidates by weekly news magazines. I will conduct a content analysis that analyzes three news magazines (Time, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report) during the 2007 Democratic primaries, ending with the Iowa Caucus. Current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden (then competitors for the Democratic presidential candidacy) will be the two candidates analyzed in this study. It will be a content analysis that analyzes photographs containing one or both of the candidates, and the headlines and cutlines that accompany these photographs.

Political diversity can be defined as encouraging acceptance of political candidates with different backgrounds. The 2008 U.S. Presidential race saw a multitude of diversity, not just with females being in the race, but also with an African American male running for president. It is evident by the results of this race (with President Barack Obama and Clinton being the final competitors for the Democratic seat and with Obama winning the overall election) that Americans are more accepting of diversity than ever before. However, are the media still creating biases?

Diversity plays a crucial role in my thesis. While there were positive outcomes from this election, it is possible the media still created biases that could have created negative portrayals of female candidates, which numerous researchers have suggested could result in the loss of an election. This study would not exist without diversity as its backbone. If diversity were not part of this study, it would have a huge impact on the subjects being analyzed and would determine the sources in every possible way.

If diversity were not a part of this study, Clinton would not be able to be analyzed. This would also not allow me to study Gov. Sarah Palin or Obama. The 2008 presidential election was filled with diversity, which is the primary reason it is worth studying. Without diversity, the election would differ in no way from previous presidential elections held in the United States.

A study of the portrayal of female candidates by weekly news magazines that did not contain diversity would not exist. If different candidates were chosen, it would mean no diversity existed. The results would differ because it would no longer be measuring portrayals of female candidates by the mass media.

Click here to view a video showing media bias against female political candidates and some of the candidates’ wives.