Just Being a Woman Isn't Enough Any More

Abstract

This study focuses on TV news coverage of women in the local elections held in Israel in 2008. The questions posed were: Did national TV news in Israel during the election campaign reflect the changes in the status of women in local politics that have occurred in the last two decades? How prominent was the representation of women politicians in national TV news coverage and what patterns did it display? The sample used in the study consisted of all items dealing with women that were broadcast by one of the national TV stations during the month prior to the local elections. All the news and current affairs broadcasts were analyzed. All items in which women candidates featured, as well as items dealing with issues relating to women in politics in general, were taped and transcribed. The study was based on an interpretive analysis employing the analytical tool of “media frames.” Although the extent of the coverage of women remained quite meager, this reflects the sociopolitical reality in which women politicians are still a small minority. However, whereas the literature emphasizes the negative stereotypical representation of women politicians, the national TV news representation of women in the local elections was more complex. On the one hand, it mirrored the patriarchal power structure, primarily the subordination of women to men, but on the other hand it also offered a forum for genuine feminist discourse.

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