Representation of Women in News and Photos: Comparing Content to Perceptions

Abstract

This study uses a feminist framework of masculine cultural hegemony to examine the representation of women in two newspapers—a medium-sized newspaper (Study 1) and a larger newspaper (Study 2). Surveys gauged news staff and news reader perceptions of female representation in news content to determine if perceptions matched content-analysis findings. Content-analysis results revealed a greater proportion of males than females in both content and photos for both studies. Female staffers were more likely than their male counterparts to perceive this disparity, and news readers perceived an even greater disparity than the news staff. News staffs were less likely to perceive disparities in the editorial, travel, and entertainment sections. We discuss the findings in relation to cultural hegemony and the representation of women in the news.

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