Jessica Birthisel | June 26, 2009
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| Photo by Jessica Birthisel |
| Assistant professor Lesa Hatley Major chatted with Mini U participants after her talk about gender and race in political coverage. She was one of seven faculty members who presented talks during the weeklong workshops. |
It had the makings of a good Hollywood movie, but in reality it was one of more than 100 Mini University sessions hosted by the IU Alumni Association and IU Bloomington Continuing Studies this week at the Indiana Memorial Union.
Wednesday, School of Journalism assistant professor Lesa Hatley Major presented "The Impact of Race and Gender on News Coverage of Political Candidates,” her research on the 2003 coverage of Kathleen Blanco’s gubernatorial race against Bobby Jindal, and the ways it fit into previous scholarship on politics and stereotypes.
"This was a historical race," explained Hatley Major, who lived in the state at the time. "Louisiana politicians have always been white males.”
The race pitted a woman against an Indian-American, making it ripe for analysis of gender and racial stereotypes used in media coverage, said Hatley Major.
"It’s very important to think about what journalists include and what they leave out of a story," said Hatley Major in her explanation of stereotypes, schema and media framing.
Hatley Major’s study found that even though Blanco had more experience with traditionally “masculine” topics such as crime and defense, she was more likely to be covered in reference to traditionally female social issues such as health care and education. Conversely, despite Jindal’s background with these more “feminine” social issues, his coverage revolved around the more traditionally masculine political issues.
Blanco, a grandmother who often played into gender roles in her self-promotion, received more coverage based on gender traits. Jindal, a minority, received more coverage about race. Hatley Major said both Blanco’s gender-based coverage and Jindal’s race-based coverage could be described as positive. She concluded that journalists had made some progress because they did not focus on the female candidate’s appearance, but they had applied the same old gender stereotypes to both politicians despite their areas of expertise.
Hatley Major then took the same topic and applied it to the recent Democratic primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, briefly discussing the few studies that she’s read about the election. To finish, she showed a YouTube clip called “Sexism Sells,” a montage of political cable news clips that degrade females, including references to Clinton looking “haggard” and “92-years-old” and looking “like everyone’s first wife standing outside a probate court.”
The combination of Hatley Major’s research and the montage prompted emotional responses and heated discussion among participants.
“The fact that these journalists are serving as role models for a younger generation of journalists and making comments like these, it’s saddening,” said one participant.
Another noted how her feelings on the issue shifted from anger to sadness throughout the course of the presentation.
“I can’t help but think how easy it is to default,” she commented. “When I first started watching the video, I was angry, but now I’m overwhelmed by sadness from seeing how easy it is to fall back. I remember weeping during the election, because I just thought we’d come too far [with race and gender equality] for this all to be happening again.”
Others commented on different types of frames they noticed in the recent presidential campaign, such as the “Obama-as-terrorist” frame and the way pundits referred to Obama by his last name but Clinton by her first name, something some Mini University students perceived as disrespectful to Clinton.
Another participant made the tie back to journalistic power.
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| Photo by Jessica Birthisel |
| One reason Eva Mintz chose Hatley Major’s session is because Mintz’s daughter is a journalism alumna now working in Baltimore. The session looked at media coverage of gender and race issues. |
“The fact that audiences compare all journalism to this,” said Hatley Major, referring to the sensational cable personalities, “that’s what breaks my heart.”
She explained that the audience is key, too.
“If audience members say ‘we won’t watch,’ there’s power in that,” said Hatley Major. “Media literacy is a huge part as well.”
Hatley Major eventually had to cut off discussion because the session had run over on time.
Participant Louise Hillery, who received degrees from IU in 1968 and 1985, said she was drawn to Hatley Major’s session because the 2008 election coverage made her angry.
“None of it seemed fair,” she said. She said she enjoyed Hatley Major’s presentation adding, “I wish the session could have gone on twice as long.”
Hatley Major was one of seven journalism faculty presenting Mini U sessions. The others were Hans Ibold, Steve Raymer, Peter Jacobi, Mike Conway, Jim Kelly and Claude Cookman.
Next June, Mini University participants will once again have a chance to continue their education through the program. Since 1972, the IU Alumni Association and IU Bloomington Continuing Studies have hosted the week-long sessions. Next year’s Mini University will June 20-25 and registration will begin March 1.
