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Women and Crisis Reporting

Television News Coverage of Political Crises in the Caribbean

Department of Political Science at the University of Windsor, sutclif{at}uwindsor.ca

Martha F. Lee

Department of Political Science at the University of Windsor, leema{at}uwindsor.ca

Walter C. Soderlund

University of Windsor, akajake{at}uwindsor.ca

This article examines U.S. network television news coverage of seven political/military crises occurring in the Caribbean Basin. It first documents the extent to which women are involved in covering these crises. In line with existing research, women are found to be underrepresented in all major aspects of on-air media coverage. The article then explores the impact of this under representation on the actual content of media reporting. There is, at the very least, a possibility that those doing the reporting affect the content of the report, as well as who is chosen as a news source, either on-camera and/or quoted. The article examines this question using the technique of "paired comparisons";specifically, it compares news stories dealing with four of the crises filed from the same location, on the same day, by male and female reporters representing at least two networks. The major finding of this research is that while there are subtle differences in the way in which male and female reporters frame stories, there is a broad consistency in male and female reporting. It is the case, however, that female anchors and reporters are slightly more likely to use female sources in their stories.

Key Words: crisis reporting • gender • paired comparisons • gender and media framing • women in international relations • the Caribbean

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