i

 

 

 

THESE

 

 

 

‘ LIBRARY
Michigan state
University I“
K I"

 

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

A Comparison of Newspaper Coverage of Male
and Female Officials in Michigan

presented by
Diane Silver

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

JailenL—degree in Journalism.

(EM $24

Major professor

Date Lew

0-7639 MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution

 

 

MSU

LIBRARIES
W

\n

 

 

RETURNING MATERIAL§:
Place in book drop to
remove this checkout from
your record. flfl§§ will
be charged if book is
returned after the date
stamped below.

 

 

 

 

A COMPARISON OF NEWSPAPER COVERAGE
OF MALE AND FEMALE OFFICIALS
IN MICHIGAN

By

Diane Silver

A THESIS

Submitted,to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS

School of Journalism

1985

C>1985

DIANE SILVER

All Rights Reserved

ABSTRACT
A COMPARISON OF NEWSPAPER COVERAGE

OF MALE AND FEMALE OFFICIALS
IN MICHIGAN

By

Diane Silver

This study examines how 21 Michigan newspapers covered
male and female state officials during the late winter of
1983. In particular, the study focuses on the number of
mentions, the context of mentions, length of stories and the
manner of identification and description of officials. The
effects of occupation and seniority are also probed. A
qualitative analysis is also included to examine the coverage
of three female and two male officials who were involved in
newsmaking controversies during the study period.

Every story about Michigan state officials that appeared
in state newspapers with capital bureaus and in a sample of
all other state dailies during the study period was
analyzed.

The study findings failed to replicate the findings of
previous studies in several important ways. First, the
present study failed to find a significant difference in
length of stories. No differences were also found in the
description and identification of male and female

legislators. When the analysis was controlled for

Diane Silver

seniority, women also received practically the same
proportion of mentions as their proportion in the pool of
possible newsmakers.

However, other findings were replicated. In particular,
differences were found in the description of non-legislator
state officials and in the context of mentions of males and

females.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to acknowledge the generous help of
the many people who made this project possible.

My thesis director, Frederick Fico, did more for this
project than can be acknowledged on a piece of paper. He
listened, argued, edited and pushed —- all at the right
mOments and in the right amounts.

The other members of my committee were also invaluable.
Mary Gardner contributed constant support, fresh ideas and a
two-year-long running argument on the definition of news.
Stan Soffin provided encouragement, good humor, keen editing
and penetrating questions.

I would also like to acknowledge The School of Journalism
for giving me generous access to the school’s computers and
Debbie Siewert of the school staff. Without her patience,
Wordstar would have remained baffling and this thesis may
never have been written.

Most importantly, I would like to acknowledge the incredible
support of my friends and family. From the beginning, Sharla
Erbe provided me with much-needed perspective. My brother,
Mark Silver, and his wife, Mary Hindelang, were always there
when needed. Finally, my mother, Joan Silver, gave more than

can ever be stated. She helped me see that anything is possible.

ii

LIS

I.

II.

III.

IV.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

T OF TABLES ..............
Introduction .............
Footnotes -- Chapter I ...

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

00000000000000000000000000000

.............................

"Foolish, Wanton Fibbergibbes:" The Erasure and

Stereotyping of Women
"Passive, Noncompetitive

Throughout History . ..... ...
, Illogicalz"

Stereotyping in the Present ..... ..... . ........ ...
"Ridicule and Disbelief:" Feminist Criticisms

of the News Media ...

"Gender Stereotypes Die Hard. " The Perspective of

Mass Media Research

A Contrasting View: Occupation as a Possible

Intervening Variable
Footnotes -- Chapter II
RESEARCH QUESTIONS .....
Footnotes -- Chapter III
METHODOLOGY . ........ ...

The Sample ........ .....

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The Quantitative Analysis ...........................

The Case Study Analysis

Footnotes -- Chapter IV

iii

11
15
20
28
34
4o
45
46
47
47
49

52

V. RESULTS ............................................... 54
The Quantitative Analysis ............................. 54
Number of Mentions ................................ 54

Story Length ...................................... 57
Description ....................................... 59
Contexts of Mentions .............................. 60
Summary of Quantitative Results ................... 62

The Case Study Analysis ............................... 63
Coverage of Howard Tanner ........ . ................ 63
Coverage of Robert Bowman ......................... 65
Coverage of Sister Agnes Mary Mansour ............. 66
Coverage of Dorothy Comstock Riley ................ 69
Coverage of Patricia Boyle ........................ 73
Summary of Case Study Results ..................... 76
Footnotes -- Chapter V ...... _ ......................... 78

VI. SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS ............................. 81
VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................ 86

iv

LIST OF TABLES

Table

I. Mentions in Stories of All State Officials ......... 56
II. Mentions of Legislators ............... ....... . ..... 56
III. Mentions of Low-Seniority Legislators .... .......... 57
IV. Average Story Length ............................... 59

V. Contexts of Mentions of A11 Officials .............. 61
VI. Contexts of Mentions of Legislators ................ 61

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This study compares newspaper coverage of male and
female Michigan officials to determine if systematic
differences exist in their treatment. Three different content
analyses of data are used to probe these differences both
quantitatively and qualitatively.

The comparison of news coverage of male and female
officials is important to both researchers and working
journalists. Studies by mass communication researchers have
found overemphasis on coverage of government officials to the
point of neglect of ordinary citizens and minority political
viewpoints.l Both feminists and researchers, furthermore, have
charged that news coverage either ignores or trivializes
women. If the press merits either or both of these
assertions, then journalists will have failed in what the
American Society of Newspaper Editors calls their mission to
"serve the general welfare by informing the people and
enabling them to make judgments on the issues of the time."2

People cannot possibly make informed judgments when they have

only one part of the story.

In fact, several researchers have said that one-sided
coverage is exactly what has been produced.3 These
researchers contend that journalists tend to cover only
government officials, while generally ignoring the rest of
the population. Any study of the coverage of women is
extremely relevant to this discussion because the female
population is one of the most economically powerless and
politically underrepresented groups in America.4 One pair of
researchers, thus, has suggested that women’s general absence
from the news columns can be blamed on their lack of
political and economic power.5

Study of the coverage of women is also needed because of
the continuing controversy surrounding the quality of that
coverage. During the past 10 years, academic researchers and
feminists have frequently criticized the press either for
ignoring women or for mentioning them only in the
stereotypical contexts of wife and mother. Both experimental
studies and content analyses have produced evidence to
support these charges.

This study both replicates the work of earlier studies
and extends the analysis by being the first to control for
occupation while examining the coverage of women. This is
accomplished by looking only at newspaper treatment of
females who are state officials. This focus on governmental
occupations allows for the examination of the importance of

occupation in determining news coverage. In the absence of

any sexist bias, females who hold governmental positions were

expected to be covered as often and in the same way as males
who have the same job. However, if feminists are correct in
arguing that sexist bias is the determining factor in

coverage of females, then newspapers were expected to either

ignore or trivialize the female officials in the sample.

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER I

1
Herbert J Gans, Dggiging Whgtis News. (New York:
Vintage Books, 1979); Leon V. Sigal. B§29££§£§ 994 Qiii§i§l§-
(Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath, 1973).
2
American Society of Newspaper Editors, "Statement of
Principles," quoted in Catherine East and Dorothy Misener
Jurney. Be! Directiees i9: Hess; (American Society of
Newspaper Editors and the Women Studies Program and Policy
Center of The George Washington University, 1983).
3
Gans and Sigal.

4Mary Anne Baker, Catherine White Berheide, Fay Ross
Greckel, Linda Garstarphen Guigin, Margia J. Lipetz and
Marcia Texler Segal, ngen Igdgy.(Monterey, Calif.:
Brooks/Cole Publishing Co., 1980).

5

Suzanne Pingree and Robert P. Hawkins, "News

Definitions and Their Effects on Women," in Laurily Keir
Epstein, figmeg gnd the News. (New York: Hastings House,
1978).

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Sieeliehi Fasten Eihhersiehesfli The Erssyse and §tezeetxeies
9i Essen 195993999: Eistezx

The idea that women receive different treatment than men
in the public records of a society is at least 300 years
old.1 Since the 16005, writers have been arguing that women
are either ignored or portrayed in a stereotypical manner.
The invisiblity that comes from being ignored has been
labeled as the erasure of women by several writers. The works
of dozens of writers, from Behn in the mid 16003 to Gage in
the late 18803 and Spender in 1983, suggest that any problem
that exists in the coverage of women in the modern news media
is not a new phenomenon.2 An examination of their work and of
the stereotypes that have been held about women in the past
must be the basis of any study that explores the possible
erasure and stereotyping of women in contemporary news media.

Researchers cannot fully understand erasure and stereotyping

in the present unless they know what these phenomena looked

like in the past.

In their work, Behn, Gage and Spender argue that women
and their work and accomplishments are erased because they
are simply not put into the public record. Historians do not
report their accomplishments. Editors of anthologies and
textbooks do not include their work. Scholars do not discuss
their work. Journalists refuse to write about them.3 If a
woman’s accomplishments are too important to ignore, then her
role as creator is explained away, according to Spender.
Instead of being shown as an author, she is shown as being a
co-author or simply a helper to the real author, who is
inevitably male. At other times she is portrayed as a
populizer of ideas even if she is the creator of those ideas.
In the end, men get the credit.4

Both Gage and Spender discuss the erasure of women in
detail. Much of Gage’s published work involves documentation
of women’s achievements and of the ways in which these
achievements were kept out of the public record of her time.
For example, Gage wrote that the contemporary wisdom of her
era was that few women had served in government. To counter
this idea, Gage listed many English women who had served in
government. During the reign of Henry III, four women held
seats in Parliament. In the 13th century Queen Elinor sat as
Lord Chancellor in the Aula Regia, the highest court in the
kingdom. Gage also reported about the reign of Martia, who

created the first principles of common law. Gage said that

her efforts were generally ignored while the laws of Alfred

and Edward the Confessor became well known. This occurred
despite the fact that the laws of the two men were
restorations and compilations of Martia’s laws, Gage said.5

While the work of some women like Martia was taken over
and claimed as the work of men, Spender said the work of
other women has been ignored by both men and women because
male critics have ridiculed the physical appearance or the
lifestyle of the women.6 These women were turned into such
objects of public scorn that their ideas were ignored.
Spender documents dozens of these cases of what she calls
harassment, including the case of Margaret Fuller, an
American who died in 1850 in the midst of her career as a
journalist. Fuller was the first editor of the magazine, The
Qigl, and a literary critic for the New York Tribune. Her
work has often been ignored by scholars, in part, because of
a book published two years after her death by Ralph Waldo
Emerson, William Henry Channing and James Freeman Clark. That
book inaccurately described Fuller as ”an arrogant old maid,
aggressive and ugly" and generally ignored her published
work, making Fuller seem to scholars to be a poor subject for
study, Spender said.7

Another kind of harassment that has been discussed for
centuries is the continual representation of women in a
stereotypical manner. Behn argued that men distribute only
their limited, one-sided view of women even though women
experience the world and themselves very differently than men

8

believe. "Sophia,"

an anonymous writer who probably was

English journalist Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, agreed with
Behn. "Sophia" wrote in 1739 that men produce a view of women
that only shows females as irrational and inferior.9

Evidence of a stereotypical picture of women can be found
in the writings of cultures ranging from ancient Judaism and
Greece to the Middle Ages and 18003 America.10 Although the
details of the stereotype have varied, major elements of it
have remained constant. These elements include the ideas that
females are mentally and emotionally inferior to males and
that their only real contributions to the world come from
being virtuous mothers and wives.

The idea that females are emotionally and mentally
weaker than males can be dated back thousands of years. For
example, both Plato and Aristotle described women as inferior
to men. Plato wrote in The Republic that a woman’s capacity
to learn is less than that of a man.11 Aristotle
scientifically "proved" the inferiority of women -- a proof
that Bullough contended dominated much of Western thought
until modern times.12 Aristotle believed that females were
intellectually and morally inferior to males because in
nature the male of the species was always larger, stronger
and more agile. Females simply had a natural deficiency,
Aristotle wrote. This meant, he believed, that males were
meant to rule. "For although there may be exceptions to the
order of nature, the male is by nature fitter for command
than the female, just as the elder and full grown is superior

13
to the younger and more immature."

In the Middle Ages, females were often portrayed as
child-like creatures. They were inferior to males who were
seen as both adult and capable. For example, the Virgin Mary
was described as being prey to the normal womanly caprices.
"She loved grace, beauty, ornament, her toilette, robes,

l4
jewels and she demanded attention." In the 15th century,
Leon Battista Alberti explained that the inferiority of women
meant that they were only suited for a certain role.

The character of men is stronger than that of women

and can bear the attacks of enemies better, can

stand strain longer, is more constant under stress

Women, on the other hand, are almost all timid by
nature, soft, slow, and therefore more useful when

they sit still and watch over our things. It is as

though nature thus provided for our well being,

arranging for men to bring things home and for women

to guard over them.l5
Similar attitudes were evident in Elizabethan England where
one writer summed up women as "fond, foolish, wanton,
fibbergibbes, tatlers, triflers, wavering, witless, without
counsell, feeble, careless, rashe, proude, deintie, nise,
talebearers, eavesdroppers, rumor raisers, evell tonged,

16
worse minded."(sic)

In the United States, proofs of women’s inferiority came
from the medical profession. Dr. Edward H. Clarke said in
1873 that any attempt by women to compete with men would
reduce women to unhealthy invalids and make them unfit for

17
childbearing. One Oregon physician said that the studying
required for higher education killed sexual desire in women,
18
took away their physical beauty and led to sterility.

Practical examples of the fact that men expected women to be

10

incompetent can also be found in 19th century America.

During the Civil War, a man was appointed to chair the
Women’s Central Association for Relief even though the
association had been organized by females. The man was given
the job, Bullough said, because it was assumed that women
would be incapable of chairing such a body.19 In 1893 when a
Board of Lady Managers was established to oversee women’s
activities at the Chicago World’s Fair, "journalists expected
they would accomplish nothing of importance since many
(journalists) still held women to be innately incapable of
governing or administering anything."20 When the new board
failed to live up to the stereotypical image of women and was
a success, some journalists invented stories and exaggerated
incidents of what Bullough calls "quarreling and hysterics"
among the female members of the board.21 This overexaggeration
is identical to the overexaggeration that some mass media
researchers have said occurred in recent coverage of women’s
activities.

The idea that a woman’s worth is based only on her
ability as mother and wife also goes back thousands of years.
In the Bible, the first woman, Eve, was shown as being
created only as a helpmate for a lonely Adam. In Rome, the
whole "system was designed to suggest that women were not, or
ought not, to be genuine individuals, but only a fraction of
a family, specifically anonymous and passive fractions."22

For example, until late in Roman history, women did not have

individual names. The names that appear in Roman literature

11

like Claudia and Julia were family names with feminine
endings.23 In America in the 19th century, people were
horrified if any woman rejected motherhood. Thus, any
distribution of information on contraception was against the
law.24 At that time, Bullough said, some writers compared the
obligation of women to bear children with the obligation of
men to serve in the military. "Such a pattern had been set by
biology and one prominent writer claimed that any person who
interfered with either of these duties should be regarded as

25
a traitor.”

M

ZEeeeiyeI Heneennetiiiyei Illesieelg- §teneetxeins ei Henen

in the Eneeent

In the past decade, sociologists have found evidence
that Americans continue to believe that women are incompetent
in worldly matters and of importance only as wives and
mothers. Tests have shown evidence of such beliefs by both
sexes, by the married and the unmarried, and by people of
widely varying ages and education.

In a 1972 article reviewing six years of research that
has become the basis for most other research in the area,
Broverman et a1 said their tests of 599 men and 383 women
"demonstrate the contemporary existence of clearly defined
sex-role stereotypes for men and women." 26 Using a

questionnaire of 41 items, the researchers found their

subjects viewed males as being competent and emotionally cold

12

while females were seen as being incompetent and emotionally
warm. The researchers classified these beliefs as being made
up of clusters of male-valued and female-valued items.

Included in the (male-valued) cluster are attributes

such as being independent, objective, active,

competitive, logical, skilled in business, worldly,
adventurous, able to make decisions easily,
self-confident, always acting as a leader, ambitious.

A relative absence of these traits characterize the

stereotypic perceptions of women, that is, relative

to men, women are perceived to be dependent,

subjective, passive, noncompetitive illogical, etc.27

On the other hand, the female-valued items consisted of
"attributes such as gentle, sensitive to feelings of others,
tactful, religous, neat, quiet, interested in art and
literature, able to express tender feelings." Men were

28
perceived as lacking in these characteristics.

The pervasiveness of stereotypes is shown by the fact
that many different kinds of people agreed on the differing
characteristics of men and women, the researchers reported.
The age of respondents ranged from 17 to 60 years and their
education ranged from elementary school to advanced graduate
degrees. A study of 79 practicing mental health clinicians
found evidence that these professionals believe in the
stereotypes of the male and female. The sample consisted of
clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and psychiatric social
workers. Forty-six were men (31 of whom held Phd or MA
degrees) and 33 women (16 with Phd degrees). Their ages ranged
from 23 to 55 and their experience went from an internship to

29

extensive professional practice.

Broverman et al also concluded that large segments of

13

society approve and even idealize the stereotypes. For
example, data for 137 college men who were given the
questionnaire indicate that the men "feel that it is
desireable for women to be less independent, less rational,
less ambitious etc. then men."30

More recent studies confirm that these stereotypes
continue to exist. Using a modified version of the
questionnaire administered by Broverman et al, Ruble surveyed
a sample of 32 males and 32 female undergraduates in an upper
division course on organizational behavior at a midwestern
university in 1978.31 Overall, the average level of agreement
on how typical and desireable it would be for a man or woman
to possess each characteristic exceeded 85 percent.
Comparison of the ratings yielded significant differences on
53 of 54 items. "Thus, stereotypes of the sexes apparently
remained strong during the 19703," he concluded.32

The elements of the stereotypes Ruble found included the
same kinds of male-valued and female-valued items as those in
Broverman et al. The respondents scored the typical male,
among other things, as being more independent, more
aggressive than women, not excitable in minor crisis, skilled
in business, having mechanical aptitude, being outspoken,
acting as a leader, self-confident, dominent, not easily
influenced, active, loud, more interested in sex, making
decisions easily, not timid, standing up under pressure, good

at sports, competitive, intellectual. The typical female was

described, among other things, as being more emotional, more

14

grateful, more home-oriented than the male, being kind,
crying easily, being creative, understanding, considerate,
devoting self to others, needing approval, aware of others
feelings, excitable in a major crisis, expressing tender
feelings, enjoying art and music, not hiding emotion,
tactful, helpful to others, neat, religous, liking children
and needing security.33

In another study, Huston—Stein and Higgins-Trenk
concluded that negative sex stereotypes of feminine
competence were still strong and pervasive. The researchers
found this even though they found a change in attitudes about
work and family roles.34

A study by Reis and Wright found that sex stereotyping
starts very early in Americans.35 Basing their work on other
studies that found evidence that 5-year-old children possess
an articulate knowledge of sex-role stereotypes, Reis and
Wright found evidence of stereotyping among children as young
as 3 1/2. Reis and Wright studied children between 3 and 5
years of age. The subjects were 100 children from four
predominently white, middle-class day care centers and one
group of children who spent their days at home with their
mothers. The researchers found that the subjects were able to
match masculine and femine stereotypical statements with
pictures of the appropriate sex. The masculine stereotype
statements included the ideas that the individual gets into

fights, is adventurous, gets along by himself, talks loudly,

sits and thinks about what to do, and is strong. The feminine

15

characteristics included the ideas that the person cries a
lot, is appreciative, weak, and talkative, changes her mind,
and is gentle, fussy, quiet and afraid.36 Reis and Wright
also found that the children’s knowledge of stereotypes
increased as they got older. "Age trends appeared such that
older children, as well as all children as they got older,
demonstrated greater gender categorization of various

37
behavior traits."

"Ridicule and Disbelief:" Feminist Criticisms of the News

Feminists have called news coverage of women shallow and
stereotypical for at least a century. The depths of the
distrust of the mass market media is illustrated by the
500 to 1,000 feminist publications that have been
published in the last century to tell the story feminists
have said is ignored by the mass media.38 These publications
have ranged from Ihg ngglgtigp, which was first published in
1868 by activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
and lasted two and one half years, to Thg nggglg Jggrpgl,
which was first published by activist Lucy Stone and ran from
1869 to 1914.39 Contemporary feminist publications have
included gff pg; bggks (sic), a Washington-based monthly
newspaper, which has a nationwide circulation of more than
15,000 built over 14 years of publication;40 and MS, a
glossy, mass-produced magazine, which was first published in

41
1971 and now has a circulation of more than 400,000. Jo

16

Freeman, a co-founder of the now defunct Veiee 9f wegegie
libQEEEiQQ (sic), has written that the multitude of feminist
publications began ”out of disillusionment with the
commercial press and in the belief that only women’s movement
publications would give the movement fair coverage."42

One of the continuing feminist criticisms of mass market
news media has been the charge that the media contribute to
the erasure of women by refusing to cover women and the
women’s movement. Peggy Simpson, an AP Congressional
correspondent and Nieman Fellow, presented several incidences
of this in an article she wrote in 1979.43 "Many of the
benchmarks of change in the 19603 and 19703 were ignored,"
she wrote.44 Those unreported stories included three Supreme
Court rulings that struck down state laws restricting work
opportunities for women. These cases were filed by women
factory workers who were kept from better paying jobs because
state law limited the hours they could work and the weight
they could lift. "The nullification of these laws had
sweeping consequences and opened up whole new worlds of work
for women."45 Simpson also listed four other major unreported
stories including an analysis of far-right conservative
strategy in the campaign against ERA and abortion.46

In a 1984 article Buresh, a former newspaper reporter
and Negeweek correspondent who teaches journalism at Boston
University, gave a Bgeigeee Week cover story of July 30,
1984, as an example of how women often "find themselves

47
missing" in the news. The article was about the factions

17

within the Democratic Party. Yet apart from mentioning that
Geraldine Ferraro had been nominated for vice president, it
never once mentioned the participation of women in the
party.48

Criticism of journalists for only presenting a
stereotypical image of women has also been frequent. In one
essay, Ward, an associate professor of journalism at the
University of Minnesota, argued that journalists often base

49
their work on sexist presumptions. Her list included such

presumptions as "all people are male unless proven female,"" a
woman’s relationship to a man (or men) is her defining

"N

identity, a woman’s appearance always requires comment" and

"status as a housewife takes precedence over all other kinds
of status."50 Ward reported that examples of this kind of
thinking include a 1976 article that states that "booze has
played as big a part in the lives of modern American writers
as talent, money, women and longing to be top dog."51 This
statement leaves no room for a writer to be a woman. A 1979
Neg geek Timee article carried on the tradition of focusing
on a woman’s physical appearance by describing Margaret
Thatcher as "a small, fine-boned woman with pale blue eyes,
the kind of complexion the English always liken to a rose and

52
hair that she readily admits to dyeing blond." A Wall

Stgee: Jeeggel article presented an example of a woman being
classified as a wife no matter what she has accomplished.

That article noted: "For most farmers, a wife is an immense

asset as a livestock feeder, errand-runner and extra tractor

18

driver. But Mr. Nelson’s wife, Leona, is more than that: She
ran the farm single-handedly five days a week for 20
years."53 The question, of course, is how Mr. Nelson, who did
not actually farm, came to be classified as a farmer, while
the person who worked the farm for 20 years failed to qualify
for the title.
Feminists have also criticized the mass market news
media for focusing on minor incidents that emphasize
stereotypes of women while ignoring the larger story. In her
1973 article, AP correspondent Simpson wrote that this
happened in the coverage of the United Nations international
conference on women in Mexico City in 1975.54 This occurred
when a photograph of a half dozen Mexican and Argentine women
struggling over a microphone was published all over the
world. The argument only involved six women out of 6,000 at
the conference. Yet the photograph was widely circulated
with the caption, "Women fighting at the International Women’s
Conference." Simpson said this simply reinforced stereotypes
about women.
"I first knew about the photo 10 hours after its release
when New York requested a story to explain the conflict.
Since the dispute was extremely parochial ... there was
no story. Unfortunately, that photo was the most widely
distributed picture of the conference and helped to reinforce
a stereotype in the minds of many editors and people in
general that women can't get along and that they resolve
conflict by shouting and pulling hair.55
The Mexico City coverage is only one example of the way
the news media treated "early women’s liberation activities
with a mixture of humor, ridicule and disbelief," according

56 .
to Freeman. The treatment of feminist activities was

19

anything but equal to the treatment of the activities of male
radicals. For example, when the Yippies utilized guerrilla

theater tactics in the late 19603 "reporters had examined the

9

political message underneath the yippie spoofs,‘ Freeman

said. However, when female activists engaged in similar
spoofs, such as those at the 1968 Miss America contest where

a ”freedom trash can" was filled with bras, girdles, false

"

eyelashes and other instruments of female oppression,"

reporters "just glanced at the surface of the women’s actions
57
and used them to illustrate how silly women are."

20

igennen §tereetxnee Die Berni: Ine Eereeeetiye 9! Mess Resin
Beeeenen

During the past decade, mass media researchers in a variety
of studies have found evidence supporting feminist criticisms
of the media. Experimental studies have found indications of
sexist attitudes among newspaper gatekeepers and journalism
and communication students. Content analyses have shown that

women have been treated differently than men in news stories.

Studies of News Decision Making
A test of 36 gatekeepers by Whitlow found that some of

them treated stories featuring women differently than stories
featuring men.58 The subjects were 17 female and 19 male city
editors, wire editors, sports editors, women’s or family
section editors and reporters who worked for a national
sample of newspapers with circulations ranging from 39,000 to
more than 300,000. The subjects were asked to decide which
stories out of a group of 48 should be printed by their
newspapers. Half of the stories had news principals who were
male and half featured news principals who were female.59

Even though the news-sorting pattern exhibited by the
greatest number of subjects did not consider gender, Whitlow
found other patterns that appeared to be based on gender.60

For example, the decision—making pattern of some of the

subjects was "significantly characterized by rejections of

21

61
items having female news principals." Other subjects showed

reservations about selecting stories showing non-traditional
role behaviors by either sex.62 While the methodology of the
study did not allow for generalization of the findings to
other news professionals, the study did show that there may
be some justification for concern about the coverage of
women, Whitlow said. "We can assume that for at least one
type of gatekeeper, the selection and handling given an item
is influenced by the sex and to a lesser degree by the role
of the news principal and when the news principal is female
the newsworthiness of the item diminishes."63

Evidence that college communication undergraduates
believe stereotypes about women was found by Orwant and
Cantor.64 To determine if student’s perceptions of people’s
information preferences are affected by sex-role stereotypes,
the researchers asked more than 150 students in communication
classes at American University to fill out a questionnaire in
March 1973. The subjects were asked to rate the interest of
men, women and the general public in several different kinds
of news. Orwant and Cantor found that subjects of both sexes
said that women would be more interested in the
stereotypically female subjects of cooking, fashion and
religion. Men were expected to be more interested in the
stereotypically male subjects of business, sports, science
and politics.65 The researchers concluded that "the results

of this study strongly suggest that communication students’

perceptions of audience news interests are influenced by the

22

66
sex-role stereotypes."

Two experimental studies with journalism students found
evidence of stereotyping in news writing.67
Drew and Miller asked student reporters to write stories
about the appointment of a new public relations director for
a local school district. In half of the information given to
65 Stanford University students, the appointee was male. In
the other half, the appointee was female. With the exception
of a name change, the information was identical. Besides
being asked to write a story, the students were told to
devise a list of questions for the appointee.68
While the data did not indicate blatant stereotyping, Drew
and Miller reported "a suggestion of a subtle bias in the
reporting."69 For example, the stories tended to use more
assertions about qualifications for the job when the
appointee was male. Such a difference could come from a
belief by reporters that the male is more qualified for the
job, Drew and Miller said. The female appointee also received
more questions about her private life, which seemed "to
indicate a concern about the ablity of the woman to handle
both traditional and professional roles."70
In a similar experiment, Barnes et al asked 30 Syracuse
University students to write a story about the appointment of
a new school superintendent. Again the students were given
identical information except that half were told David

Chandler was the appointee and half were told Elizabeth

Tomkins Chandler got the job.

23

The researchers found that reporters were more likely to
inlude assertions about the appointee’s marital status and
looks when writing about the female. "This is in keeping with
research ... and with the pessimistic expectation that gender
stereotypes die hard: describing a female source in the same
professional terms as a male source is still wishful
thinking."71 While a post-test questionnaire showed that the
subjects agreed that a woman is suitable for the position,
"they were hard-pressed to assign the same characteristics to
the female as they did to the male."72 For example, two
sentences, written by different male subjects, show how
identical information can be presented "in such a way as to

' In writing

change the reader’s perception of the source.’
about the male, one reporter noted: "Fielding questions with
aplomb, the 34-year-old, slightly built Chandler declined to
comment." The other student wrote about the female: "Mrs.
Chandler, with brown hair and brown eyes, a slim maybe even
frail build, showed herself to be tougher than she looks." In
the first sentence, Chandler is confident and masterful. In
the second, the female appointee is "made to seem almost

73
anemic -- but surprisingly able to survive."

Studies of News Content
Evidence of stereotyping in news coverage has also been
uncovered in five newspaper content analyses by NOW, Foreit
74

et a1, Davis, Morris and East and Jurney.

In analyzing nine Washington D.C. and Virginia

24

newspapers during the summer of 1972 and one month in the
winter of 1973, The National Organization for Women found
that hard news about females appeared more often in the
woman’s sections than in the sections of the newspaper in
which hard news about men appeared. The study also found that
82 percent of the obituaries published by The H§§DIQEEQB Pee;
for that period were about men.75

In two studies of two Texas papers, Foreit et al found
that women were treated differently than men. In the first
study, an equal number of stories with male and female news
principals were randomly selected from The Tee; heghh Sheg:
Ielesren and The Belles Iinee heneln in the fall of 1976-76

Analysis showed no reliable differences in length of
stories, frequency of pictures or size of pictures. However,
the researchers did find differences in descriptions of the
actors. Marital status, indicated by means other than the
courtesy title "Mrs," was given for 64 percent of the female
principals as opposed to 12 percent of the male principals.
Personal appearance was mentioned in 38 percent of the
female-centered stories compared to 14 percent of the male—
centered stories. The researchers also found that most of the
stories about women ran in the women’s sections while the
stories about men ran in other sections of the papers.77

The second study was designed to avoid any bias that
may have resulted from different writing styles in different

newspaper sections. In this study, the researchers examined

national wire service stories that appeared in the first

25

section of The Qellee Tihee hehelg. Almost 300 stories were
collected during five weeks in the fall of 1977.

Although the total frequencies were low, each of the
variables of marital status and description showed a reliable
sex difference. They were all mentioned significantly more
often for women than for men.78 The researchers concluded
that men and women received different treatment in their
sample -— a difference which could not be attributed to the
greater number of men than women in the public eye or to the
section of the newspaper where stories about men and stories
about women were found.79

Davis found evidence of different treatment of men and
women in appearance, story length and context of mention.
Approximately 5,500 stories from eight medium-circulation
newspapers from across the nation were analyzed for a
constructed week in October 1979.80

Davis found that only 8.6 percent of the stories had
women as the main characters while 51.8 percent had male main
characters. Women were featured more often in shorter stories
and in those with smaller headlines while men were featured
in larger stories with larger headlines.81 Women were also
the main characters in hard news stories less often than men.
Of those stories, 6.9 percent featured women and 50.3 percent
featured men. Women were identified more often than men by
attire, physical description and by marital or parental

status. Women also made news far more often in domestic or

subordinate roles or as sex objects, but less often because

26
82
of occupation, sports or crime. "It appears that most of
these newspapers pretty much ignore 51 percent of the

population,’ Davis concluded. "The bias was pervasive,
indicating that newspaper editors, whether they be male or
female, have little sensitivity toward women and women’s
issues."83
In a content analysis that focused only on coverage

of the women’s movement, Morris also found that women were
ignored by the newspapers. The analysis focused on the two
major Los Angeles papers from July 1968 to June 1979 and on
12 British newspapers from May 1969 through July 1970. The
time periods were chosen to coincide with the early formation
of the modern women’s movement in both locations.84

Morris found that out of more than 250,000 units of
news in the Los Angeles papers, 26 units, or approximately
one ten thousandth percent of the total, covered the women’s
movement. In the British newspapers, a total of 396 units
focused on the women’s movements.85 "Shortage of space can
hardly be considered an adequate reason for the withholding
of (this) news when the Daily Mirror (in England) devoted
nearly half a page to a photograph of a man loosing his two
front false teeth in a loaf of french bread," Morris said.86

East and Jurney’s qualitative study of the coverage of
six women’s events and issues by 10 major U.S. newspapers
also found that coverage was stereotypical, shallow and

inadequate. A total of 1,096 stories collected from 4,566

clippings donated by the newspapers were analyzed. The study

27

focused on coverage of domestic relations, The National
Women’s Conference in Houston in 1977, The UN World.
Conference for Women in Copenhagen in 1980, the legal impact
of the ERA, pay equity for women and enforcement of Title IX.
East and Jurney’s findings on the coverage of the UN
conference illustrate their findings on the coverage of the
other stories.87
In analyzing the coverage of the 1980 UN conference, the

researchers found that the newspapers generally ignored the
story or published coverage that was shallow and
stereotypical.88 The researchers argued that the three-week
conference, which was attended by 2,000 delegates from 145
nations, should have been covered in detail because of its
importance and accomplishments. The conference adopted a 287-
paragraph Program of Action and 48 resolutions. The United
States and 52 other nations also signed the UN Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
which called for equal rights in all fields.89

Only three major U.S. newspapers sent correspondents to
the sessions. Only one of those, the New York Times, was
among the papers in the study. This lack of coverage is
puzzling, East and Jurney said, because editors should have
known about the importance of the conference long before it
started. Pre-conference meetings were held in three of the
cities covered by the papers in the study. The UN and the

United States both provided advance press releases.

Furthermore, one paper that did send a correspondent to the

28

conference, The San Francisco Examiner, found that readers
were so interested in the conference that the newspaper was
able to issue a reprint of its conference coverage.90 Reg
Murphy, the editor and publisher of the Examiner at the time,
said the articles were reprinted because of the
"unprecedented hunger of news of the accomplishments" of the
conference and forum.91Jurney concluded, "It is difficult for
this retired editor, who is far from being a flaming
feminist, to understand how some of the country’s outstanding
newspapers could pay so little attention to an event
meaningful to the health, economy, education and well-being
of half of the world's population."92

East and Jurney also said the coverage that was printed
was either confusing or stereotypical. Spot news coverage
focused on conflict and failed to discuss conference’s
achievements. For example, the signing of the convention on
the elimination of discrimination was almost ignored. Three
papers in the sample never mentioned it and three other
papers mentioned it, but failed to tell readers what the
document said. "Without knowing what the convention provided

93
for, how could a reader understand its importance?"

A Qentneetins Yien; Qeennetien es s Eeeeihle lntenyenins

Variable

Even though these studies present evidence of what Davis

29

94
calls "sexism in newspapers," the work of other

researchers suggest that there might be an alternate
explanation for these inequalities. Several researchers
including Sigal and Gans have noted that journalists are
producing one-sided coverage by focusing on high ranking
government officials while generally ignoring the rest of the
population.95

In a study of the hen Xenh Iinee and heshinsten Beet.
Sigal said content analyses of stories and study of reporting
procedures and interactions between reporters and sources
shows that high government officials have a virtual monopoly
on the national news.96 In noting that "what the news is"
depends on who the sources are, Sigal likened each day's
front page to a frame in a movie. The movie camera may belong
to journalists, he said, but the lights are in the hands of
the sources because they control the information. One cause
of distortion in the news is the fact that sources aim those
lights in the directions that are most advantageous to them.
"Moreover, if every other news source had a flashlight to
point wherever he chose to, senior officials would have a
spotlight and the President, a beacon."97 Senior federal
officials exert tremendous control over the news simply
because of their positions in government. "Within the
government, senior officials, by dint of their virtual
monopoly of access to routine channels of news and their

means of controlling subordinates’ disclosures, can dominate

press discussion of issues by the sheer volume of their own

30

98
emanations."

Sigal’s content analysis of all national and foreign
front page stories in the two newspapers focused on two
randomly selected weeks in 1949, 1954, 1959, 1964 and
1969.99 Out of 2,850 stories analyzed, 58.2 percent came
from routine channels, 15.7 percent from informal channels
and 25.8 percent from enterprise channels. This is an
important finding because routine channels only expose
reporters to officials and their ideas. Study of the beat
system of newsgathering at the newspapers found that the
system concentrates staff at routine channels that are set up
by federal officials. Most of the channels are generally
under the control of senior officials. Sigal concluded that
"the routine channels for newsgathering thus constitute the
mechanism for official dominance of national and foreign news
at the two papers."100 Sigal found that federal officials
made up 46.5 percent of the news sources in the analyzed
stories while foreign and international officials were
sources for 27.4 percent of the stories. Nongovernment
sources were used 16.5 percent of the stories. Sigal noted
that access to the news had become so tilted towards high
ranking officials and particularly towards the executive
branch of government that members of Congress have even lost
some of their ability to make news.101

Gans came up with similar results in a content analysis

of domestic stories from CBS News telecasts in 1967 and from

stories in Newsweek’s National Affairs section in six months

31

102
in 1967, 1971, and 1975. Gans found that people be
classified aernowns -- well-known political, economic,
social or cultural figures -- dominated his sample. Out of a

total of 3,483 stories about 75 percent of the people in the
news were Knowns with 18 percent unknown people. The other
stories were about animals, objects or abstractions. Gans
also found that several types of Knowns dominated domestic
news, including incumbent presidents, presidental candidates,
leading federal officials and state and local officials. The
most dominent individual in the news is the highest ranking
person in the government -- the president, Gans said.103 "The
single invidiual who appears in the news most often year
after year is the president." He appeared in every issue of
the newsmagazine and on virtually all television news
programs. For example, in 1975 he took up 23 percent of all
magazine space about the well-known and almost 10 percent of
all domestic news. "Unlike people who get into the news only
when they are involved in unusual, innovative or dramatic
activities, he is the only individual whose routine
activities are deemed newsworthy."104

Gans also noted that probably less than 50 Knowns, most
of them high federal officials, were repeatedly mentioned in
his sample. Heads of minority parties and more informal
political groups only received coverage when they lead
demonstrations or were associated with civil disobedience.105

Unknown people obtained about one fifth of the available time

and space. Most of that coverage was devoted to protestors,

32

rioters and strikers, and to victims of crime and disasters.
Gans concluded:
The Unknowns who appear in the news are, by most
criteria, an unrepresentative lot and most ordinary
people never come into the news, except as statistics.
How ordinary people work, what they do outside working
hours, in their families, churches, clubs and other
organizations and how they relate to government and public
agencies hardly ever makes the news.106
An examination of the economic and political situation
of women in the United States suggests that if Sigal and Gans
are correct in claiming that the unknown people are ignored
by the news, than newspapers can be expected to ignore women.
Greckel reported that women are sex segregated into a small
number of low-paying, low-prestige, low-power jobs such as
secretary, nurse and teacher.107 Men also hold the vast
majority of high level positions in business and government,
according to Guigin. Several studies show that the higher the
rank of positions studied in business and government, the
fewer the number of women. One researcher found that as Civil
Service job ratings go up, the number of women goes down and
the number of men goes up. Women also get little or no chance
to gain economic power by amassing wealth. They are not only
clustered in lower-paying jobs, but they have a consistently
higher unemployment rate than men and earn about 60 percent
of the amount that men earn, according to Greckel.108 Women
are also more tied to the home and have less time to enter
the public, newsmaking arena of politics. Their home

commitments also give them less time to further their

education in order to advance in business or government.

33

These commitments come from the fact that women are
responsible for most of the child care, housework and laundry
chores in the United States, according to Greckel.109

In fact, Pingree and Hawkins have suggested that women’s
lack of economic and political power may be one reason why
women are often ignored by the news media.110 Women‘s lack of
power gives them little chance to gain prominence, and thus,
little chance to gain news value. In the eyes of journalists,
the authors said, "most women are denied the decision-making
power that would make their actions news, and without power
and the consequent prominence, only their most obtrusive

lll
actions are newsworthy."

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER II

1

Dale Spender, Weheh 9T Tdeee. (London: Ark Paperbacks,
1983), pp. 32—156.

2

Aphra Behn, quoted in Spender, pp.32-42; Matilda Joslyn
Gage. heneni thneh and §tete. (Chicago: Charles Kerr. 1873.
reprent ed. Watertown, Mass.: Persephone Press, 1980);
Spender.

3

See Spender, pp. 2-42; Joanna Russ, Rey he Seppgeee
Weheh:§ Whihihg, (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press,
1983).

Spender, pp. 230—236.
Gage, pp. 30-31.

Spender, pp. 29-32.

Ibid, pp. 197-212.

mama's.

Ibid, p. 35.
9

Ibid, pp. 68-85.
10
Vern L. Bullough. The §nhenninete §es. (Urbana, 111.:
The University of Illinois Press, 1973).

11

Ibid, p. 60.
12

Ibid, p. 63.
13

Ibid, p. 64.
14

Ibid, p. 170.
15

Ibid, p. 193.
16

Ibid, p. 195.
17

Ibid, p. 322.
18

Ibid.
19

Ibid, p. 316.
20

Ibid.

35

21
Ibid.
22
Ibid, p. 82.
23
Ibid.
24
Ibid, p. 311.
25
Ibid.
26
Inge K. Broverman, Susan Raymond Vogel, Donald K.
Broverman, Frank E. Clarkson and Paul S. Rosenkrantz, "Sex-

Role Stereotypes: A Current Appraisal," geehhel 9T geeTeT
Teeeee 28 (1972):?5.
27
Ibid, p. 66.
28
Ibid, p. 67.
29
Ibid, p. 65.
30
Ibid, p. 68.
31
Thomas L. Ruble, "Sex Stereotypes: Issues of Change in
the 19703," §e§ BeTee 9:3 (1983):398-9.

32

Ibid, p. 397.
33

Ibid, p. 400.
34

A. Huston-Stein and A. Higgins-Trenk, "The Development
of Females: Career and Feminine Role Aspirations." In P.B.
Baltes (ed.). Liiez§een Deseleeneni and hehezien 1291; 11-
(New York: Academic Press, 1978).

35

Harry T. Reis and Stephanie Wright, "Knowledge of Sex-
Role Stereotypes in Children Aged 3 to 5," See Relee 8:10
(1982):1049-1056.

36

Ibid, p. 1052.
37

Ibid, p. 1055.
38

Maurine Beasley and Sheila Gibbons, Women in Media: A

DQEBEQQEQEX §QBIQ§ heeh, (Washington, D.C.: Women’s Institute
for Freedom of the Press, 1977).

39

Ibid, pp. 24-27.
40

Ibid, pp. 116-118.
41

Ibid, pp. 119-125.

36

42
J0 Freeman, "The Politics of Women’s Liberation," in
Beasley and Gibbons, pp. 111—112.
43
Peggy A. Simpson, "Covering the Women’s Movement,"
Nieman Beeente. Summer 1979. pp. 19-23.
44
Ibid, p. 21.
45
Ibid.
46
Ibid, p. 23.

P
47 :
Bernice Buresh, "Critical Mass," The QyTTT, September F
1984, pp. 14-20, 33. ‘
48 ‘
Ibid, p. 20.
49
Jean Ward, "Attacking the King’s English: Implications
for Journalism in the Feminist Critique," gehhhelieh
QEQELQEl! 52 (1975): pp.699-705; "Check Out Your Sexism: A
Quiz for JournalistS." Qelnnhie lennnelien Beyien. May/June
1980, pp. 38-39.
50
Ibid (1980), p. 38.
51
Ibid, p. 39.
52
Ibid.
53
Ibid.
54
Simpson, p. 22.
55
Ibid.
56
Freeman, p. 112.
57
Ibid.
58
S. Scott Whitlow, "How Male and Female Gatekeepers
Respond to News Stories of Women," JQBEBéli§E QEQIlgElY 54
(1977): 573-579, 609.

 

59

Ibid, pp. 574-575.
60

Ibid, pp. 577-579.
61

Ibid, p. 579.
62

Ibid.
63

Ibid, p. 609.
64

Jack Orwant and Muriel Cantor, "How Sex Stereotyping

37

Affects Perceptions of News Preferences," JQQEB§11§Q
QBQEEQEl! 54 (1977): 88-108.139.

65

Ibid, pp. 103-104.
66

Ibid, p. 139.
67

Dan G. Drew and Susan H. Miller, "Sex Stereotyping and
Reporting." Jennnelien Qnentenlx 54 (1977): 142-146; James
Barnes, Mary Patterson, Lorrie Arden, Nam Jun Kang, "The
Effect of Gender of Source and Reporter on News Coverage,"
presented at The Status of Women Committee research session,
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication, Gainesville, Florida, August 1984.

68

Drew and Miller, pp. 143-144.
69

Ibid, p. 146.
70

Ibid.
71

Barnes et al, p. 14.
72

Ibid, p. 15.
73

Ibid.

38

74

National Organization for Women, H§E§B§B§E MQBiEQEiBE
Egejeeh. (Arlington, VA.: NOW, Northern Virginia Chapter,
1973); Karen G. Foreit, Terna Agor, Johnny Byers, John Larue,
Helen Lokey, Michael Balazzini, Michele Patterson and Lillian
Smith, "Sex Bias in the Newspaper Treatment of Male-Centered
and Female-Centered News Stories," Seg Belee 6 (1980):475-
480; Junetta Davis, "Sexist Bias in Eight Newspapers,"
geghhelieh Qgeghegly 59 (1982): 456-460; Monica Morris,
"Newspapers and the New Feminists: Black Out as Social
Control?" geehhelieh Qgehhegly 50 (1973): 37-42; East and

Jurney.

75

NOW.
76

Foreit et al, p. 476.
77

Ibid, p. 477.
78

Ibid, p. 479.
79

Ibid.
80

Davis, p. 457.
81

Ibid, p. 459.
82

Ibid, p. 460.
83

Ibid.
84

Morris, pp. 38-39.
85

Ibid, pp. 40—41.
86

Ibid, p. 42.
87

East and Jurney, p. 6.
88

Ibid, p. 14.
89

Ibid, p. 15.
90

Ibid, p. 14.
91

Ibid.
92

Ibid.
93

Ibid, p. 15.
94

Ibid.
95

Davis, p. 475.

 

 

39

96
Gans and Sigal.
97
Sigal, p. 125.
98
Ibid, p. 189.
99
Ibid.
100
Ibid, p. 120.
101
Ibid, p. 125.
102
Ibid, p. 126.
103
Gans, pp. 6-7.
104
Ibid, p. 9.
105
Ibid.
106
Ibid, p. 10.
107
Ibid, p. 15.
108

Greckel, pp. 195-199.
109

Ibid, p. 194, 205-216.
110

Ibid, p. 169.
111

Pingree and Hawkins.
112

Ibid, p. 122.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The review of the historical, sociological, feminist and
mass media literature suggests that research questions for an
examination of the coverage of women should focus on erasure
and stereotyping.

In the news media, the erasure of any population can be
expected to take the form of the media’s failure to mention
members of the population. When members of the population are
mentioned, they could also be expected to get shorter stories.
These phenomena were found by Davis, Morris and Foreit et al.
However, these studies failed to control for occupation -- a
situation which may have produced skewed results.

Stereotyping of women in the news media can also be
expected to follow the outline of stereotyping uncovered by
Broverman et a1, Ruble, Reis and Wright and Orwant and
Cantor. Thus, women would be expected to be portrayed as only
being important as wives and mothers. They could also be

expected to be shown as unworldly and being solely interested

41

in matters of the home and family.

The previous studies of the media have looked for
evidence of this kind of stereotyping by examining whether
physical attributes, marital status and parental status are
discussed more often for women then for men. These variables
can indicate stereotyping because if women are only important
as wives and mothers, then their marital status, parental
status and their physical appearance are the most important
attributes about them. The earlier studies also looked for
evidence of stereotyping by examining whether women were.
mentioned more often in feature stories than in hard news
stories. Women could be expected to be the subjects of
feature stories more often than hard news stories because
women are stereotypically considered to be uninterested and
incapable in the areas that are usually the subjects of hard
news stories -- politics and economics. Davis, and Foreit et
al found evidence of both of these differences in coverage,
but again they failed to control for the possible effects of
occupation.

For the present study, five research questions were
chosen that would explore the variables previously examined
by the earlier mass media studies. However, the research
questions were also designed to extend the previous research
by incorporating a control on occupation. This was done by
focusing only on coverage of males and females in the same
newsworthy occupation.

The following research questions were probed in this

42

study:

1. Is the proportion of newspaper mentions of females
smaller than the proportion of females in a
particular newsworthy occupation?

Since the cited studies found that the coverage of women
equalled a much smaller proportion of the news columns than
women’s proportion of the total population, it is important
to determine whether a similar inequality will appear if
analysis is confined to coverage of a particular newsworthy
occupation.

However, an analysis of the coverage of all people within
one occupation might also be expected to show skewed results
if it did not control for the relative rankings of
individuals within that occupation. As Sigal and Gans have
noted, while it is true that the media tend to focus on
government officials, it is also true that they do not give
all officials the same amount of coverage. High ranking
officials like the president or governor receive an
overwhelmingly disproportionate amount of coverage. Since
females generally hold the lowest seniority, lowest ranked
positions, it is vital for any study of the coverage of women
to control for rank.

2. Are stories that mention females of a particular
newsworthy occupation , on the average,
shorter than stories that mention males of the same
occupation?

Davis’ study, in particular, found differences in
length. She found that as the length of the stories
increased, the percentage of stories dealing with women

1
decreased. The opposite was true for stories about men.

43

3. Are females in a particular newsworthy occupation
described more often than males in the same
occupation by attire, physical attributes and
marital and parental status?

Both Davis and Foreit et al found large differences in
the identification and description of males and females. For
example, Davis found that women were identified by marital
status in about 41 percent of the stories where they were
mentioned while men were identified in this way in about 7

2

percent of the stories.

4. Are females mentioned more often than males in
non-job contexts?

Davis, Foreit et a1, Barnes et al and East and Jurney
all found evidence of coverage that emphasized this aspect of
the stereotypical image of women. Such coverage also focused
more on stories about women in non-job feature contexts than
on hard news coverage of women in job-related contexts.

5. Does the overall qualitative image of a female

newsmaker in the news media match the
stereotypical female image more often than the
news media image of a male newsmaker?

Examination of qualitative evidence of stereotyping is
also important because of the findings of Broverman et al,
Ruble, and Reis and Wright on the prevalence in contemporary
America of stereotypes about women. In fact, Orwant and Cantor
found evidence of a strong belief in those stereotypes among
college communications students, who may someday become
journalists.

In the only qualitative study on the coverage of women

that was found in the literature, East and Jurney reported

44

that coverage of six women’s issues and events presented a
stereotypical picture of women. However, the East and Jurney
study was limited, particularly in identifying stereotypical
elements in coverage, because it failed to compare the
coverage of women’s issues with coverage of similar issues
involving men. Such comparisons are important in any research
designed to detect discrimination because discrimination
doesn’t exist unless one group is treated differently than

another.

 

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER III

1

Davis, pp. 458-459.
2

Ibid.

 

CHAPTER IV
METHODOLOGY
1

The coverage of Michigan state officials was chosen for
study because it makes possible some tight controls on
occupation and because of the importance of the population of
state officials. In particular, it is possible to include
both males and females of various occupational ranks. Thus,
this study examines coverage of several ranks within one
newsworthy occupation by looking at coverage of all state
officials. The study also examines coverage of males and
females who hold the same job -- the job of legislator -- and
have the same seniority.

It is also important to examine coverage of this
population of officials because of their importance to the
people of Michigan. As the people who create, implement
and enforce the laws of the state of Michigan, state
officials affect every person in the state. Thus, it is
vitally important that news coverage of this population be

accurate, fair, balanced and unbiased.

47

The Sample

Every story about Michigan state officials that appeared
in 21 state newspapers from Feb. 1, 1983 to April 7, 1983 was
analyzed.2 These papers included all of those with capital
bureaus and a randomly-selected sample of all other Michigan
dailies. 3 Wire service and broadcast stories were not
included to focus the analysis on the work of newspaper
journalists. The sample period was chosen to allow for the
examination of the coverage of a normal legislative session.
Approximately 450 stories were analyzed. The unit of analysis

was the story. Both quantitative analysis and a qualitative,

case study analysis were carried out.

The Quantitative Analysis

Three different kinds of quantitative analyses were
carried out. The first two focused on the coverage of state
legislators. One analysis included all legislators and the
other included all female legislators and male legislators
who had the same seniority.4 The third analysis included all
state officials. The different kinds of analysis were chosen
to control for occupation while correcting for problems
created by that control. The legislative study provided the
most rigorous control, but failed to provide a large enough
number of cases to allow for confident generalizations. The
analysis of all state official coverage, while not as tightly
controlled as the legislative analysis, provided a larger

number of cases.

 

48

For each of the analyses, the number of mentions was
determined by coding the names of the first and second state
officials encountered in each story. Mentions of the
governor, a male, were not included in this analysis because
the governor gets a disproportionate number of mentions.
Including the mentions of the governor would have skewed the
results.5 Story length was determined by calculating the
average word length for stories.

Data on the number of mentions and length of stories were
collected on all three levels of the quantitative analysis.
The variables that dealt with physical description and
marital or parental status were collected only for
legislators to allow for the greatest control for occupation.
Thus, any mention of a legislator’s physical appearance,
clothing, marital status, any use of the courtesy titles Miss
or Mrs, or any mention of a legislator’s children or of the
fact that the legislator is a parent was also coded.

Data on the context in which mentions were made was
collected for all officials and for all legislators. For both
of those groups the context of each mention was coded as
either job related or non-job related. Job-related contexts
were considered to be any mention of the official in the
context of leadership, bill advocate and/or opponent, home
district partisan, corruption or impropriety, comments on and
reactions on state topics, comments and reactions on non-
state topics and appointments to posts. Ceremonial

activities, amusing incidents and features on life or

lifestyle were categorized as non-job contexts. Categories
for accidents and illness and "other" were also coded, but
were not included in the analysis.

Tests of statistical significance were not performed
because the entire universe of newspaper coverage for the

study period was analyzed, making such tests inappropriate.

The Case Study Analysis

This consisted of a qualitative review of the coverage of
five individuals who were the focus of a series of news
stories during the study period. Chosen for study was
coverage of Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director
Howard Tanner, state Treasurer Robert Bowman, state Supreme
Court Justice Dorothy Comstock Riley, state Supreme Court
Justice Patricia Boyle and state Department of Social
Services Director Agnes Mansour. Coverage of these
individuals was chosen because all five were of roughly equal
governmental rank at the time of the study. Tanner, Bowman
and Mansour headed state departments while Riley and Boyle
held seats on the highest court in the state. Riley, Tanner
and Mansour were chosen for study because they were involved
in similar kinds of controversies about their fitness for
office. Analysis of the coverage of Boyle was included
because of her involvement in the Riley controversy. Bowman
is the only one of the five who was not involved in a
controversy over his job. His coverage was included because

Bowman was the male with the largest number of first mentions

50

after the governor. Sixty stories made up this part of the
study. Nine focused on Tanner, 10 on Bowman, 19 on Mansour,
16 on Riley and six on Boyle.

The qualitative analysis consisted of a careful reading
of all of the stories. An outline of the image of each of the
five officials portrayed in the coverage was then drawn up.
That outline was based on such things as the descriptive
words and phrases used for each official and the actions that
were reported for each official. The images of the female
officials and of the males were then compared to the
elements of the contemporary stereotype of women that are
discussed below. The presence of any one of these elements
for female officials along with the absence of that element
for the males was considered evidence of stereotyping.

Based on the findings of Broverman et a1, Ruble, Reis
and Wright and Orwant and Cantor, the contemporary stereotype
of females will be assumed to include the following eight
elements.

1. Women are passive, dependent and submissive.

2. Women are subjective, easily emotional, excitable in
minor crises, easily influenced and easily hurt. They also
cry a lot.

3. Women are very home oriented, unaware of the ways of
the world, not skilled in business and dislike math and
science. They are also not adventurous.

4. Women seldom act as leaders, are not self—confident,

are very uncomfortable about being aggressive, have

51

difficulty making decisions and are not ambitious.

5. Women are conceited about their appearance.

6. Women are very talkative.

7. Women are tactful, gentle, quiet and aware of the
feelings of others. They also express tender feelings easily.

8. Women are religious, seldom use harsh language and
very neat in their habits. They also enjoy the arts and

literature.

 

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER IV

1
The data for this study was collected as part of the
Michigan Statehouse Reporting Project, which was directed by
Dr. Frederick Fico. assistant professor of journalism at
Michigan State University.
2
Findings can only be generalized to Michigan and
specifically to Michigan newspapers. The limited geographic
scope of the study and the small number of cases make it
impossible to generalize these findings to any other medium
or to any other geographic area.
3

The newspapers with capital bureaus that were included
are Detroit Free Press; Detroit News; The Battle Creek
Enquirer-News, Lansing State Journal and Port Huron Times
Herald, which all used Gannett bureau copy; The Flint Journal
and Grand Rapids Press, which ran Booth News Bureau stories;
and The Plymouth Community Crier, Houghton Daily Mining
Gazette, Holland Sentinel, Lapeer County Press, Midland Daily
News, Monroe Evening News, Petoskey News-Review, Sturgis
Journal and Traverse City Record Eagle, which used Capital
News Service stories. CNS is a student news bureau that
is operated by Michigan State University.

Newspapers without state capital bureaus that were
included in the sample are The Dowagiac Daily News, Huron
Daily Tribune, Ludington Daily News, Macomb Daily and Royal
Oak Tribune.

About 56 percent of the stories were produced by the
professional news bureaus, 32 percent were written by non-
bureau newspaper reporters and 8 percent wre produced by CNS.
The origins of 4 percent of the stories could not be
identified.

4

Since the woman lawmaker with the greatest seniority in
the Michigan Legislature had five terms of service during the
study period, only male legislators with five terms or less
were included in this part of the analysis.

53

5

Michigan Gov. James Blanchard was mentioned as the
first official in more than 34 percent of the stories
collected during the study. He was mentioned as the second
official in 14 percent of the stories.

 

CHAPTER V

RESULTS

The Quantitative Analysis

Ennhen nf hentiene
All Officials
As in the cited studies, the present study found that
women were mentioned less often than their male counterparts.
They also received a smaller proportion of mentions than
their proportion of the population of all officials. (See
Table I) Females were mentioned from 7 to 8 percentage points
less than their 26 percent of the total population of state
officials.1
All Legislators
The same was true of the coverage of all
legislators. (See Table II.) Women legislators were mentioned

in about 7 percent of the stories even though they made up

11 percent of the state legislature.

55

Low-Seniority Legislators

However, when the analysis was controlled for seniority,
the differences between the proportion of mentions of women
and their proportion of the occupational population almost
disappeared. (See Table III.) Women made up 15 percent of the
total pool of low-seniority legislators. Female legislators
received 14.5 percent of the first official mentions. They
received 13 percent of the second official mentions.

The Answer To Research Question #1
The key factor in answering the first research question,

therefore, appears to be senority. The proportion of mentions
of females in a particular newsworthy occupation appeared to
be the same as their proportion of that occupation when the
analysis was controlled for seniority. When the analysis was
not controlled for seniority, differences in the number of

mentions and women’s proportion of the population occurred.

 

56

TABLE I: MENTIONS IN STORIES OF ALL STATE OFFICIALS

A. The First Official Mentioned

-—— _—-—— -——————— ————-———-—

female male
proportion of total population of officials 26% 74%
percentages of first mentions 18 82

B. The Second Official Mentioned

proportion of total population of officials 26% 74%

percentages of second mentions 17 83

TABLE II: MENTIONS OF LEGISLATORS

A- The Tine: Qifieiel Meniienen

female male

proportion of population of legislators 11X 89X
percentages of first mentions 7.5 92.5

B. The Second Official Mentioned

proportion of population of legislators 11% 89%

percentages of second mentions 7 93

57

TABLE III: MENTIONS OF LOW-SENIORITY LEGISLATORS

A. The First Official Mentioned

(n=55)

female male
proportion of low-seniority legislators 15% 85%
percentages of first mentions 14.5 85.5

B. The Second Official Mentioned

—-—- —-—--—m— ———--——— —-————--—

(n=61)

iennle nele
proportion of low-seniority legislators 15% 85%
percentages of second mentions 13 87

§£enx length
All Officials
The analysis of the length of stories about all
officials showed that the stories were of nearly equal
length. In fact, the stories where females were the first
mentioned officials were slightly longer than the male-first
stories. (See Table IV) The female-first stories averaged 485
words while the male-first stories averaged 477 words.
All Legislators
In stories about all legislators, those stories with
females as the first officials averaged about 100 words less
than stories with males mentioned first. (See Table IV.) The
female-first stories averaged 363 words while the male-first
stories ran an average of 486 words. Even though this

difference appears to signal an inequality in coverage, it

 

58

masks the great variablity in the length of both male-first
and female-first stories. For example, story length in the
total sample ranged from 60 words to over 1,000 words. The
standard deviations for the male-first and female-first
stories were both about 200 words.
Low-Seniority Legislators

Story length did not change when only low-seniority
legislators were considered. (See Table IV) Stories with low-
seniority male legislators mentioned first averaged 464 words
and were still about 100 words longer than 363-word average
for female-first stories. However, this difference also does
not signal an inequality in coverage because it is much less
than the standard deviation for female-first stories, which
was about 200 words long.

The Answer To Research Question #2

The analysis shows no real differences in length between
stories about females of a newsworthy occupation and males of
the same occupation. On the average, however, male

legislators got longer stories than female legislators.

 

59

TABLE IV: AVERAGE STORY LENGTH

A. All Officials

female male

average word length 485 477
B. All lesieletene

(n=106)

average word length 363 486

0- lenz§enienity legieletnne

(n=55)
female male
average word length 363 464
heeeniniien

This part of the analysis, which examined coverage
of legislators only, found little difference between the treatment
of men and women. Of the more than 200 times legislators were
mentioned, attire, physical attributes, marital and parental
status were noted only three times. Of these mentions, one
involved a woman -- a state representative who was mentioned
with her state senator husband in a feature about the
couple’s lifestyle. The legislator who received the most
complete description with attire, looks, marital and parental
status all noted was the newly chosen speaker of the House -- a
male. All of those descriptions came in a story where he was
mentioned in a leadership context. Except for the feature

about the wife and husband lawmakers, the marital courtesy

60

titles Miss and Mrs were not used for any female legislators
during the study period.
The Answer To Research Question #3

Thus, the analysis showed that females did not receive
more or different kinds of descriptions than males of the
same occupation.

Qentente 9T Mentiene

All Officials
The analysis of the coverage of all state officials
indicates that women were mentioned slightly more often than
men in the non-job contexts of ceremonial activities, amusing
incidents and features on lifestyle. Men were mentioned more
often in such job contexts as leadership, bill advocate or
opponent and comments on state topics. (See Table V) While
almost all of the mentions of male officials were in a job
context with 100 and 99 percent in that context, 93 and 97
percent of female mentions were in a job context.
A11 Legislators

The difference in context is more pronounced when the
analysis is narrowed to include stories about legislators.
(See Table VI) In that group, females were mentioned in job
contexts 86 and 71 percent of the time while males received
job related mentions 98 and 100 percent of the time.

The Answer To Research Question #4

Thus, the analysis shows that females do appear to have

been mentioned more often than males in non-job contexts in

all categories of officials analyzed. These differences are,

61

however, small for all officials and are based on a small

number of stories for female legislators.

TABLE V: CONTEXTS OF MENTIONS OF ALL OFFICIALS

A. Qanteat at first foieial flamed in §tetx
(female n=39, male n=193)
female male
job related 97% 99%
non-job related 3 1
B~ Qanteat ef §eeena foieial Named in §tetx
(female n=4l, male n=204)
female male

job related 93% 100%

non-job related 7 0

TABLE VI: CONTEXTS or MENTIONS or LEGISLATORS
A- Qanteat ef Einat lesialatana Named in Star!
(female n=7, male n=97)
female male

job related 86% 98%

non-job related 14 2

B- Qanteat 9f §eennn legislate: Named in §tenx
(female n=7, male n=97)
female male

job related 71% 100%

non-job related 29% 0

62

§nmmanx 9f The Qnantitatize Beanlte

These results appear to be unique among quantitative
studies of the coverage of women because they do not show
clear-cut bias in all areas examined. No real differences
were found in the length and description of male and female
officials. Even though females got a far smaller proportion
of mentions than their proportion of the occupational
population in part of the analysis, those differences
disappeared when the analysis was controlled for seniority.
The only difference that appeared constant was in the context
of mentions. Female officials were mentioned in non-job
contexts slightly more often than male officials.

While the results of this analysis are provocative, it is
important to note that the results on the coverage of
legislators are problematic because of the small number of
stories involved.

Further, bias may well exist in forms too subtle for the
crude quantitative analysis categories to capture. A closer
look at stories involving male and female officials is thus
needed. The qualitative, case study analysis of the coverage
of five prominent state officials probes the existence of

stereotypical portrayals in more depth.

63

The Case Study Analysis

Coverage of Howard Tanner

The §tetx

Tanner became the subject of a series of stories when
reporters learned that his boss, The Natural Resources
Commission, had scheduled a closed-door meeting to discuss
his job. Tanner had been director of the DNR for eight years
at the time. On the day the meeting was to take place, Tanner
announced that he would retire from the DNR effective in the
summer. After reporting the announcement of Tanner’s
retirement, the rest of the coverage focused on accounts of
Tanner’s tenure in office and discussions of the search for a
new natural resources director.

Tannenla lmase la The Brena

The subject of nine stories, which averaged 572 words,

Tanner was portrayed in the press as an "embattled"
individual,2 who was trained as a scientist and working at a
job he was never quite able to do right. His "reign"3 at DNR
was described as "eight mostly troubled years."4 One story
noted: "He has frequently been under fire for his management

5

style and reorganization of the department." Another story
6

blamed Tanner for low morale in the department. One story

talked about "his inablity to grasp the administrative reigns
7
of the vast department." Finally, he was portrayed as having

tresigned under presure. "Had he not quit voluntarily, the
eunbattled director who is blamed for weak leadership and low

8
department morale, would have been ousted." Portrayed as

64

ineffective on the job, Tanner was shown in the most negative
light of any of the five individuals studied. It should also
be noted, however, that while his image was generally
negative, two of the stories included positive mentions of
his accomplishments in office.9 In fact, one story focused
completely on the positive results of his years as
director.10

Another aspect of Tanner’s image could also be called
positive. Even though his actions were portrayed as failing,
he was shown as a strong individual who fights back. Use of
the phrase "embattled director" is one example of this.
Someone cannot be embattled unless he or she is fighting.
Tanner was also portrayed as a vigorous individual who was
also an outdoorsman.11 Another article said that
he had run the DNR "with a strong hand."12 One story talked
about how Tanner was strong enough to cope with the stress of
the DNR directorship -- a job that the story implied had
contributed to the deaths in office of two of his
predecessors.13

None of the stories gave any indication of Tanner’s
marital status, including one story that mentioned his post-
retirement plans. Tanner’s appearance was never described.

Thus, Tanner’s image matched the stereotypical image of
the female in only one aspect by portraying him as
incompetent at his job. The portrait of a strong, vigorous

individual and the lack of personal information about Tanner

does not fit into the stereotype of a female in any way.

65

Coverage of Robert Bowman

The §tetx

Bowman entered the news as a spokesman for the
administration of Gov. James Blanchard in the middle of a
financial crisis. At the time, the administration said the
crisis was so bad that the state had to increase its income
tax to prevent payless paydays for state employees and
bankruptcy. Unlike the other four officials, Bowman was not
the subject of the coverage. Instead, he was used as a source
to explain much of the financial actions and philosophy of
the Blanchard administration. The stories in which he
appeared focused on the withholding of state aid payments to
local school districts and colleges, the payment of income
tax refunds and the proposed tax increase.

heamanla These in the Eneee

In 10 stories that averaged 351 words in length, Bowman
was portrayed as an extremely active, knowledgable, powerful
figure who controlled the purse strings of the state. Even
though, as one story noted, Bowman was only 27, he was shown
as a father-like expert who "cautioned,"14 "explained,"15 and
"defused fears."16 In six of the nine stories with Bowman as
the first official mentioned, he was shown either explaining
his or the governor’s actions. In two stories, he was shown
giving his opinion about the economy. In one story, he was
shown rejecting a plan for the financial bailout of the

state. Bowman’s power over Michigan’s purse strings was shown

66

in stories which said he would release delayed payments soon
to local school districts.17

None of the stories gave any indication of Bowman’s
marital status. None of the stories ever described his
appearance.

Nothing in Bowman’s image in the press matched the

stereotypical image of a female.

Coverage of Sister Agnes Mary Mansour

The §teny

Mansour, a Roman Catholic nun from the Sisters of Mercy,
became the center of controversy in early 1983 after
Blanchard appointed her as director of the state Department
of Social Services. The controversy involved whether Mansour,
as head of the state’s welfare department, would administer
state funding for Medicaid abortions, a program which had
been run for years by the department. Mansour was quoted in
newspapers as saying that while she opposed abortion, she
felt that it was wrong to deny the poor 8 service that was
legally available to the rich. She was also quoted as saying
she would continue to administer the program because "more
harm could come from halting state funding."18

Soon after she was appointed, Detroit Roman Catholic

Archbishop Edmund Szoka demanded that Mansour resign. Szoka,

who had originally supported her appointment, said Mansour

should resign because she had not taken a public stand

67

against Medicaid abortions. Mansour refused to step down,
went through confirmation hearings in the state Senate, won
the support of the Senate and stayed on the job. In the
meantime, her relious order announced its support of her
stand. The story became an international one when The Vatican
ordered Mansour to resign. At the time the study period
ended, Mansour had vowed to stay on as social services
director.

hanannnle lmase in the Eneea

In 19 stories that averaged 543 words in length, Mansour’s
image was one of a "strong-willed and independent,"19
"combative,"20 yet ”soft-spoken"21 who in defying Rome was
"caught in a swirl of controversy."22 Although Mansour’s
image showed her as the strongest of the three women in the
study group, she was also portrayed as a somewhat powerless
individual who was waiting to see what her superiors would
decide to do to her.

The image of a strong Mansour is evident in many of the
stories. Among other things she was described as a "tough
administrator" at her old job as president of Mercy College
in Detroit.23 She was called

24
combative." Stories noted that Mansour directs the state's

"assertive, and at times,

massive social services department and its $3.3 billion

25 26
budget, that she "won the support" of her order, was in
27
"defiance" of her superiors in the church, had "refused" to
28
resign and had "vowed to continue." One story conveyed a

picture of strength when it quoted an anonymous church

68

official as saying: "Here you have a religious who has defied
her archbishop and a clear papal directive that clerics and
religious orders ought not to be in politics ... (Vatican
officials) know that Agnes Mary and her order are tough, that
the hierarchy has to negotiate with them."29
However, at the same time she was portrayed as a strong

individual, Mansour was also shown to be relatively powerless
and passive. This comes through not so much in the words used
in the stories, but in the angles chosen for the leads.
Thirteen of the 19 leads focus either on what her church
superiors or the Senate planned to do to her. For example,
one lead reported: "A Vatican representative ... has been
ordered to direct Sister Agnes Mary Mansour to give up her
post as director of the Michigan Department of Social
Services, the Cable News Network reported Wednesday."30

One other lead also stands out, particularly in light of
the feminist argument that women have often been erased from
history. The lead reported Mansour’s confirmation by the
state Senate as if she had little or no role in winning it.
The lead emphasized the role of Blanchard, who according to
press reports, made few public statements about the
controversy and engaged in little or no lobbying on her
behalf. That lead reads: "Gov. James Blanchard’s appointment
of a Roman Catholic nun to head the state agency that
oversees abortionssfor women on welfare was approved today by

the state Senate." This gave a completely different view of

the event than the following lead, which showed Mansour as an

69

active participant in the confirmation process. That lead
reads: "Sister Agnes Mary Mansour won the first round in her
fight to retain her job as director of the state Department
of Social Services, but now faces a potentially sterner test
in Rome."32

Mansour’s physical appearance was never mentioned. Mention
of her marital or parental status, of course, would not be
appropriate because she was a nun.

The image presented in the press of Mansour was a

mixture of the female stereotype and its opposite. Her
portrayal as being soft spoken and dependent on powerful men

matches the stereotypical view of women. The portrayal of her

as strong and combative does not.

Coverage of Dorothy Comstock Riley

The §£9£y

The Riley controversy began in the fall of 1982 when an
incumbent state Supreme Court justice died shortly after
being re-elected to the court. The governor at the time,
Republican William Milliken, appointed Riley, also a
Republican, to fill the vacancy. Riley had run unsuccessfully
for the court in the 1982 election. Her appointed term was to
encompass the rest of Milliken’s term in office, which ended
in January and 11 months of 1984. She would hold office until
the next election for the court in November 1984. However,

when Democrat Blanchard, succeeded Milliken, Blanchard

 

7O

protested that Milliken only had the power to appoint Riley
until the end of Milliken's term in office. Shortly after the
study began, the issue went to the court for a ruling. Riley
abstained from voting on the case. At first, the court
deadlocked on the issue, voting 3-3. The deadlock meant that
Riley would keep her seat. However, four days later Justice
Charles Levin changed his vote and Riley was ousted from the
court.

In the following six-week period, the story consisted of
Riley’s announcement that she would not try to fight for the
seat, Blanchard's announcement that he would soon appoint a
new justice, and the campaign of former state Supreme Court
Chief Justice Thomas Brennan and Riley’s husband and a law-
firm associate to get Riley reinstated. The coverage ended
shortly after the state bar governing board decided not to

intervene in the case.

Bilexls Image 19 the Esess
The subject of 16 stories averaging 520 words in length,
33
Riley was portrayed as a "quiet and compossed" , passive

recipient of the action of men. Her image was that of a pawn
in a political struggle between the Democratic governor, his
Republican predecesser and the Democratic and Republican
members of the Supreme Court. She was rarely shown as taking
any action on her own. Instead, she was depicted as being
championed by four men, incgzding one who engaged in what one

article called a "crusade."

Twelve of the 16 stories about Riley showed her as the

7l

passive object of the actions of others. In all, two stories
focused on the court's decision to oust Riley, two stories
led on the governor's timetable for appointing a new
justices, and five stories focused on the efforts of Brennan
to get Riley reinstated. Three stories did show Riley taking
action. One story was printed shortly after her appointment
was announced. It described her legal philosophy and made

35
some predictions on what kind of justice she might be. Two
other stories focused on her announcement after she was
ousted from the court that she would not fight for the court
seat. The image of Riley as the recipient of the actions of
others is illustrated by one story. That story noted that
when the decision was made to throw Riley off the court,
"Riley, meanwhile, apparently did not know the vote was

36

occurring." The story also contained the following passage.

When Riley returned from dinner at 9:50 p.m. Tuesday,
Supreme Court Clerk Harold Hoag was sitting in the
lobby of her hotel.

Hoag said, "I told her I had a sad message, that the
court had reconsidered its actions of last Friday and
removed her from the court," Hoag said. He handed her a
sealed envelope containing the court order ousting her.

"She was quiet and composed," Hoag said. "She walked
away without opening the envelope.37
Riley was also portrayed as having her cause championed
by four men. These included Milliken, who was reported to
have intervened with the state court on her behalf. Her
husband, Wallace Riley, along with George Roumell, a partner
in the law firm Riley and her husband established, also

attempted to regain Riley's seat for her. Brennan’s solo

crusade consisted of speeches around the state and an

72

appearance before the court to try to get the justices to
reconsider their decision.

The reports of their efforts also contained one instance
of what appears to be inaccurate and possibly sexist
reporting. That occurred in a story that reported the state
bar governing board’s vote on whether to intervene in the
Riley case. Brennan and Riley’s law-firm colleague, Roumell,
were both members of the board. The problem came in the
following passage. "Voting with Brennan on Monday was George
Roumell, a partner of Riley’s husband, Wallace."38 This
identification of Roumell is puzzling since the same story
reported that Riley helped found the firm and that at the
time of publication she was working in the firm with both
Roumell and her husband. Logically, it would make sense to
identify Roumell by his relationship with the person he is
helping and not by his relationship with that person’s
spouse. Inaccuracy occurs in the implication that the man has
no working relationship with Riley. In a subtle way, this
passage also erased Riley’s role and accomplishments in the
firm. The story implied that she had taken no part in the
firm by saying that she was neither the partner nor the
colleague of the men who work in the firm. While it cannot be
argued that Riley’s accomplishments had been erased in
stories that consistently referred to her work as an
appellate justice, it seems odd that a story could be written
in such a way as to negate her work in a private law firm.

Any apparent negation of a woman’s work may be significant in

73

light of the feminist argument that the accomplishments of
women are consistently erased from history.

Finally, Riley's marital status was noted in nine out of
the 16 stories. This was done either through the use of the
courtesy title Mrs or by mentioning her husband. The Detroit
News was the only newspaper that appeared to have a policy of
using Mrs. on second reference. The courtesy title Mr. was
not used for men on second reference in the News. One story
in the Macomb Daily showed evidence of what could be called
journalistic split-personality. This story alternately
referred to her as Riley and Mrs. Riley.39

Riley’s physical appearance was never mentioned in any of
the stories.

The coverage of Riley came the closest of any of the
coverage analyzed to presenting a stereotypical profile of a
woman. The coverage matched the stereotypes by continually

emphasizing Riley’s marital and parental status and by

portraying her as a quiet, passive pawn of men.

Coverage of Patricia Boyle

The §£9£x

A U.S. district judge, Boyle entered the Riley
controversy in mid-March when a story appeared reporting that
she had rejected Blanchard’s offer to accept the Supreme
Court seat that had been vacated by Riley. Three weeks later

Boyle re-entered the news with the announcement that she had

74

reconsidered and had decided to accept the appointment. The
coverage of Boyle was brief. It consisted of two stories on
her rejection of the appointment, three stories on her
acceptance and one story focusing on former Supreme Court
Chief Justice Mary Coleman’s evaluation of Boyle as a judge
and lawyer.

Beylsls Image in the £2§§§

In six stories that averaged 510 words, Boyle’s image
was mixed. It portrayed an active, ”scholarly, highly
respected federal judge"40 who graduated at the top of her
law school class and overcame sexism to get her first job.
However, she was also shown as someone who, at least
partially, based career decisions on her husband and changed
her mind on a major decision.

Much of the portrayal of Boyle can be classified as
positive. Coleman was quoted as saying Boyle "was always very
well-prepared, very articulate, a good legal mind."41 At
least part of another story painted a very active picture of
Boyle. That story reported that "she also apparently enjoys
the rough and tumble of campaigning that goes with the state
Supreme Court post."42 That same story also noted that even
though she graduated at the top of her law school class in
1963, Boyle could not immediately get a job because of
sexism. The story also showed her getting a job because she
performed the very traditional role of baby—sitter.

Federal Judge Lawrence Gubow, whose death created the
vacancy that she later filled, was responsible for getting

that first job.

"I was his baby-sitter,"

she said. "He knew that (U.S.)

75
Judge Thaddeaus) Machrowicz needed a law clerk and
recommended me."43

Boyle was also portrayed as basing a major decision on
her husband and as being changeable. In one of the two
stories that report her refusing the Supreme Court job, her
husband was reported as the reason for her decision. "Among
the factors in her decision was her long-standing desire to
have Blanchard appoint her husband to a state judicial post,
sources said."44 The portrayal of her change of mind could be
construed as both positive and negative. The positive images
included a headline about Boyle "Responding to a Higher Court
Calling."45 However, another headline touched on the
stereotype of the feather-brained female who cannot decide
what to wear. That headline read, "Judge Changes her Mind and
her Court."46

Boyle’s marital status was noted in all six of the
stories. Three in The Detgeit Nege did this by following the
apparent Nege policy of using Mrs. The other three stories,
all in The Detgeit Egee Egeee, did this by directly mentioning
her husband.

Boyle’s physical appearance was not mentioned in any of
the stories.

The portrayal of Boyle both matched the stereotype of
women and contradicted it. The media image of Boyle as
someone who changes her mind and bases her decisions on her
family is close to the stereotype of women. The image of

Boyle as active, scholarly and enjoying Trough and tumble"

does not fit the stereotype.

76

Summary Of The Case Study Analysis

Like the quantitative analysis, the case study failed to
find consistent or overwhelming evidence of blatant
stereotyping. Mansour and Riley’s sex was never specifically
discussed and Boyle’s sex was only mentioned in a story that
reported her problems with sexism. Furthermore, none of the
three women was ever described physically. In comparison,
neither the sex nor the appearance of either of the two men,
Tanner and Bowman, was ever discussed.

However, one major difference between the coverage of the
men and the women was found in the case study. The marital
and the parental status of Riley and Boyle was constantly
reported while the personal life of Tanner and Bowman was
never mentioned in any of the stories. Over 56 percent of the
Riley story noted her status and 100 percent of the Boyle
stories supplied the information. Marital status was
communicated by direct mention and, in the case of The
thheih Nege, by the use of the courtesy title, Mrs.

Another possible difference also appeared in the
qualitative analysis. This is the fact that the three women
were portrayed as passive more often than the two men. This
is relevant because one of the elements of the stereotype of
women is the idea that women are passive. More than 68
percent of the leads about Mansour portrayed her as passively
awaiting a decision on her fate. More than 62 percent of the

Riley leads showed her passively waiting for her fate to be

77

decided. The coverage of Riley also emphasized that when she
was removed from the court, she did not fight her ouster.
Instead, several men were shown fighting for her. On the
other hand, the coverage of Tanner, who was in a similar
position of having to wait for a decision on the fate of his
job, showed him to be both waiting for the decision and
taking action. Forty-four percent of the Tanner leads
portrayed him as the subject of the actions of others, while
44 percent showed him taking action.

Is this apparent difference evidence of sexist coverage?
That question cannot be answered conclusively, of course,
because it would be necessary to conduct an independent
investigation into the actions of Mansour, Riley and Tanner.
Thus, it is very possible that the difference in coverage is
simply an accurate reflection of events. However, the fact
that Riley’s image and part of Mansour’s image closely mimics
the stereotypical view of women cannot help but raise the

possiblity that a subtle bias affected their coverage.

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER V

1
The female proportion of the population of state
officials was calculated by counting the number of women
listed under any job title other than secretary or technician
in the State of Michigan Telephone Directory, prepared by the
Department of Management and Budget, November 1983.
2
"Panel Looks for New DNR Boss,"heheihg Sgehe Jegghel,
26 February 1983, p. 3A.
3
"DNR Chief Quits; Avoids Ouster Vote," L§Q§iflg Stehe
gehghel, 25 February 1983, p. 1A.
4
"Is Tanner Resigning?" Laysius §£a£e igureal. 22
February 1983, p. 1B.
5
Laueiug §£a£e leurbal. 15 February 1983.
6
"Nationwide Search is Launched to Find New Director for
DNR." 92999 Bapiéa Ere§§. 17 March 1983.
7
Lau§iag §§§£e lgurual. 26 February 1983.
8
"Tanner to Step Down June 1 as DNR Director," ggehg
Repide Egeee, 25 February 1983, p. l; "DNR Chief Leaving
Frustration with His ’Impossible Job,’" Elie; gehghel, 6
March 1983.

9
Elia: lguraal. 6 March 1983.
10
Ibid
11
Grand Baniée Ere§§. 25 February 1983.
12

"DNR Post Takes Heavy Toll on Bosses Before Tanner,"
Elie: lguryal. 5 March 1983. 9. A6.

"State Tax-Refund Till Running Low," L§B§iBB Shege
Jehghel, 11 March 1983.

14
"Deficit May Slow State Tax Refunds," L§Q§iflg STeTe
gehhhel, 11 March 1983.

"No Payless Paydays, State Answers Schools," 99329;:
hege, 18 March 1983.

79

16
"Some State Cuts Could be Returned to Area," 295:
theh Tihee, 31 March 1983, p. 3A.
17
"Abortion Dilemma: ’We Must Try to Find Ways to Change
Attitudes,’ Says Sister Mansour of Controversy in State Job,"
hehgeih hege, 16 February 1983, p. 1A.
18
92359;; Newe, 16 February 1983.
19
"Senate Committee Supports Mansour,‘
Egeee, 9 March 1983, p. 1A.
20
Dehheih hege, 16 February 1983.
21
"Mansour Must Quit. CNN Says." Leeeieg §£e£e Jeereel.
25 March 1983, p. 1A.

Detroit Free

22

hehheih hewe, 16 February 1983.
23

Deereit Eree Breee. 9 March 1983.
24

Detroit Free

"Senate Panel to Quiz Nun on DSS Post,’
E£§§§: 8 March 1983, p. 3A.

"Nuns Back Mansour; Issue Goes to Vatican," heggeih
Neye, 6 March 1983, p. 1A.
26
"Nun Told to Quit, Network Reports," L§Q§iflg Shehe
gehghel, 26 March 1983, p. 1A.

Leeeiez §£ete leureel. 25 March 1983.
28
"Senate Confirms Mansour,‘
1983, p. 1A.
29
"Nun Wins Approval From Senate," hegheig h_w§, 10
March 1983, p. 3A.
30
"Apology Due. Justice Says." Detreit Eree Ereee. 17
February 1983, p. 1A.
31
"State Bar Says Riley Case Closed," hehgeig EEQE
Egeee, 22 March 1983, p. 3A.
32
"State’s Top Court May Become More Liberal," hehggih
Newe, 13 February 1983, p. 1A.

9

Leeeieg §£ete Jeureel. 9 March

332e££eit Bree Ereee. 17 February 1983.
34

Ibid.
35

Detrei: Eree Ereee. 22 March 1983.

80

36
"Brennan: Constitution Ignored in Riley Case," Meeehh
heily, 3 March 1983, p. 2A.
37
"Blanchard Choice Says No to High Court Seat," 991E911
Thee gheee, 11 March 1983, p. 3A
38
"Ex-Chief Justice Rates Boyle High," thgeih Nege, 23
March 1983, p. 4A.
39
"Responding to a Higher Court Calling,
EE§§§» 23 March 1983, p. 13A.
40
Ibid.
41
Deezeit Bree Ereee. 11 March 1983.
42
Detreit Eeee Ereee. 23 March 1983-
43
"Judge Changes Her Mind and Her Court," 2912911 Nege,
23 March 1983.

'9

Detroit Free

CHAPTER VI

SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS
Taken together, the quantitative and case study results
show areas of apparent equality and areas of apparent
inequality in the coverage of male and female Michigan
officials.

The quantitative results show males and females of the same
occupation and seniority receiving almost the same proportion
of coverage as each sex’s proportion of the total group. This
finding indicates that occupation and seniority did affect
the amount of coverage and that sex did not -- an
interpretation that is supported by some evidence from the
case study analysis. That analysis found that two of the
women, Riley and Mansour, were anything but ignored by
newspapers. In fact, they each received a larger number of
stories than either of the men in the study.

The case study analysis also supports the quantitative
analysis finding of no real difference in story length.
Averaging 543, 520 and 510 words, the stories about the three

women were of almost the same length as the Tanner stories,

82

which averaged 572 words. In fact, the stories about the
women were far longer than the stories about Bowman, which
averaged 351 words.

The equality in physical description that was found by the
quantitative analysis was also backed up by the case study
results, which found no physical descriptions for either of
the women or the men. However, the case study did uncover a
difference in reporting marital status that was not evident
in the quantitative part of the study. The fact that marital
status was reported constantly for two of the women and
ignored for the two men indicates that at least two women in
non-legislative positions did not receive the same kind of
equitable coverage as female legislators.

Finally, comparison of the results of both parts of the
study indicate that there may have been subtle differences in
the focus of the coverage. Quantitative analysis results show
women mentioned slightly more often then men in feature
contexts. While the small number of cases make these results
problematic, the case study finding of what may be a
difference in the portrayal of women’s actions indicates that
differences in context may exist. Specifically, the tendency
to portray women as more passive than men, which was found in
the case study, and the tendency to mention women more often
than men in feature contexts, could both come from the
stereotypical belief that women are passive and incompetent.
These findings suggest that female Michigan officials and

male officials may be treated differently by journalists in

83

these respects. However, methodological problems make these
findings suggestive rather than conclusive. While they do
raise questions about the treatment of the male and female
officials, they cannot be considered evidence of blatantly
sexist coverage.

This study has implications, then, for feminists,
journalists and mass media researchers.

If occupation and seniority do make a difference, then
feminists intent on getting more women into the news columns
cannot possibly succeed unless they rethink their methods.
Arguing that women, as half of the human race, should receive
half the coverage will not change anything as long as
journalists define newsworthy to equal power and most women
remain powerless. Thus, the key to getting greater news
coverage for women appears to include changing both the
economic and political position of women and changing the
accepted definition of news.

Such a redefinition could take several forms. Pingree and
Hawkins suggested that the news value of significance can be
redefined to include the things that are significant about
the powerless -- their oppression and their fight against it.
A redefinition could also include a change that has often
been suggested, but has yet to become a reality in most
American newspapers. That change would swing the focus of the
news away from events and onto issues and trends. Under such
a definition, economic and social trends and issues involving

the quality of life would be just as worthy of a story as a

84

fire or a traffic accident.

The data showing fewer differences in description than
past studies plus the findings on context also suggest that
feminists stop focusing their critiques on descriptions of
women. Instead, feminists should consider closer examinations
of more subtle problems in coverage. This means the context
of mentions and the accuracy of reports of women’s actions
must begin to be the subject of probes.

For journalists, the implications are similar. In light of
the findings on occupation and seniority, journalists must
rethink their definition of news. Is it ethical, fair or even
accurate to continue to operate on a conception of news that
classifies half the population as non-newsworthy? Can the
news media claim to be mirroring society when they focus only
on the most powerful members of that society?

Journalists should also examine their stories involving
women in more detail. The findings on context suggest that
journalists should ask themselves if they ever seek out
female newsmakers as expert sources for comment on hard-news
topics. Do they assume that women are less capable than men
and, thus, are not suitable hard-news sources? The fact that
the case study analysis found some evidence of stereotyping
also suggests that journalists must become aware of the
pitfalls of stereotyping. To do this, reporters and editors
must understand what the stereotypes are and must diligently
guard against using those stereotypes in their stories.

Mass media researchers who have explored these issues must

85

also undertake a re-examination. If occupation and seniority
do affect coverage, then it is possible that the previous
studies that found greater evidence of unequal coverage may
not have been measuring sexism in the minds of journalists.
Instead, the studies may have been measuring the sexism of a
society that discriminates against women and keeps them from
reaching the high-ranking political positions that are
defined as newsworthy. This also means that researchers
interested in measuring possible sexist practices by
journalists must build controls for occupation and seniority
into their studies.

The findings on context also suggest that studies take
more detailed and, possibly, more qualitative looks at the
contexts in which women are mentioned. Studies into the
portrayal of women’s actions are also needed.

It is also important to note that this study may be
reflecting a real change in the attitudes and work of
journalists. Previous studies, which found greater evidence
of bias against women, might have been reflecting the sexism
of the coverage of their time, while the current study may
have reflected a more recent, nonsexist attitude among
journalists. This is supported by the fact that many
newspapers in the past few years have dropped the use of
courtesy titles before women’s names. In fact, it is clear
from this study that the women’s movement may have been at
least partially successful in educating journalists about the

importance of equal coverage for men and women.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

fleets Qeneultee

Baker, Mary Anne, Catherine White Berheide, Fay Ross Greckel,
Linda Garstarphen Guigin, Margia J. Lipetz, Marcia Texler
Segal. Weheh Tegey. Monterey, Calif.: Brooks/Cole
Publishing Co., 1980.

Beasley, Maurine and Sheila Gibbons. Weheh Th Megie; h

Deeueenterx §eu£ee fieek- Washington. D 0.: Women’s
Institute for Freedom of the Press, 1977.

Bullough, Vern L. The Subordinate Sex. Urbana, Ill.: The

University of Illinois Press, 1973.

Freeman. Jo- The Eelitiee of Eonenie Liberation. Quoted in
Beasley and Gibbons, pp. 111-112.

Gage. Matilda Joslyn. Benen. Qbureh ene §tete- Chicago:
Charles Kerr, 1873; reprint edition, Watertown, Mass.:
Persephone Press, 1980.

Gans, Herbert J. heeidihg Whehie Newe. New York: Vintage
Books, 1979.

Huston—Stein, A. and A. Higgins-Trenk. "The Development of
Females: Career and Feminine Role Aspirations." In P.B.
Baltes (ed.).Li£e:§2en Deyeleeuent and Beheyier (Vol. 1).
New York: Academic Press, 1978.

Pingree, Suzanne and Robert P. Hawkins. "News Definitions and
Their Effects on Women." In Laurily Keir Epstein, fleheh egg
The Newe. New York: Hastings House, 1978.

§ueereee Eenenle Belting. Austin. Texas:
xas Press, 1983.

Russ, Joanna. H
University

Sigal. Leon V- Reporters and Qifieiele. Lexington. Mass.:
D.C. Heath and Co., 1973.

87

Spender, Dale. Women of Ideas. London: Ark Paperbacks, 1983.

Broverman, Inge K., Susan Raymond Vogel, Donald K. Broverman,
Frank E. Clarkson and Paul S. Rosenkrantz. "Sex-Role
Stereotypes: A Current Appraisal." Jehghel QT Seeiel Teehee
28 (1972): 59-78.

Buresh, Bernice. "Critical Mass." The 99111 (September 1984):
14-20, 23.

Davis, Junetta. "Sexist Bias in Eight Newspapers." gehgheliem
Qheghegly 59 (1982): 456-460.

Drew, Dan G. and Susan H. Miller. "Sex Stereotyping and
Reporting." Journalism Quarterly 54 (1977): 142-146.

Foreit, Karen G., Terna Agor, Johnny Byers, John Larue, Helen
Lokey, Michael Palazzini, Michele Patterson and Lillian
Smith. "Sex Bias in the Newspaper Treatment of Male-Centered
and Female-Centered News Stories." Sex Relee 6:3 (1980): 475-
480.

Morris, Monica B. "Newspapers and The New Feminists: Black
Out as Social Control?" JQBEB§11§E Qheggegly 50 (1973): 37—
42.

Orwant, Jack E. and Muriel Cantor. "How Sex Stereotyping
Affects Perceptions of News Preferences." gehhhelieh
Qheghegly 54 (1977): 99-107,l39.

Reis, Harry T. and Stephanie Wright. "Knowledge of Sex-Role
Stereotypes in Children Aged 3 to 5." Sex Belee 8:10 (1982):
1049-1056.

Ruble, Thomas L. "Sex Stereotypes: Issues of Change in the
1970s." Sex Relee 9:3 (1983): 397-402.

Simpson, Peggy A. "Covering The Women’s Movement." Nieheh
Repehge (Summer 1979).

Ward, Jean. "Attacking the King’s English: Implications for
Journalism in the Feminist Critique." JQB£Béli§E QBQEEEElY 52
(1975): 699-705.

___________ , "Check Out Your Sexism: A Quiz for Journalists."
Qeluubie Journaliee Beyiey (May/June 1980).

Whitlow, S. Scott. "How Male and Female Gatekeepers Respond
to News Stories of Women." Jehghelieh QQQELEElY 54 (1977):
573-579, 609.

88

Battle Creek Enquirer-News.
Detroit Free Press.

Detroit News.

Dowagiac Daily News.

Flint Journal.

Grand Rapids Press.

Holland Sentinel.

Houghton Daily Mining Gazette.
Huron Daily Tribune.
Lansing State Journal.
Lapeer County Press.
Ludington Daily News.
Macomb Daily.

Midland Daily News.

Monroe Evening News.
Petoskey News-Review.
Plymouth Community Crier.
Port Huron Times Herald.
Royal Oak Tribune.

Sturgis Journal.

Traverse City Record Eagle.

Heeeeeeer Artielee Qeneultee

"Abortion Dilemma: ’We Must Try to Find Ways to Change
Attitudes,’Says Sister Mansour of Controversy in State Job."
thxeih Nexe, 16 February 1983, p. 1A.

89
"Apology Due, Justice Says." Detgeih EEEE Pgeee, 17 February
1983, p. 1A.

"Blanchard Choice Says No to High Court Seat." hegheih E299
Pgeee, 11 March 1983, p. 3A.

"Brennan: Constitution Ignored in Riley Case." Meeghh Qeily,
3 March 1983, p. 2A.

"Deficit May Slow State Tax Refunds." L§Q§i£g §£§£§ gehxhel, 11
March 1983, p. 1A.

"DNR Chief Leaving Frustration With His ’Impossible Job.’"
Flint Journal. 6 March 1983.

"DNR Chief Quits: Avoids Ouster Vote." L§E§iflg Shehe gehghel, 25
February 1983, p. 1A.

"DNR Post Takes Heavy Toll On Bosses, Before Tanner." FTThT
gehhhel, 6 March 1983, p. A6.

"Ex-Chief Justice, Rates Boyle High." thheig Nexe, 23 March,
1983, p. 4A.

"Is Tanner Resigning?" L§B§i§8 Shehe Jehhhel, 22 February 1983, p.
1B.

"Judge Changes Her Mind and Her Court." hehxeih Nexe, 23
March 1983, p. 1A.

"Mansour Must Quit, CNN Says." L§D§iflg Shehe JQBEBle 25
March 1983, p. 1A.

"Nationwide Search is Launched to Find New Director for DNR."
greed Beeiee Ereee. 17 March 1983.

"No Payless Paydays, State Answers Schools."hehxeih Nexe, 18
March 1983, p. 3A.

"Nun Told to Quit, Network Reports." L§Q§iflg Sgehe gehghel,
26 March 1983, p. 1A.

"Nun Wins Approval From Senate." thgeig Nexe, 10 March
1983, p. 3A.
"Nuns Back Mansour; Issue Goes to Vatican." hehggih Nexe, 6

March 1983, p. 1A.

"Panel Looks for New DNR Boss." L§D§198 STete gehhhel, 26
February 1983, p. 3A.

"Responding to a Higher Court Calling." thgeih EEQQ Pgeee,
23 March 1983, p. 13A.

90

"Senate Confirms Mansour." L§B§198 Shete JQQEQél: 9 March
1983, p. 1A.

I

"Senate Committee Supports Mansour.’
March 1983, p. IA.

Detroit Free Frees. 9

"Senate Panel to Quiz Nun on DSS Post.’
March 1983, p. 1A.

Detroit Free Frees. 6

"Some State Cuts Could Be REturned to Area." 29;; hegeh
TThee, 31 March 1983, p. 3A.

"State Bar Says Riley Case Closed.' thgeih Thee Pheee, 22

March 1983, p. 3A.

"State Tax-Refund Till Running Low." L§E§192 Siege gehxhel,
11 March 1983, p. 1A.

"State’s Top Court May Become More Liberal." hehxeih Nexe,
13 February 1983, p. 1A.

"Tanner’s Job on the Line as ’Bosses’ Meet Friday." Elie;
Jehghel, 23 February 1983.

"Tanner To Step Down June 1 as DNR Director.’ ggggg Repide

Egeee, 25 February 1983, p. 1.

Feoorte

East, Catherine and Dorothy Misener Jurney. Neg DiFQQEiQQ§
Te; Nexe. Washington, D.C.: American Society of Newspaper

Editors and The Women Studies Program and Policy Center of
The George Washington University, 1983 '

National Organization for Women. Nexepepeg MQBiEQFiHS

Pgejeeg. Arlington, VA.: NOW, Northern Virginia Chapter,
1973.

Fooobliebeo P oer

Barnes, James, Mary Patterson, Lorrie Arden, Nam Jun Hang.
"The Effects of Gender of Source and Reporter on News
Coverage." Presented at The Status of Women Committee
research session, Association for Education in Journalism
and Mass Communications, Gainesville, Florida, August 1984.

 

M7|?!Wlflllflflflflifiiflifllflffllfiflflfifllflfifimms

 

I -_’*"' - A
a