Gender and Candidate Communication: VideoStyle, WebStyle, NewStyle

by Bystrom,Dianne G.

• ISBN13: 9780415946827
• ISBN10: 0415946824
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-08-29
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

A poll as recently as 2000 revealed that a third of the population thinks "there are general characteristics about women that make them less qualified to serve as president." As the public and the media rely on long-held stereotypes, female candidates must focus even harder on the way they want to define their own image through traditional mass media, such as television, and new forms, such as the internet.Gender and Candidate Communicationdigs deep into the campaigns of the last decade sifting through thousands of ads, websites, and newspaper articles to find out how successful candidates have been in breaking down these gender stereotypes. Among their findings are that female candidates dress more formally, smile more, act "tougher" when they can, and prefer scare tactics to aggressive attack ads. Gender and CandidateCommunicationalso presents the most comprehensive, systematic method yet for identifying and understanding self-presentation strategies on the web. The internetmay be the medium of the future, but Bystrom has found that coverage on the web tends to draw even more heavily on old stereotypes. No close observer of campaigns, gender, or the internet will be able to ignore their findings.

Table of Contents

PART I Women, Communication, and Politics
1 Women, Communication, and Politics: An Introduction	3	(6)
2 VideoStyle, WebStyle, and NewsStyle: A Framework for Gendered Analysis	9	(20)
PART II Campaign Advertising: Gendered Messages, Gendered Reactions
3 VideoStyle: Communication Messages through Campaign Advertising	29	(18)
4 The Interaction of Electoral Status, Political Party, and VideoStyle	47	(34)
5 VideoStyles in the 2002 Kansas Governor's Race: A Case Study	81	(12)
6 Voter Reactions to Candidate VideoStyle	93	(20)
PART III Candidate Web Sites: Gendered Messages, Reactions
7 WebStyle: Communication Messages through Candidates' Web Sites	113	(30)
8 WebStyles in a North Carolina U.S. Senate Race and a Montana Gubernatorial Race: A Case Study	143	(22)
9 Voter Reactions to Candidate WebStyle	165
PART IV Media Coverage of Candidates: Gendered Messages, Gendered Reactions
10 NewsStyle: Media Coverage of Candidate Presentation	173	(16)
11 NewsStyles in the 2000 New York U.S. Senate Campaign: A Case Study	189	(14)
12 Gendered Reactions to Media Coverage	203	(10)
PART V Gender and Political Communication in Future Campaigns
13 Gendered Political Campaign Communication: Implications for the Future	213	(8)
Notes	221	(6)
References	227	(10)
Index	237