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Presidential Elections in Mexico: Media Coverage of the Josefina Vazquez Mota Campaign

2020-07-07 , Vidal Correa, Fernanda

In 2012, the incumbent party nominated the first woman with a real chance of being elected president in Mexico. This was an historic moment, later described as a “haughtily hen” looking for a chance to win. The present study analyzed whether media coverage—by paying more attention to the candidate’s family and appearance, rather than policy issues—created opportunities for sexism and gendered stereotyping. The findings of this analysis were mixed. Male candidates received more media coverage, as the number of stories and headlines that covered them was higher. In contrast, coverage of the female candidate focused on stories about her polling position, highlighting her struggle to reach second place and the low probability of being elected. Nevertheless, coverage of personal traits was minimal. Moreover, only the female candidate (in her appeal to the electorate) made specific references to her sex. © 2020, © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

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Media coverage of campaigns : a multilevel study of mexican women running for office

2020 , Vidal Correa, Fernanda

Previous studies on the United States and Latin America have demonstrated unequal media coverage of men and women during electoral campaigns. However, in Mexico, a country where women increasingly participate in politics, this has seldom been studied. This is worrisome when considering that, with gender stereotyping, the media can create new barriers for female candidates, affecting voters’ perceptions of women’s expertise and policy proposals. Through a comparative analysis, this research explores the role of the media when covering women running for office. It specifically studies coverage of executive-branch campaigns at the three levels of government. This is an important contribution to the literature as there are few studies of the Mexican context; specifically, this research examines the visibility, focus, traits, and issues covered in written media in order to explore, as well expand knowledge of, media biases and Mexican politics. Findings suggest that women running for positions with more power received different appraisal in printed media. Furthermore, male candidates received more coverage with the number of stories and headlines explicitly covering them higher than female candidates. This was most evident in municipal elections. At the same time, coverage of both female and male candidates shied away from personal traits or family matters. The media’s attention was on ‘male’ issues, where women were less competitive than men. Albeit with marginal differences, coverage of municipal elections was positive for women (where they won), compared with that of the across-the-board losses for female candidates running for governor. © 2020 Communication & Society.

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Media coverage of women in politics: Mexican local politicians on campaign

2020-03-12 , Vidal Correa, Fernanda

Press coverage of women was expected to increase with their greater political representation in Mexico. What characterises the coverage that print media has given to men and women running for office? Are there any differences in the coverage men and women received? Is the quality of this coverage better than the quantity? The media coverage of candidates running in Mexican local elections is analysed in this exploratory study in order to answer these questions. Attention is first given to visibility, as in the quantity of coverage received. Second, the type of coverage of men compared to women is studied. Third, the paper looks into the ways in which printed media covers stories about women and the issues highlighted in the stories. The findings were mixed. In general, female and male candidates are equally visible. Newspaper coverage does not vary in tone, however, male candidates focus only on ‘female’ issues when more women stand for election. © 2020, © 2020 Journal of International Communication.

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Are media covering while women are campaigning? A study of Mexican municipal elections

2022 , Vidal Correa, Fernanda

Studies on media coverage have found that female nominees receive unequal treatment regarding their visibility and portrayal of their agendas. To assess how media cover women, municipal elections in Mexico are analysed. By focusing on municipal elections, this research advocate for the study of local phenomena and their discourses. The study questions whether women have received equal media exposure compared to men. The research analyses how women are portrayed and explores how print news media present stories about women and the narratives included in their stories. Findings suggest that female and male candidates are equally visible, but men are singled out more often as likely winners. News reports focus mostly on ‘male’ issues, but coverage does not focus disproportionally on female candidates’ personality traits. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.