| dc.description.abstract | This study investigated the role played by print media in the priming of female presidential candidates. It sought to expose the underlying messages relayed by print media and which popularize or de-popularize the female presidential candidates' candidature.t These messages form an 'object' in the mind of the reader upon which opinions regarding the leader in focus are based. The interest in mass media as tool of societal influence has been of interest to scholars since the early Century, starting with Max Weber who saw media content as a means of monitoring 'cultural temperature' of society.
Deductively, it is evident then that analysis of media content exposes that which is perceived by a given society. The ideologies and beliefs of a society are held in media content. This study was conceived after a gap in research on the priming of female presidential candidates was identified. Whilst much has been done on the portrayal of female parliamentary candidates in the mass media, little attention was given to specifically female presidential candidates.
The findings of this study will contribute to the field of gender equality, exposing the underlying aspects of print media priming of female presidential candidates. Aspiring female presidential candidates will also find the study useful in their use of media as a campaign tool. For media houses, this study will bring to light various aspects of print media and how these aspects affect the priming of female presidential candidates. Catharsis maybe achieved when media houses appreciate the impact all the print media aspects analyzed in this study ultimately affect the priming of female presidential candidates, whether done deliberate or not.
The study was conducted through the content analysis research design, with data collected from two main dailies namely: The Daily Nation and The Standard Newspapers from January 1, 2012 to June 30, 2012, a six month period when the mentions of the female presidential candidate of focus, Hon. Martha Karua, were most in number since her announcement that she would be running for the top seat in November of 2009. The two dailies were chosen due to their
widespread readership across the nation.
The data was analyzed using a coding schedule and then fed into SPSS for presentation into graph form. The study concludes that there exist significant imbalanced in media coverage of female presidential candidates and an attribute to the numerical under-representation of women seeking presidency. In terms of the material reported, sentimental issues were given prominence, with little regard given to leadership capabilities of the aspiring candidate, as well as her pillar issues. Also concluded was that articles covering women presidential candidates tend to be confined to the inner pages of the newspapers, which feature family and general social issues. | en_US |
