Hillary and Barack: Will Atypical Candidates Lead to Atypical Coverage?

Abstract

This analysis compares how the press covered the campaigns of then-senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to determine if—when not compared to a White male candidate—the press still focused on a Black candidate's skin color, a female candidate's gender and appearance, and if it continued to portray both candidates unfavorably. As the first national election with an African American male and White female frontrunners, this is perhaps the first study that directly examines the effect the novelty of race and gender have on press coverage. It found the press still made gender a salient aspect of Clinton's campaign. Also, despite his reticence to focus on race, the press still more frequently portrayed Obama as the “Black” candidate. However, in contrast to previous studies, neither candidate received more coverage for their appearance (i.e., attractiveness, attire, or smile), nor did either receive more favorable coverage than the other. These findings suggest that to some extent, these atypical candidates may have led to atypical coverage.