Abstract
After years of recorded misogyny, the release of an Access Hollywood tape on 7 October 2016 revealed Trump stating he grabs women by their genitals without their permission. This study examines the gatekeeping process of traditional and online media covering this issue, focusing specifically on source use. A content analysis (N = 847) of television, newspaper, and online media shows that television and conservative sources have the highest gender disparity in source use; whereas online media focus the most on female perspectives. Results also show that many Republicans paid lip service to Trump’s actions, but overall defended him—dismissing the severity of sexual violence while maintaining hegemony. Male sources had a positive relationship with defending Trump and a negative relationship with defending survivors. Female sources had a positive relationship with defending survivors only. Conservative and television sources defended Trump more than survivors; liberal, online, and newspaper sources defended survivors more than Trump. Overall, women are still marginalised within the political process by both traditional news media and politicians.
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