The Disappearing Female Candidates: A Framing Analysis of Newspaper Headlines in the 2020 Presidential Election

Abstract

This study content analyzed 1,215 headlines from 63 newspapers in the U.S. on presidential candidates from the Iowa Caucuses to Super Tuesday in the 2020 Primary elections. The findings indicate that female candidates receive significantly less coverage than male candidates, which confirm the previous studies of female politicians in the media. However, study results also suggest female candidates are making progress in terms of negative, positive, active, and passive framing in media spaces.