Who Framed the Women? Measuring the Public Relations Impact on the Media's Framing of the U.S Supreme Court Nominees

Abstract

This study seeks to determine if Presidents frame female nominees to the highest court differently than their male counterparts in ways consistent with other female leaders. Entmen (1993) defines framing as process whereby certain aspects of a perceived reality are selected and made more salient in communication. This work further examines how U.S. Presidents select and highlight certain aspects of their U.S. Supreme Court nominees' background, experience and personal attributes in public relations materials. By analyzing frames in public relations materials and comparing them to those found in testimony by third parties and in newspaper coverage, the study will determine the effectiveness of the Presidents to influence others to utilize his frames.