AURORA - This presidential election has been a field day for Marion Just. As a political scientist who specializes in media studies, Just researches race and gender issues and how they are covered in political news coverage.
Between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, she has not had a hard time finding subject matter.
Just gave a presentation Monday at Wells College on race, gender and the media in the 2008 election. A professor at Wellesley College, she has been monitoring and analyzing media coverage of these candidates since January 2007.
During her presentation, Just showed through various statistics how the candidates have been portrayed in the news and how that may relate to race and gender issues in the United States. She charted various trends in negative and positive coverage.
For instance, she noted that between January and May 2007, Clinton received much more negative media coverage than Obama. During this time, Obama was connected with a message of “hope” and “change,” while Clinton was connected with the “baggage” of the last Democratic administration.
“This was a big problem for Hilary Clinton,” Just said.
Just also noted that Clinton - a Wellesley graduate - was often portrayed as cold and calculating in the press, but then criticized for showing emotion during a rally in New Hampshire.
Yet this is often a problem for women in politics, she noted.
“If they appear to be too tough, they appear as too un-feminine,” Just said. “But if they appear too feminine, then they appear to be too weak.”
Wells College political science professor Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo, a former colleague of Just at Wellesley, said he has been trying to get her to speak in Aurora for a while.
She is an expert in these fields, he said, and her work gives students a chance to see research based on empirical evidence instead of political speculation.
“We need to be looking at views of people who have done empirical research,” Lumumba-Kasongo said. “To me, as a political scientist, these views can tell us much about what is going on.
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
Just gave a presentation Monday at Wells College on race, gender and the media in the 2008 election. A professor at Wellesley College, she has been monitoring and analyzing media coverage of these candidates since January 2007.
During her presentation, Just showed through various statistics how the candidates have been portrayed in the news and how that may relate to race and gender issues in the United States. She charted various trends in negative and positive coverage.
For instance, she noted that between January and May 2007, Clinton received much more negative media coverage than Obama. During this time, Obama was connected with a message of “hope” and “change,” while Clinton was connected with the “baggage” of the last Democratic administration.
“This was a big problem for Hilary Clinton,” Just said.
Just also noted that Clinton - a Wellesley graduate - was often portrayed as cold and calculating in the press, but then criticized for showing emotion during a rally in New Hampshire.
Yet this is often a problem for women in politics, she noted.
“If they appear to be too tough, they appear as too un-feminine,” Just said. “But if they appear too feminine, then they appear to be too weak.”
Wells College political science professor Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo, a former colleague of Just at Wellesley, said he has been trying to get her to speak in Aurora for a while.
She is an expert in these fields, he said, and her work gives students a chance to see research based on empirical evidence instead of political speculation.
“We need to be looking at views of people who have done empirical research,” Lumumba-Kasongo said. “To me, as a political scientist, these views can tell us much about what is going on.
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
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