More than 60% of Americans say the media focuses too much on the physical appearance of women candidates, while the same percentage say there’s not enough focus on their policies, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center poll. Nearly 60% say showing emotion hurts a woman’s chances of getting elected, but only a third say it hurts a man’s chances. Almost half say having young children disadvantages women compared to 7% for men. Yet, as evidenced by the 2024 campaign, not having biological children can be weaponized against women candidates as well.
As journalists strive to cover the 2024 elections fairly, they face stereotypes and biases inside and outside their newsrooms. To help, The National Press Foundation recently released the Guidelines for Covering Women in Politics, which focuses on sourcing, framing and language in political news. These best practices were created by NPF and 20 journalist-fellows. Now, the National Press Foundation is inviting participants from the training and other journalists and experts to take part in a free virtual briefing Aug. 14, 12-12:45 p.m. ET to include a discussion of gender, media and elections.