On the F word:a corpus-based analysis of the media representation of feminism in British and German press discourse, 1990-2009

Research in social psychology has shown that public attitudes towards feminism are mostly based on stereotypical views linking feminism with leftist politics and lesbian orientation. It is claimed that such attitudes are due to the negative and sexualised media construction of feminism. Studies concerned with the media representation of feminism seem to confirm this tendency. While most of this research provides significant insights into the representation of feminism, the findings are often based on a small sample of texts. Also, most of the research was conducted in an Anglo-American setting. This study attempts to address some of the shortcomings of previous work by examining the discourse of feminism in a large corpus of German and British newspaper data. It does so by employing the tools of Corpus Linguistics. By investigating the collocation profiles of the search term feminism, we provide evidence of salient discourse patterns surrounding feminism in two different cultural contexts. © The Author(s) 2012.

Media constructions of sleep and sleep disorders:A study of UK national newspapers

Medicalisation, healthicisation and 'personal' strategies have been identified as the main factors contributing to the socially mediated experience of sleep and sleep disorders in modern societies. Medicalisation and healthicisation are publicly available discourses. But the degree to which apparently 'personal' strategies for managing sleep are presented in popular media has been underestimated. This study of the coverage of 5 UK newspapers shows that both medicalised and healthicised discourses are concentrated in the 'serious' press. The tabloid press is more likely to constitute sleep as a private realm and tabloid readers are therefore relatively less exposed to officially sanctioned forms of knowledge about sleep. Analysis of Daily Mail coverage shows, though, that women's 'personal' strategies for managing sleep are far from being private solutions. The Mail presents this topic as a component of its social construction of a 'Middle England' lifestyle, giving these apparently 'personal' solutions a political resonance. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

"Crack down on the celebrity junkies": does media coverage of celebrity drug use pose a risk to young people?

This study analysed news media content to examine the role played by celebrity drug use in young people's perceptions of drug use. We know that young people have access to discourses of drug use through music and other media which may emphasise short term gains (of pleasure or sexual success) over longer term health and social problems. This study goes beyond a simple modelling approach by using Media Framing Analysis (MFA) to take an in-depth look at the messages themselves and how they are 'framed'. New stories about Amy Winehouse's drug use were used and we conducted focus groups with young people asking them questions about drugs, celebrity and the media. Frames identified include: 'troubled genius', 'losing patience' and 'glamorization or gritty realism'. Initially, the press championed Winehouse's musical talent but soon began to tire of her recklessness; the participants tended to be unimpressed with Winehouse's drug use, characterising her as a promising artist who had 'gone off the rails'. Young people were far more critical of Winehouse than might be expected, demonstrating that concerns about the influence of celebrity drug use and its impact on future health risk behaviour among young people may have been over-simplified and exaggerated. This study illustrates the need to understand young people and their frames of reference within popular culture when designing drug awareness information relevant to them. Furthermore, it indicates that critical media skills analysis may contribute to health risk education programmes related to drug use.

Representations of voluntary childlessness in the UK Press, 1990-2008

Representations of voluntary childlessness — the declaration by an individual that he or she does not wish to bear or raise children — were studied in 116 articles published in British national newspapers in the period 1990—2008. Media framing analysis was used to examine broad patterns of framing of the topic, identifying four frames: voluntary childlessness as an individual rights issue, as a form of resistance, as a social trend, and as a personal decision. These frames, it is argued, may act as potential ‘scripts’ for newspaper readers who are debating the decision to start a family.

Women political leaders and the media

Book review: Donatella Campus, Women Political Leaders and the Media. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. vii + 147pp. £55.00. ISBN 978-0-230-028528-6