Muted Voices: The Underrepresentation of Women in COVID-19 News in Portugal

Rita Araújo, Felisbela Lopes, Olga Magalhães and Carla Cerqueira
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Rita Araújo: Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Felisbela Lopes: Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Olga Magalhães: Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
Carla Cerqueira: Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies (CICANT), Lusófona University, 4000-098 Porto, Portugal

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portuguese media seemed to contribute to the symbolic annihilation of women. In spite of the fact that women play leading political roles as the Minister of Health and the Directorate-General of Health, women were almost mute in the COVID-19 news that was published in the Portuguese daily national press. In a sample of more than 6000 news sources, women account for less than 20% of them. Their lack of visibility in the news deepens the existing asymmetries of gender and amplifies the glass ceiling. The aim of this study was to analyze the media coverage of COVID-19 through a content analysis of the news that was published in two Portuguese daily newspapers with different editorial lines. Our period of analysis corresponds to the emergency-state periods (18 March to 2 May 2020; 9 November to 23 December 2020; 15 January to 28 February 2021).

Keywords: COVID-19; women; news; news sources; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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