A Slightly New Shade of Lipstick: Gendered Mediation in Internet News Stories

Grounded in frame theory and the gendered mediation thesis. this study examines the use of gendered descriptive language. metaphors. status and power designations as well as personal detail in Internet news stories. One hundred sixty- eight lead stories appearing on CNN. com. FoxNews. com. and NYT. com were examined. The findings reveal that Internet stories rely on gendered language and male metaphors and analogies. Moreover. they are more likely to include personal information on females while simultaneously omitting information related to females' status and power. These findings provide evidence that major Internet news outlets place more emphasis on the male sphere of influence than the female sphere. thereby reinforcing the notion that the male standard is the norm in society with females presented as outside of that norm.