Non-systemic factors underlying rapid change in gender-biased media framing of female politicians: 2009 and 2013 Israeli newspaper election coverage

Scholars have usually suggested that biased media representation of female politicians is an indication of deep socio-cultural and historical conceptions of gender. The present study calls this into question, offering another possibility: Essential changes in media portrayals of female politicians might also be an outcome of circumstantial and election-specific developments. To test this, a content analysis was conducted of 1,572 news items from two Israeli newspapers, examining their coverage of two female candidates for prime minister during the 2009 and 2013 Israeli elections: Tzipi Livni (both years) and Shelly Yachimovich (2013). The findings revealed that the 2009 campaign coverage was much more gender-biased than in 2013, especially due to “coincidental” changes in the gender-political situation. First, in the 2013 campaign both Livni and Yachimovich ran for the office of prime minister; therefore, the “novelty” element was weaker. Second, it was Livni’s second campaign in a row, so unlike 2009, this time she was presented as an experienced leader. Third, the 2009 elections were more personally-oriented, with two major parties as main electoral alternatives, while in 2013, the situation of multiple parties led to a more partisan/collective media discourse that tended to be less gender-centered.