This study discusses variations in the media coverage of the most prominent
male and female EP candidates from Romania in the four weeks leading up to
Election Day (May 8 to June 7, 2009). The verbal- and visual-framing analyses
conducted focus on the visibility of these candidates, their viability (horse-
race frame), and the balance between issue-related coverage (issue frame) and
gendered coverage (trivialization frame). Our sample encompasses 249 news
stories from the web sites of the most influential broadsheets and tabloids in
Romania, namely, Cancan, Evenimentul Zilei, Gândul, and Libertatea. The
results point toward a gender bias on the part of media. Whereas women
dominated the tabloid outlets, men were featured prominently in the
broadsheets. The trivialization and the issue frames appeared more often for
female candidates, whereas the results for the horse-race frame were mixed.
While factors other than gender (such as experience) might have influenced the
coverage of these particular candidates, it is still too early to proclaim
equal treatment in the media, especially since women were considered unable to
deal with the issues they were linked to
