Gendered framing and representation of women in Irish political television programming during the 2020 formation of the government of Ireland

Abstract

The ways in which women are incorporated into Irish political programming is vital in understanding the visibility of women in mainstream media, but also the gendered nature of politics, which tend to be dominated by men. This research investigates how three Irish current affairs television programmes frame and represent women, questioning whether Irish political programmes are gendered. This research employed a quantitative and qualitative content analysis case study of one month of broadcasts from Virgin Media’s The Tonight Show and RTÉ ‘s The Week in Politics and Prime Time. The findings indicate the representation of women was constituted through three dominant themes. Firstly, women are marginalised by being numerically underrepresented. Secondly, women receive significantly less airtime than men, even in relation to their numerical representation and thirdly, female participants are represented in a restrictive and limited manner. Women are more likely to be consulted for their personal experience or opinion, with questions aimed at them centring around “soft” topics. Female participants are also considerably less likely to be portrayed as expert sources. This research outlines the critical need for further and continuous monitoring of political media in Ireland, particularly regarding gender bias and female participation in political programming on television.