Join us online or in person for a seminar with Dr Meghan Hopper.

Representations of women and men during Australian federal election campaigns

In this seminar, Meghan will share some of the findings of her PhD research, which examined mainstream print media representations of women and men during Australian federal election campaigns. The election campaigns of 1984, 1998 and 2010 marked significant milestones in women’s political representation in the Australian parliament. Drawing on an analysis of close to 4,300 newspaper articles, the seminar will explore gendered shifts in reporting over a twenty-six year period during which women’s presence and prominence in politics increased. Over the period of the study, newspapers found new ways to use gendered media frames relating to novelty and outsider status in their coverage of women: initially as a collective, then later as individual ‘disruptors’ as women’s political representation and power grew. The seminar will also explore how gendered mediation perpetuates a conception of politics and politicians as stereotypically masculine, and the impact of this in coverage of male political leaders such as Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

11am, 8th May

Burwood: C2.05.01
Waurn Ponds: IC2.108
Zoom: Click Here

Dr Meghan Hopper is a feminist media historian. Her research interests include gendered mediation, election reporting, and media and journalism history in Australia. She has also written on family violence policy in Victoria/Australia. Meghan received her PhD from the School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash University in 2023; she has degrees from Monash and RMIT Universities and is a graduate of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University. She teaches at Monash University and works professionally in local government.