The Vice President in the media Representation of Kamala Harris in American newspapers

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify Vice President Kamala Harris’s framing in newspapers with a different political orientation by the following research questions: How is Vice President Kamala Harris framed in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and how do textual framings link to the context of the two newspapers in American society? The focus of the study was on the run-up to her vice-presidency as a woman and woman of color. By analyzing ten feature articles, which were collected based on five major events in the race for the presidency, a difference between the newspaper was found. As predicted, overall, the personal frame was found as the most prominent frame, followed by the horse race frame, which indicates that someone competes, and lastly, the issue frame. This implies for both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Additionally, concerning the differences between the two papers, the Wall Street Journal had more emphasis on Harris’s color and gender compared to the New York Times. This indicates that the Wall Street Journal still sees people of color in those positions as remarkable. Contrary to expectations, the Wall Street Journal focused more often on political actions and Harris’s opinion and political viewpoint than the New York Times. This is in line with quotations from the newspaper because the Wall Street Journal quotes Harris more often than the New York Times, which could indicate that they see Harris more seriously as a candidate. Keywords: framing, patterns, political orientation, Liberal, Conservatives, Republicans, Democrats