Gendered and heteronormative: an examination of media coverage of Kathleen Wynne's rise to power in Ontario

Abstract

Kathleen Wynne’s historic rise to power in Ontario, beginning with the 2013 Liberal leadership race and continuing through the 2014 general provincial election, presents a theoretically significant case study to examine media coverage of political candidates who fall outside of the archetype/norm of “the politician.” Using content analysis and providing contextual examples to examine media coverage of both events, this project aims to capture gendered and/or heteronormative media coverage through the use of various manifest codes. The results of this project indicate that while media coverage of both events was gendered and heteronormative, the Liberal leadership race was proportionally more so than the general provincial election.