In the wake of Vice President Harris’s official nomination as the Democratic candidate for President, issues about how the press covers female candidates running for public office (particularly when a candidate is also a woman of color) are again on full display, both obviously and subtly. The Shorenstein Center hosted a timely panel discussion with journalists and scholars about how the media has seeded, promoted, and occasionally knocked down bias, sexism, and misogynoir in public discussions about female politicians, and what the research says about how this coverage has changed in recent years (if at all). Award-winning journalist and former Shorenstein Fellow Alison King (Spring ’24) moderated the discussion. This event was co-sponsored by the Women and Public Policy Program at HKS. 

Speakers: 

Amanda Becker, Washington Correspondent for The 19th 

Meredith Clark, Associate Professor of Race and Political Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

Brandi Collins-Dexter, Schuster Media and Technology Fellow at the Shorenstein Center 

Jennifer Lawless, Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics and Professor of Public Policy at the University of Virginia