Changing the Game Changes the Frame: The Media’s Use of Lesbian Stereotypes in Leadership versus Election Campaigns

Abstract

This study examines how Allison Brewer, the openly lesbian leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party was reported on in the province’s newspapers. News values governing political reporting led the media to construct Brewer’s political persona during her leadership campaign using stereotypes of lesbians, activists and women in politics. This stereotypic treatment occurred at a point in her political career when impressions are most important. A year later, during the provincial election campaign her newsworthiness as a “new” or “contentious” presence in politics had diminished and her coverage became more typical of the average or ‘normal’ female politician.