Writing in the Margins: Mainstream News Media Representations of Transgenderism

• In Event: Media Coverage and (Mis)Representation

Abstract

This study examines representations of transgender identity and individuals in mainstream American newspapers in an effort to understand how as-of-yet-non-existent frames of the transgender community will develop as trans issues enter mainstream political debate. To do so, 200 articles from 13 of the 25 most circulated newspapers in the United States were coded for the presence or absence of respectful and disrespectful representations of transgenderism. The study finds that mainstream newspaper coverage of the transgender community is extremely limited. What coverage exists, however, contains a significant amount of disrespect and the disrespect contained in coverage is unfortunately of a serious magnitude.

Author

• Thomas J Billard, University of Southern California