The Reformer, the Princess and the Cheap Shot: How the mass media constructs the First Lady

• In Event: Framing Family Roles and Structures: on Television and in the White House

Abstract

The role of the First Lady has recently become an important topic of discussion in politics and in academic research. However, implications of media coverage of the role are relatively unexplored in scholarly research. The media employ frames (Entman, 1993), which are influenced by a modified structurational model of identification (Scott, Corman, & Cheney, 1998) in order to craft a mediated definition of the role of the First Lady.

Authors

• Paula Hopeck, Purdue University

• Kristen Imboden, Purdue University