TORONTO -- Media coverage of the announcement of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as the 2020 Democratic vice presidential nominee included more racist and sexist stereotyping compared to both major parties' 2016 nominees, according to a new report.
The report from Time’s Up Now, the political arm of Time's Up, which advocates to end harassment and discrimination in the workplace, found that approximately 25 per cent of coverage of Harris in the U.S. contained language, coded or otherwise, evoking at least one racist or sexist trope.
According to the report, references to Harris as too "uncooperative" and "unlikeable" fuelled the racist and offensive 'Angry Black Woman' trope, while commentary calling her "too ambitious" and "competent" alluded to question of her qualifications for the job.
The report, released Tuesday ahead of the 2020 vice-presidential debate, also found that journalists rarely discussed Harris' race or gender independent of each other.
"The pervasiveness of sexism in our political and public discourse infects not only how we think about women running for public office, but also how we think about women leaders in every sector… And those become the messages our daughters – and sons -- learn about the limitations of gender and race," Time's Up Now said in a press release.
As part of the We Have Her Back campaign, Time's Up Now commissioned Edelman Data & Intelligence to analyze two weeks of media coverage after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced Harris as his running mate and compared it to the announcements of then-Gov. Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Kaine as vice-presidential nominees in 2016. Analyzed content includes news and opinion coverage from major U.S. media publications.
The analysis found that nearly 61 per cent of media coverage of Harris mentioned race or gender, compared to just five per cent of coverage for Pence and Kaine.
Time's Up Now says this shows that when white men are running for elected office, their identity is viewed as the "default" for leaders in society, and not considered an important factor when governing.
According to the report, adjectives used to describe Harris skewed more negative than those used to characterize Pence and Kaine. While words commonly associated with Harris include "nasty," "extreme," "phony," and "mean," the 2016 vice-presidential candidates were both portrayed as "safe" and "experienced" choices.
As more diverse people run for and win local, state and national elections in the U.S., Time's Up Now said the media will be forced to re-evaluate how it covers those candidates.
The report also found that U.S. President Donald Trump's attacks on Harris have been much harsher than his attacks on Kaine in 2016. The report says media coverage not only amplified Trump's harsher descriptions of Harris --- rooted in harmful "angry Black woman" tropes -- but also fuelled widespread coverage of false and racist "birther" conspiracy theories.
While Harris' status as the first Black woman and the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for U.S. vice-president was recognized in media coverage, it was also used by Trump and many GOP members to question her status as an American citizen.
Additionally, 36 per cent of media coverage focused on Harris' ancestry. The report says coverage of Harris as the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants overshadowed her professional background and achievements.
In contrast, less than five per cent of media coverage of Pence and Kaine related to the candidates' ancestry or personal lives.
Time's Up Now says the findings suggest that no matter the candidate, the media will often identify his or her most unique personal aspects, such as race, gender, or religion, and will frequently frame the candidate through that lens.
"The data was clear: When women, and especially women of colour, run for office, they are subjected to a double standard that has nothing to do with their qualifications and everything to do with [America’s] history of sexism and racism," Time's Up Now said in the release.
