The politicising spark? Exploring the impact of #MeToo on the gender equality discourse in Australian print media

Author(s)
Olga Eisele, Elena Escalante-Block, Alena Kluknavská, Hajo Boomgaarden
Abstract

#MeToo has raised public awareness on issues of sexual harassment and misconduct at an unprecedented scale, nurturing hopes for sustainable change also in terms of gender equality. We use the concept of politicization to assess the potential for change which #MeToo might have induced in the broader print media discourse on gender equality issues. We analyse Australia as an arguably difficult case due to its conservative political and media system, thus offering political activism rather dire prospects of public resonance. We assess a total of two years of media coverage in the eight largest newspapers (October 2016 – September 2018), combining automated content analysis with manual claims analysis. Our results speak to the societal debate on gender equality as well as the potential of online social movements to change mainstream discourses and social realities.

Organisation(s)
Department of Communication
External organisation(s)
Institut d’études politiques de Paris, Masaryk University
Journal
Australian Journal of Political Science
Volume
57
Pages
309-327
No. of pages
19
ISSN
1036-1146
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2045900
Publication date
03-2022
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
508007 Communication science, 506013 Political theory, 508008 Media analysis
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Sociology and Political Science
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 5 - Gender Equality
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/the-politicising-spark-exploring-the-impact-of-metoo-on-the-gender-equality-discourse-in-australian-print-media(9156eb20-945b-45f5-8635-92c1c48fcb5f).html