Christina Fiig, Associate Professor, Ph.D. European Studies, Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Denmark, cfiig@cas.au.dk
Media can be considered a vital political arena in the shaping of politics, civic engagement and democracy. An investigation of the relationship between gender, majority/minority ethnicity and the selection of news sources is therefore highly relevant and not a field, which has been much researched in Denmark. One systematic feature of TV news programs is that they are characterized by a bias. We know from international research (Hooghe & de Swert 2009; De Swert & Hooghe 2010) that (different categories of) women are used less frequently as news sources than men. This raises a range of questions on the reasons for this bias. The paper presents the first findings of an empirical study of news sources of two Danish (political) news programs. The empirical data describes the news sources in terms of gender and majority Dane / minority ethnicity in relation to different types of news sources (journalists, politicians, bureaucrats, spokespersons from NGO etc.). The idea underlying a descriptive analysis is that quantitative media data can be useful in calling attention to debates on democracy, inclusion and the public sphere in a perspective of intersectionality. Theoretically, the paper is framed by theories on intersectionality and on media and democracy. The project is part of the research project AU Ideas: The Democratic Public Sphere at Aarhus University, Denmark. See www.offentlighed.au.dk
