Who Cites Whom? : The overrepresentation of male-cited sources in the most shared climate change news stories

Asta Zelenkauskaite; Gintarė Gulevičiūtė; Monika Mačiulienė; Aelita Skaržauskienė; Aistė Diržytė

doi:10.7146/mk.v41i79.155541

Authors

Asta Zelenkauskaite Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5762-4605
Gintarė Gulevičiūtė Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania
Monika Mačiulienė Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania
Aelita Skaržauskienė Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania
Aistė Diržytė Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/mk.v41i79.155541

Keywords:

reporter gender, source gender, news sourcing, climate change coverage, Lithuania

Abstract

While journalists work tirelessly to identify relevant, credible, and diverse sources to support the news stories they cover, not everyone is equally heard. This study examines gender gaps in sourcing on the Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT. lt in the most popular news stories that cover climate change. It analyzes national or international coverage, institutional backing, and type of testimony (prestige, expert, lay) by cross-tabulating these results with the gender of the reporter. Results show that sourcing is still predominantly male, with female sources making up only a third. Male journalists largely cite male sources, while females cite both genders. Male sources are mainly prestige testimonies, whereas female sources present lay testimonies. We contextualize this study within the framework of gender mainstreaming efforts, previously advocated for in climate change research.

Author Biographies

Asta Zelenkauskaite, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Dr. Asta Zelenkauskaite, is a professor of Communication at Drexel University. Her work research is interested in the processeses through which old media and new media shape one another and how information flows in increasingly “mediatized” environments. Her work is interested in societal challenges of information perception and trust. She has extensively published on gender representation in multiple online legacy media contexts. Her work has been published at New Media & Society, Social Media + Society, Journal of Communication, Convergence, First Monday, to mention a few. She is an author of Creating Chaos Online: Disinformation and Subverted Post-Publics, University of Michigan Press. She is affiliated with Science, Technology, and Society and Information Science at Drexel and with Vilnius Tech, Lithuania.

Gintarė Gulevičiūtė, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Gintarė Gulevičiūtė (gintare.guleviciute@mruni.eu) is a researcher and lecturer at Mykolas Romeris university involved in a number of international research projects. Her areas of interest are digital marketing methods in digital platforms, e-commerce models for emerging markets, analysis of misinformation in online social networks and societal response to fake news together.

Monika Mačiulienė, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Monika Mačiulienė (maciuliene@mruni.eu) is a senior researcher at Mykolas Romeris University and associate professor and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Her research examines emergence of both collective intelligence and misinformation in social networks and their synergies and stakeholder engagement through co-creative measures. M.Mačiulienė actively participates in international conferences, seminars, and scientific exchange programs and published more than 40 research articles individually and in collaboration with international research teams. Currently, she is involved in a number of international scientific projects (e.g. Horizon Europe projects CLIMAS, DIGICHer, MARTINI H2020 projects INCENTIVE and EU-Citizen.Science) focused on synergies between science and the society as a senior researcher.

Aelita Skaržauskienė, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Aelita Skaržauskienė (aelita@mruni.eu) is a professor at Mykolas Romeris University and chief researcher at Vilnius Gediminas Technical university. Her main research interests are digital co-creation, collective intelligence, decentralized Web and governance. Currently, she is leading the Lithuanian team in Horizon Europe projects CLIMAS and DIGICHer. Together with her research team, Aelita Skaržauskienė has developed a Collective Intelligence Monitoring Technique for evaluation of networked platforms (www.collective-intelligence.lt/en), in collaboration with the MIT Centre of Collective Intelligence.

Aistė Diržytė, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Aistė Diržytė (aiste.dirzyte@mruni.eu) is a medical (clinical) psychologist, currently a professor at Vilnius Gediminas Technikos University and Mykolas Romeris University. Aistė is a full member of the American Psychological Association, a member of the International Association of Positive Psychology, a reviewer for the scientific journals Brain Sciences, Journal of Happiness Studies and many others, a reviewer for more than 50 scientific publications, co-author of two scientific studies, 5 textbooks.

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Who Cites Whom?

The overrepresentation of male-cited sources in the most shared climate change news stories

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DOI:

Keywords:

Abstract

Author Biographies

Asta Zelenkauskaite, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Gintarė Gulevičiūtė, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Monika Mačiulienė, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Aelita Skaržauskienė, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Aistė Diržytė, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

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