Franke-Ruta Discusses ‘Mixed’ Landscape for Women in Politics

UPDATED: October 22, 2015, at 2:07 a.m.

Women have made huge strides in media and politics but continue to face significant obstacles, Yahoo Politics editor-in-chief Garance Franke-Ruta ’97 argued at the Kennedy School of Government on Tuesday.

Garance Franke-Ruta, editor in chief of Yahoo Politics, holds a discussion at the Harvard Kennedy School about challenges that women in politics and political media face. By George J Lok

The event, entitled “Women, the Media, and Campaign 2016” and hosted at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, focused on the state of women in politics and political journalism. Franke-Ruta, a 2006 fellow at the Shorenstein center, characterized it as “mixed.”

“On the one hand, we have more women than ever before covering the presidential candidates, and more women than ever before running competitive races within the primary system,” she said. “On the other hand, the media still struggles collectively with how to present female voices to the public...in a way that acknowledges their authority and expertise.”

Franke-Ruta noted in particular the media’s continued attention to female candidates’ physical appearances, requiring prominent candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina to control their images carefully.

Women in the world of political journalism have also made strides, but they too still face challenges, Franke-Ruta said, pointing to an increase in young female political journalists but a continued scarcity of women in editorial and management positions.

“One of the biggest challenges for women in journalism is the sort of intermediate moment in their career, when they’re not entry level but they’re not advancing at the same pace as some of their male peers,” Franke-Ruta said.

After her prepared remarks, Franke-Ruta took questions from the audience, which largely centered on the 2016 presidential campaign. She addressed topics including the continuing popularity of business mogul Donald J. Trump, the relative progressiveness of former Secretary of State Clinton, and the role of social media in the race.

Tuesday’s talk drew an audience of more than 30 people.

“I like to come to these events to keep current,” Gardner “Garry” Emmons ’67 said. Of Tuesday’s talk, Emmons said, “I thought it was a very interesting discussion about the role of women politicians and what they have to go through and do and achieve.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: October 22, 2015

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the Harvard fellowship Garance Franke-Ruta ’97 earned in 2006. In fact, Franke-Ruta was a fellow at the Shorenstein Center, but was not specifically a Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy fellow.