Science and its practitioners have been extensively covered in the media, and research has analyzed this coverage. Yet relatively few studies have analyzed news coverage of science and scientists in a social context. This project concerns itself with the question of cultural power in the context of gendered media representation. In this study, I borrow on the concept of social tokenism and argue for its broader application for investigating journalistic discourse. In particular, I address the treatment of female scientists by science journalists as an illustration of the use of tokenistic rhetoric routines in the press. Before examining conceptualization and methodology, I provide a brief review of the portrayal of scientists as anchors in stories involved in the presentation of the scientific enterprise, including the depiction of female scientists in the news media.
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