In the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign Hillary Clinton was pitted against Barack Obama for the nomination. On February 18, 2008 Time magazine published a behind-the-scenes photo essay of each candidate titled “The Great Divide.” As has been well established, news photographs can have an influence on the electorate. Using a close semiotic analysis this article considers the images found in the photo essays to discover any underlying visual bias. The results of the analysis show that the two candidates are portrayed differently. However, those differences may be a reflection of how the public and the media already perceived each candidate.
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