Perceptions of Credibility of Male and Female Syndicated Political Columnists

Abstract

This study, based on an experiment using college students, finds that there was little prejudice against female versus male bylines in political interpretative columns. There was a small tendency for male readers to evaluate male bylines higher in some stereotypical ways, but female readers did not do this. In general, the strongest findings were: There were few differences. The study argues that journalism should be wide open to female columnists, who currently are greatly outnumbered by their male colleagues.