„Blasse Mädchen“ im Spiegel – Zur Berichterstattung über Politikerinnen im Wahlkampfjahr 2013 am Beispiel von Medientexten über Katja Kipping

Abstract

This paper examines how the news magazine Der Spiegel and the online platform Spiegel Online (SPON) portrayed the politician Katja Kipping from the German party Die LINKE during the election campaign in 2013. Kipping is since 2012 chairman of the party Die LINKE and contributes to the increasing number of women in politics in recent years. The debate on sexism in everyday life and politics and the discussion related to the appointment of Ursula von der Leyen as the first female German defense minister has shown that an increasing number of women in politics does not automatically lead to the opinion that women are suitable for a political office. Since der Spiegel is one of Germany’s most influential weekly news magazines, it is important to be aware of the contribution it makes to a person’s image in the media and the influence on the election campaign, because if this image is undifferentiated, the reader may reduce the image even more. This reinforces the process of stereotyping. The purpose is to analyze to what extent der Spiegel and SPON spread a unilateral or a differentiated picture or concept and what features of the investigated person that are highlighted. Methodologically, the study is based on the questionnaire for frame analysis by Ziem, modifies it and applies a sequence of questions adapted to female politicians.