Media Discourse and the Feminization of Poverty

Source diversity models suggest that by using non-conventional, non-official sources for news content, the prevailing perceptions about poor people and their needs would be undermined in news coverage. This study found that major newspapers are making efforts to diversify the sources quoted in their coverage of poverty issues. However, the portrayals of poor people have not changed, particularly for women and people of color. Results of this study suggest that source diversity research must go further to explore how sources are used to address the problems of the poor and how media influence public perceptions of public policy related to welfare and welfare reform