GMMP 2009/2010 T RAINING MODULE A guide to the newspaper monitoring materials Section 3: Analysis

Q UESTION 17 SPANISH GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF 'TRIVIALITY' Photo-shoot of female ministers in 'designer clothes' stirs polemic Eight female members of the Spanish government have provoked controversy by posing for a photo-shoot in Vogue España. The September edition of the magazine includes a report with five photos, featuring the deputy prime minister and seven female cabinet members, all recently appointed by Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The photos were taken in the gardens of the Palace of Moncloa, the prime minister's official residence. The ministers appear in chic but modest clothes designed by top Spanish and international fashion designers Elvira Leal, art director at Vogue, said that the intention was serious - to celebrate the fact that for the first time in its history Spain has a government with equal numbers of women and men. But the main opposition party, the Partido Popular, has announced that it will consider requesting the ministers to appear before Parliament to explain themselves. 'Why' asked a PP spokesperson, 'would they agree to this trivial photo-session in clothes that are beyond the reach of most people', when they should be trying to achieve complete equality for women? Yesterday the Minister for Culture, Carmen Calvo, responded to the critics on behalf of her colleagues, saying that the Vogue report is historic and serious. The accusation of trivialisation is unwarranted and the criticisms are exaggerated, agreed Minister for Health, Elena Salgado. Critics should read the article and the interviews 'in which we lay out the actions we plan to take'. She said she has no regrets about having posed for the magazine. 1. No, women are not central to the news in this story 2. Yes, women are central to the news in this story Are women central to the news in this story? 3. Do not know, cannot decide In this story, women are the newsmakers. If you are in doubt about whether women are central to the news, code 3 ('do not know'). You should not 'search' for stories that include women. If you find that there are very few women in the most important stories, so be it.

Q UESTION 18 SPANISH GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF 'TRIVIALITY' Photo-shoot of female ministers in 'designer clothes' stirs polemic Eight female members of the Spanish government have provoked controversy by posing for a photo-shoot in Vogue España. The September edition of the magazine includes a report with five photos, featuring the deputy prime minister and seven female cabinet members, all recently appointed by Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The photos were taken in the gardens of the Palace of Moncloa, the prime minister's official residence. The ministers appear in chic but modest clothes designed by top Spanish and international fashion designers Elvira Leal, art director at Vogue, said that the intention was serious - to celebrate the fact that for the first time in its history Spain has a government with equal numbers of women and men. But the main opposition party, the Partido Popular, has announced that it will consider requesting the ministers to appear before Parliament to explain themselves. 'Why' asked a PP spokesperson, 'would they agree to this trivial photo-session in clothes that are beyond the reach of most people', when they should be trying to achieve complete equality for women? Yesterday the Minister for Culture, Carmen Calvo, responded to the critics on behalf of her colleagues, saying that the Vogue report is historic and serious. The accusation of trivialisation is unwarranted and the criticisms are exaggerated, agreed Minister for Health, Elena Salgado. Critics should read the article and the interviews 'in which we lay out the actions we plan to take'. She said she has no regrets about having posed for the magazine. 1. Disagree 2. Agree To what extent do you agree with the following statement: “This story clearly highlights issues of inequality between women and men?” 3. Do not know, cannot decide We disagree with the statement that ‘this story clearly highlights issues concerning inequality between women and men’. Issues of inequality are not taken up by this story in any significant way.

Q UESTION 19 SPANISH GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF 'TRIVIALITY' Photo-shoot of female ministers in 'designer clothes' stirs polemic Eight female members of the Spanish government have provoked controversy by posing for a photo-shoot in Vogue España. The September edition of the magazine includes a report with five photos, featuring the deputy prime minister and seven female cabinet members, all recently appointed by Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The photos were taken in the gardens of the Palace of Moncloa, the prime minister's official residence. The ministers appear in chic but modest clothes designed by top Spanish and international fashion designers Elvira Leal, art director at Vogue, said that the intention was serious - to celebrate the fact that for the first time in its history Spain has a government with equal numbers of women and men. But the main opposition party, the Partido Popular, has announced that it will consider requesting the ministers to appear before Parliament to explain themselves. 'Why' asked a PP spokesperson, 'would they agree to this trivial photo-session in clothes that are beyond the reach of most people', when they should be trying to achieve complete equality for women? Yesterday the Minister for Culture, Carmen Calvo, responded to the critics on behalf of her colleagues, saying that the Vogue report is historic and serious. The accusation of trivialisation is unwarranted and the criticisms are exaggerated, agreed Minister for Health, Elena Salgado. Critics should read the article and the interviews 'in which we lay out the actions we plan to take'. She said she has no regrets about having posed for the magazine. 1. Disagree. It reinforces stereotypes 2. Agree To what extent do you agree with the following statement: “This story clearly challenges gender stereotypes.” 3. Neither agree nor disagree 4. Do not know, cannot decide The story does invoke certain stereotypes: that women are mainly interested in fashion and appearance; that women are 'trivial' rather than 'serious'. On the other hand, the statements from Leal, Calvo and Salgado refute these criticisms. Moreover the text in the Vogue photograph proclaims the serious 'historic' intent of the magazine's report. On balance, it CANNOT be said that the story definitely reinforces stereotypes (and neither does it definitely challenge stereotypes). Therefore, we can neither agree nor disagree with the statement that the story definitely challenges stereotypes.

Q UESTION 20 SPANISH GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF 'TRIVIALITY' Photo-shoot of female ministers in 'designer clothes' stirs polemic Eight female members of the Spanish government have provoked controversy by posing for a photo-shoot in Vogue España. The September edition of the magazine includes a report with five photos, featuring the deputy prime minister and seven female cabinet members, all recently appointed by Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The photos were taken in the gardens of the Palace of Moncloa, the prime minister's official residence. The ministers appear in chic but modest clothes designed by top Spanish and international fashion designers Elvira Leal, art director at Vogue, said that the intention was serious - to celebrate the fact that for the first time in its history Spain has a government with equal numbers of women and men. But the main opposition party, the Partido Popular, has announced that it will consider requesting the ministers to appear before Parliament to explain themselves. 'Why' asked a PP spokesperson, 'would they agree to this trivial photo-session in clothes that are beyond the reach of most people', when they should be trying to achieve complete equality for women? Yesterday the Minister for Culture, Carmen Calvo, responded to the critics on behalf of her colleagues, saying that the Vogue report is historic and serious. The accusation of trivialisation is unwarranted and the criticisms are exaggerated, agreed Minister for Health, Elena Salgado. Critics should read the article and the interviews 'in which we lay out the actions we plan to take'. She said she has no regrets about having posed for the magazine. Would this story be useful for further analysis? Why or why not? 1. No 2. Yes The news reported in this story is open to many different interpretations and could be handled in many different ways. What was the motivation of these ministers? What did they achieve? What did they lose? Almost nothing is said about the content of the article or the interviews that accompanied the photos. How might the addition of that information have changed the story? The selection of sources, the balance of viewpoints, the use of language will have a big effect on the impression that is given in a case like this. It would therefore be useful to analyse and compare how the story was covered in a range of newspapers and media. Code yes and be sure to explain your choice and send a clipping of the story along with your coding sheets. 3. Do not know