Portrayal of Kamala Harris in «Daily Mail» in 2025
Марина Андреевна Шестерикова
Докладчик
магистрант 2 курса
Российский университет дружбы народов
Российский университет дружбы народов
Ключевые слова, аннотация
The research analyses portrayal of Kamala Harris in «Daily Mail» in 2025. For the study 7 opinion articles were taken that were exposed to Critical Discourse Analysis. The results demonstrate that the journalists from "Daily Mail" deliberately create an image of an untrustworthy and unintelligent politician with the help of linguistic framing that used direct negative vocabulary.
Тезисы
Key words: linguistics; pragmatics; Critical Discourse Analysis; Daily Mail; Kamala Harris
Over the past fifty years the role of female politicians have increased significantly, however, the media coverage is unlike across newspapers. Conservative newspapers of various countries portray female politicians differently, yet research evidence the incline to negativity [Tarte, 2021; Fordjour, 2024; Andrich 2025]. The study analyses the image of Kamala Harris in «Daily Mail» that the male reporters were creating for the past year. The novelty of the research is the examination of reporters' portrayal of the politician after the failure in the 2024 election. Seven «Daily Mail» opinion articles written by men in 2025 that gave a thorough analysis of the politician were taken for the examination which were analysed with the help of Critical Discourse Analysis. The results of the research demonstrate that the journalists tend to refer to the speeches of Mrs. Harris as senseless and absurd, while her behaviour is described as indecisive, uninhibited with comparison to the child. Across numerous articles evaluative lexis concerning Kamala Harris's behaviour was observed. In several articles the authors highlighted that the former vice president is indecisive with very straightforward speech: Harris' long-awaited decision, Harris' indecision. Forming such a profile of a politician leads to the audience's perception of a politician who has no vision of their future, consequently, the scheme of their campaign is non-existent resulting in untrust of supporters.
In one article the author described Mrs. Harris's behaviour as it is child's: Harris puckered her lips and bristled. Designating a politician behaviour of a child devalues words and actions of the one. In the article the vice president's behaviour is referred as erupted over and unleashed. The journalist creates an image of an uninhibited woman who cannot hold herself. Therefore, the author attempts to make the readers consider that Mrs. Harris is an unreliable politician. Several articles mention the vice president's manner of speaking using such expressions as rambling, rambling sentences, bizarred, digressive words, boast, bizarre comments and nonsensical monologue. The choice of vocabulary demonstrates that the reporter deliberately creates an image of an unreliable politician who speaks absurdity.The analysis of «Daily Mail» newspaper articles written by men portray Kamala Harris as an untrustworthy politician who speaks nonsense. Even this little number of articles that was published clearly demonstrates the aim of making a negative image of Mrs. Harris.
References:
Tarte N. With a female vice president in office, has media gender-bias left the presidential campaign trail? The short answer is no, and the reason why is deep rooted. College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects. 2021. 4.
Fordjour, O. N. K., & White, J. M. Framing Madam Vice President: Global Newspaper Coverage of Kamala Harris in Her First Year. News Research Journal. 2024 46 (1). 29—51.
Andrich, A. Beyond Neutrality: A Longitudinal Analysis of Gender, Party, and Media Visibility in the Tone of US Political Coverage. The International Journal of Press/Politics. 2025. 0(0).
Over the past fifty years the role of female politicians have increased significantly, however, the media coverage is unlike across newspapers. Conservative newspapers of various countries portray female politicians differently, yet research evidence the incline to negativity [Tarte, 2021; Fordjour, 2024; Andrich 2025]. The study analyses the image of Kamala Harris in «Daily Mail» that the male reporters were creating for the past year. The novelty of the research is the examination of reporters' portrayal of the politician after the failure in the 2024 election. Seven «Daily Mail» opinion articles written by men in 2025 that gave a thorough analysis of the politician were taken for the examination which were analysed with the help of Critical Discourse Analysis. The results of the research demonstrate that the journalists tend to refer to the speeches of Mrs. Harris as senseless and absurd, while her behaviour is described as indecisive, uninhibited with comparison to the child. Across numerous articles evaluative lexis concerning Kamala Harris's behaviour was observed. In several articles the authors highlighted that the former vice president is indecisive with very straightforward speech: Harris' long-awaited decision, Harris' indecision. Forming such a profile of a politician leads to the audience's perception of a politician who has no vision of their future, consequently, the scheme of their campaign is non-existent resulting in untrust of supporters.
In one article the author described Mrs. Harris's behaviour as it is child's: Harris puckered her lips and bristled. Designating a politician behaviour of a child devalues words and actions of the one. In the article the vice president's behaviour is referred as erupted over and unleashed. The journalist creates an image of an uninhibited woman who cannot hold herself. Therefore, the author attempts to make the readers consider that Mrs. Harris is an unreliable politician. Several articles mention the vice president's manner of speaking using such expressions as rambling, rambling sentences, bizarred, digressive words, boast, bizarre comments and nonsensical monologue. The choice of vocabulary demonstrates that the reporter deliberately creates an image of an unreliable politician who speaks absurdity.The analysis of «Daily Mail» newspaper articles written by men portray Kamala Harris as an untrustworthy politician who speaks nonsense. Even this little number of articles that was published clearly demonstrates the aim of making a negative image of Mrs. Harris.
References:
Tarte N. With a female vice president in office, has media gender-bias left the presidential campaign trail? The short answer is no, and the reason why is deep rooted. College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects. 2021. 4.
Fordjour, O. N. K., & White, J. M. Framing Madam Vice President: Global Newspaper Coverage of Kamala Harris in Her First Year. News Research Journal. 2024 46 (1). 29—51.
Andrich, A. Beyond Neutrality: A Longitudinal Analysis of Gender, Party, and Media Visibility in the Tone of US Political Coverage. The International Journal of Press/Politics. 2025. 0(0).