Gay Marriage in Television News: Voice and Visual Representation in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate

Abstract

Drawing from critical-cultural scholarship, this quantitative content analysis systematically interrogates national network television news coverage of the same-sex marriage debate in 2003 and 2004. Analysis of sourcing patterns and sound bite length indicate the debate was dominated by conventionally “straight” perspectives. While gay and lesbian couples were visually prevalent in news stories, they were largely seen and not heard. Scrutinizing the visual narratives about gay and lesbian life in television news reports, this study found gay and lesbian representation was largely normalized and mainstreamed in typically heteronormative ways.