國外學者在研究中發現媒體在報導女性政治人物的數量上和角度上和報導男性政治人物有顯著不同，且有對女性較不利的傾向。過去由於在台灣出任政治要角的女性並不多見，所以儘管台灣學者在「性別與媒體」上有諸多論述，但專門針對女性政治人物著墨並不多，或只對單一女性政治人物作個例的探討（如：呂秀蓮）。然近年來，在女性參政機會增加和媒體商業化的雙重帶動下，女性政治人物的媒體曝光率和呈現角度均較以往有所改變，突顯出對這一方面研究的迫切需要。 本研究將以「框架理論」為學理基礎來探討目前閱報率最高的兩家報紙（即蘋果日報及自由時報）是如何再現台灣的女性立委。並依「框架理論為一整合式過程」的論點來做研究設計，採混合式的研究方法，第一階段先以「內容分析法」檢視女性立委在此兩報中被報導的數量與質量，並試圖整理出不同屬性的報紙在處理女立委新聞時所用「框架」的同、異處，第二階段將用與女立委的深度訪談，和對大學生做問卷調查的方式來探討「媒體文本框架」和「個人認知框架」間的互動關係。研究成果不但可為國內女性從政者的媒體再現提供更多實證文獻，更可與國外研究作比較，並提供女立委及社會大眾做參考，省思新聞媒體再現社會真實的相關議題。 International researchers argued that women politicians tend to receive less news coverage and more disadvantaged reports in the media. In Taiwan, although scholars have paid due diligence in studying other aspects of gender representation in the media, studies focusing on female politicians are limited compared with the wide-ranging studies conducted in the West. One reason for this research void could be due to the limited number of women holding major posts in politics in the past. However, in recent years, increasing women’s political participation coupled with intensified commercialization of the news media has brought changes to the degree of visibility for female politicians and the way they are reported in the news. In this climate, research on media representations of political women appeared to be timely and even urgent. Using ‘framing theory’ as the conceptual construct, this proposed research aims to analyze the ways in which female politicians are represented in two of Taiwan’s most-read national newspapers: Apple Daily and the Liberty Times. In terms of research design, this study will adopt a two-stage mix-method approach. In the first stage, researchers will use content analysis to examine the quality and quantity of the news coverage in both newspapers, and investigate the similarities and differences between dominant frames used in these reports. The second stage will involve conducting in-depth interviews with the selected female legislators and questionnaires with undergraduate students to explore the cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral impacts of such coverage. By linking the data gathered in both stages, researchers will then be able to see ‘framing’ as a process and analyze the complex interplay between the ‘media frame’ and ‘individual frame’. The findings will not only enrich the literature on media representation of female politicians in Taiwan, but also provide updated empirical data for comparison with other international studies. They will also serve as reference for female politicians and the public at large to ponder related issues around gender in political media representation, which are believed to have long-term implications for women’s political participation and public perception of women in politics.
