Equity in Science Journalism: Investigating Gender Disparities in News Media Coverage of Scientific Research

Media coverage shapes public perception of science, yet gender bias can compromise its objectivity. Based on 1 million papers with 1.2 million media citations, we examine how the corresponding author’s gender relates to media citing scientific research. We reveal that more women-led papers receive at least one media mention in women-underrepresented fields, but they are cited less frequently across all fields. Women authors are underrepresented in national outlets and are more often reported by liberal media. Sentiment analysis shows that men-led papers are more often associated with positive sentiment in news text, while women-led papers elicit more negative sentiment.