Is there a Gender Bias in Media Representations of Consumer Food Sustainability?

This study investigated the potential gender bias in media representations of consumer food sustainability through a quantitative content analysis of 287 Danish newspaper articles. Drawing on media framing and agenda-setting theories, we explored how journalists’ gender influences the framing of sustainability issues. The analysis identifies significant relationships between frame content (e.g., consumers’ responsibility and ethical considerations) and implications (e.g., sustainable consumption), with notable gender-based differences. The results suggest that female journalists are more likely to emphasize economic considerations as influencing sustainable consumer shopping, whereas male journalists tend to highlight consumers’ responsibility and motivations as key factors shaping such behavior. These findings suggest that gender plays a moderating role in the construction of sustainability narratives in media. This study highlights the importance of gender diversity in journalism to ensure balanced and inclusive coverage of societal challenges, offering implications for media practices and public policy communication strategies.