Maria Joao Fonseca Leitao Cunha

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Gender Studies, Communication

Scopus Publications

Female journalists who have reached the top: perceptions on communication, leadership, and gender bias in the Portuguese press
Maria Joao Cunha and Rita Lúcio Martins
Emerald
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand challenges and constraints in reaching top leadership positions for women in the Portuguese press. Specifically, it aims at characterizing their communication and leadership styles, and at identifying main gender biases in newsrooms routines from their point of view.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative method was employed by conducting in-depth interviews with four women who have held higher management positions in Portuguese leading newspapers. Participants were asked to characterize their communication and leadership style, but also newsrooms environment, trying to understand how gender asymmetries persist and manifest. Results were analyzed using thematic analysis.FindingsWhile considering that Portuguese newsrooms are no longer environments marked by a sexist/macho environment, through increasing female participation, women still represent a minority in leadership. Leadership traits linked to male styles, including assertiveness and courage, were revealed, though mixed with a more participative/relational leadership. Also, female leaders regret when emotional ties with teams are not developed and recognized some degree of privilege towards other women through family support or not having children.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a limited number of interviews, although they represent the few top women leaders in Portuguese journalism.Practical implicationsPolicymaking recommendations derived from conclusions include participative leadership, implementing quotas, and monitoring tools of gender biases and special training.Social implicationsMedia literacy policies and open debates on main media outlets concerning female leadership and communication styles may contributes toward the acknowledgement of lingering gender biases in the industry.Originality/valueThis study contributes to a fuller insight into the identification of leadership and personal traits among women who managed to disrupt stigmas and break barriers. Their voices are seldom heard in studies focusing leadership, so results enable ascertaining whether there is a female way of leading in journalism and comprehending the sense of privilege these women perceive.


Editorial: Post-feminism in contemporary television
Martina Topić and Maria Joao Cunha
Intellect
The editorial summarizes current debates on post-feminism and also on women and girls in the media. After that, the editorial outlines articles in the issue and connects them to outlined debates on post-feminism and women and girls in the media.


Women in public relations (1982–2019)
Martina Topić, Maria Joäo Cunha, Amelia Reigstad, Alenka Jelen-Sanchez, and Ángeles Moreno
Emerald
PurposeThis paper aims to analyse the current literature on women in public relations to establish trends and areas of inquiry in the literature and identify research gaps for future research.Design/methodology/approachA total of 223 articles have been empirically analysed using thematic analysis to identify trends in the existing literature. The data has been coded and analysed per decade (1982–1989, 1990–1999, 2000–2009, 2010–2019). The articles have been identified by searching major journals in the field of public relations and communications, as well as snowballing from identified articles.FindingsThe results show that the majority of academic articles have been produced by using lived experiences of women working in the public relations industry and thus reflect the professional situation of female public relations employees. The results show that the position of women has reached a full circle in four decades of research and returned to the discriminatory work environment. Finally, the results show that a liberal feminist perspective has an advantage in the literature since the majority of works have been produced in the United States; however, there is an increase in authors calling for the use of socialist and radical feminism.Originality/valueThe paper provides a comprehensive literature review of works published in the field. The paper takes an empirical approach to the analysis rather than the descriptive one, which helped in identifying major trends in the research and identified a research gap for future inquiries.


Screens' domestication in childhood: Uses and parental mediation in city and rural contexts
Carla Cruz, Catarina Franco, Fábio Anunciação, and Maria João Cunha
University of Minho
Este estudo procura caracterizar a utilização dos ecrãs no espaço doméstico em função
 dos contextos citadino e rural das crianças até aos cinco anos e conhecer como a família intervém
 na sua introdução e utilização. Para o efeito foram realizados quatro grupos de foco com
 crianças de quatro e cinco anos residentes na cidade de Lisboa e em Vila Pouca de Aguiar, no
 distrito de Vila Real e oito entrevistas semiestruturadas com pais e mães de ambos os contextos,
 chegando a várias conclusões: 1) as crianças do contexto rural são mais utilizadoras dos ecrãs
 em casa que as crianças da cidade; 2) os pais/mães de ambos os contextos são os responsáveis
 pelo acesso dos filhos aos ecrãs, sobretudo smartphones e tablets; 3) a principal explicação é
 a preocupação dos pais/mães com a exclusão social das crianças caso não os utilizem; 4) os progenitores/as do meio urbano denotam uma maior perceção dos riscos associados à exposição
 dos filhos aos dispositivos tecnológicos.


Representations of disability: A longitudinal study of the press
Maria João Cunha and Paula Campos Pinto
Instituto Universitario de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL)
In this paper, we will present the results of a study on the social representations of disability found through media analyses of three information print media outlets in Portugal from 2009 to 2013. Quantitative analyses were conducted to assess news variables, disability variables and media awareness of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as the news framing mechanisms used. Qualitative assessments were also conducted on sampled articles to examine specific features in media discourse that enable and construct news framing. Implications of these results are discussed as a key dimension to understand the current human rights situation of persons with disabilities in Portugal.