Gender Stereotyping of American First Ladies Term Paper

Gender Stereotyping of American First Ladies - Term Paper Example They summarized previous studies on the way that the media reported Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton and Barbara Bush and agreed with the observation that journalists tend to use one of four different â€Å"frames† for viewing the first ladies, namely as an escort for her husband, as a style-setter for fashionable society, in a â€Å"noblesse oblige† role doing charity works or taking a political role as a policy advisor. Earlier studies had shown that the more politically involved the presidential wife was, the less positive the new reporting was. Houchin and Winfield then analyzed media coverage of the wives of the presidential president and vice presidential candidates in the 2000 presidential election, hoping to establish what frame analyzed  used and how the First and Second Ladies’ roles are evolving. The data used in this study included personality profiles, new features, interviews, opinion columns, and campaign updates. It is clear that the wives were involved in the whole electioneering process. At first, the escort role was stressed, and then over time, an element of sacrifice was introduced, since some of these wives had given up high powered careers to support their electioneering husbands. By the end of the election campaign, the press had developed a new frame: â€Å"The Anti-Hillary.† What this study shows is that Hillary Clinton, a strong, capable politician in her own right, is seen as a negative asset to a president. One cannot help wondering what the situation would be if the roles were reversed, for example, if a woman were running for office and her husband came under press scrutiny. This is not a scenario which occurs very often, and when one looks at international examples, such as Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain, and Indira Gandhi in India, one finds that the press is not interested in their husbands as much because they are either dead or seen as irrelevant.

The 2002 failure of Enron corporation and Arthur Anderson Co, their Essay

The 2002 failure of Enron corporation and Arthur Anderson Co, their auditors - Essay Example This study discusses what happened with Enron, defines the problems that plague the high profile corporation, present solutions and alternatives, as well as give a sweeping opinion on how the problems could have been solved or avoided in the first place from this researcher's perspective alone.Enron Corporation was an American energy company and considered as one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, pulp and paper, and communications group of companies. It claimed $111 billion revenues in 2000 and Fortune magazine accorded it "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years, employing around 21,000 people. Enron started out as Northern Natural Gas Company in the early 1930s at Omaha, Nebraska. It became an organized holding company Internorth in 1980s, and then it purchased Houston Natural Gas in 1985 of which Kenneth Lay became the chief executive officer. The merged company was named Enron and was involved in transmission and distribution of electricity and gas throughout the United States. It also engaged in the development, construction and operation of power plants, pipelines, and other infrastructure worldwide. It later market and promoted communication bandwidth commodities and other "derivatives" and grew in opulence behind inflated, fraudulent and non-existent financial reports. Enron declared bankruptcy in late 2001. By 1995 accountants at Arthur Andersen knew Enron was a high-risk client who pushed them to do things they were not comfortable doing. Critics have identified the complicated management approach as one of the culprits that caused Enron's collapse. Initially, the company performed extensive diversification to expand its product and service lines. Because of the strategy, the company experienced robust growth and gained reputation as a multi-dimensional firm. In addition, the firm continued to evolve its business model. Considering the unpredictable circumstances and calculated risks, Enron was successful on paper. This was reflected in the financial reports suggesting the extent of growth in the financial capability of the company. Specifically, the level of stocks reported by the company has skyrocketed. The information provided by the Enron 10-K annual report suggests that it was only in 1997 that the company experienced a decline. According to James Hecker, one of the investors of Enron, Andersen had knowledge on the nature of Enron's operations. The company even branded Enron as a high risked firm that is willing to do all means required to achieve its goals. Moreover, Hecker described the relationship of the Andersen employees to Enron. In the exact words, Hecker said: "Managers in the doorway, thinking out of the box. And I was thinking to myself, I'll bust by butt and then I'll bust my rocks (Schepp, 2002)." This satire showed how generously the employees of Andersen working for Enron were compensated and provided with great incentives. Moreover, Hecker described Enron as a lovely face and a fragile place. Basically, Hecker has knowledge on the true status of the company. Hecker even mentioned in the satire that the managers will soon bring their alibis to court. Precisely, Hecker highlighted the events that will happen years later