Metaphors that Communicate Weight-Based Stigma in Political News: A Case Study of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

Introduction: News media use metaphors to describe politics (Landau & Keefer, 2014) and obesity (Barry, Brescoll, Brownell, & Schlesinger, 2009). Weight-based stigma is prevalent in U.S. news media (Heuer, McClure, & Puhl, 2011). Media coverage of politicians’ body size may contain metaphors that stigmatize weight. Metaphors reflect and shape how people think about important issues like politics or obesity (Landau et al., 2009; 2010; Landau & Keefer, 2014). Objective: This study uses stigma communication theory (Smith, 2007) to examine stigmatizing metaphors used in media coverage of a United States politician, and candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Republican. Method: We coded N = 240 articles, from January 2011 to December 2014, that referenced Christie’s weight. Considering both the articles and the comments in response to them, we identified N = 246 weight references that utilized metaphors and coded these using categories derived from the stigma communication theory framework. Results: Our coding of these weight references, from journalists and comments posted by the public, demonstrated that metaphors accomplish all four functions of stigma communication: they mark, label, assign personal responsibility, and link to peril the stigmatized person. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate not only that news media use metaphors to describe a politician’s weight, but also show how these metaphors—alone and together—function to constitute stigma communication messages. These messages can affect public opinions toward politics and obesity.