"Female and male politicians tend to be treated differently by the media; these differences are both subtle and less subtle (Kahn, 1994; Sreberny-Mohammadi and Ross, 1996; Gidengil and Everitt, 1999, 2000, 2003b; Uscinski and Goren, 2011). With 'male' as the norm in politics, political reporting tends to be framed in a masculine narrative. As a result, the female's behaviour is misrepresented (Sreberny-Mohammadi and Ross, 1996). A subtle way in which reporters cover male and female politicians differently constitutes what Sreberny-Mohammadi and Ross (1996) refer to as gendered mediation. Focusing on the 2012 Alberta and 2013 British Columbia election leaders' debates, this thesis assesses the extent of gendered mediation in Canadian provincial politics. It uses Gidengil and Everitt's (1999 and 2000) coding scheme in its analysis of aggressive behaviour in the provincial leaders' debates. The results are compared with coverage to assess if female politicians' aggressive behaviour is exaggerated, and if the media continues to frame politics within a masculine narrative, emphasizing violence and conflict. This thesis uses content analysis of newspaper coverage to arrive at its conclusions about the state of gendered mediation in Canadian provincial politics. The findings suggest that that coverage of leaders' debates relies heavily on violent and conflictual imagery, and that the behaviour of female politicians is often misrepresented." --