This project explores the portrayal of Vice President Kamala Harris’s performance during the
2024 U.S. presidential debate across both social media and traditional media platforms. By
personifying Instagram and TikTok as social media platforms, and Fox News and CNN as
traditional media outlets, the project visually highlights the differences in tone, messaging, and
framing between these mediums. Furthermore, to complement the platform-specific analyses, the
project also includes a ‘representative’ from Kamala Harris's campaign team to compare how
information differs when conveyed by a primary source, rather than mediated by an outlet.
Through this personification, the video aims to uncover how gendered portrayals influence the
coverage of Harris, revealing contrasting styles in each platform’s reporting. With the assistance
of Sona, an “AI monitoring tool” inspired by the GMMP framework, the project contrasts the
informal, personal, and often meme-driven language of social media with the more formal and
structured tone of traditional media. Designed for an audience of students ages 18-26, the video
illustrates how the platforms they engage with are shaped by gender and political biases,
especially in politically charged events like the 2024 presidential debate.
