This study examines media treatment of Ellen DeGeneres over a 26-year period, focusing on how she served as a surrogate for the same-sex marriage debate during that time. The study suggests that coverage of DeGeneres followed a similar path to that of a protest group, challenging the status quo, and therefore, suffering critical and negative treatment from media. Findings indicated that even after common gender-related variables such as female sources and mentions were controlled, the major contributing variable was the level of public support for same-sex marriage. Implications for both protest-related literature and scholarship on public opinion were discussed.

这项研究考察了艾伦·德杰尼雷斯（Ellen DeGeneres）在过去26年中的媒体待遇，侧重于她在这段时间内如何充当同性婚姻辩论的代理人。这项研究表明，《 DeGeneres》的报道走上了与抗议团体相似的道路，挑战了现状，因此受到了媒体的批评和消极对待。调查结果表明，即使在控制了与性别相关的常见变量（如女性来源和提及人数）后，主要的变量是对同性婚姻的公众支持水平。讨论了与抗议有关的文学和学术对公众舆论的影响。