6. Media Representations of Ethnicity, Social Class and Age Flashcards
Who conducted a content analysis into media representations of ethnicity of news items across the world over several decades?
Van Dijk
Van Dijk’s 3 stereotypically negative views shown in media representations of ethnic minorities
MEG’s are a threat
MEG’s are criminals
MEG’s are unimportant
Findings of Cushion et al’s study of MEG representations in newspapers, nightly TV news and radio programmes?
7/10 stories of black young men and boys were related to crime, especially violent crime involving knives and/or gangs
When it comes to MEG being represented as criminals, what is there little attempt to do in the media?
Little attempt to provide context or to discuss the possible structural or social factors that might contribute to their motivations for crime
How are MEG outbreaks treated by the media? (3)
Back says that inner-city race disturbances involving MEGs are often described as riots, which has connotations to irrationality and criminality and conjures up images of rampaging mobs that need to be controlled by the police
Journalists rarely use the word ‘uprising’ as it suggests that MEGs may have a genuine grievance
Rebelling against injustice rarely forms part of the media coverage of such events
What 3 groups seem to constitute the greatest threat to the UK according to newspapers and TV?
Immigrants
Refugees and asylum seekers
Muslims
Why are immigrants portrayed as a threat?
Because of their large numbers making them a threat to the supply of jobs, housing and other facilities
What are asylum seekers and refugees portrayed as?
People coming to Britain to abuse the welfare state
What organisation conducted research into the media representation of refugees and asylum seekers?
Information Centre about Asylums and Refugees (ICAR)
What does ICAR note?
The media have constructed an image of migrants as a problem and threat to British identity and cohesion (unity)
Consequence of the unbalanced and inaccurate media image of asylum seekers
Made a significant contribution to their harassment
What are Muslims often portrayed as in the media?
The ‘enemy within’
According to Poole, how has Islam always been presented in Western media?
It has always been demonised and distorted by the Western media, and presented as a threat to the security of the UK and British values
When the media did talk about Islam, what did it focus mainly on according to Moore et al’s research of British media coverage between 2000 and 2008?
1/3 of stories focused on terrorism
1/3 of stories focused on the differences between the Muslim community and British society
Stories about Muslim attacks and Islamophobia were fairly rare
How is multiculturalism portrayed in the media?
Portrayed damaging as it is allowing Muslim extremists to spread their views
Black victims of crime compared to white victims of crime in the media
Black victims of crime are not paid the same degree of attention by the news media as white victims
What two institutional problems do MEGs face when they do appear on TV?
They are often portrayed in stereotypical low-status roles
They appear in the programme because of tokenism
Pluralists view on the representation of ethnicity
Newspapers are simply acting in the interests of their readers by demanding that those in power take action to control MEGs
Why do pluralists argue that the current representation of ethnicity isn’t changing ?
It’s not changing because if people didn’t want to read such stories, they would buy other newspapers or watch other media as there is a diversity of media out there
Marxism on representations of ethnicity
Negative reporting is used to justify more official spending on the social control of MEGs
Plays on white w/c fears that immigration is more problematic than societal inequalities
Why do mass media representations of ethnic minorities tend to be negative according to the hegemonic approach (neo-Marxists)? (3)
Most of those involved in the media are white, and so share the same view about how society should be
White opinions are reflected in the media because white people constitute the majority audience (more audience = more advertisers = more money)
Media professionals don’t want to risk alienating their white audience by focusing on minority cultures or interests
Media representations of the upper class
Those who benefit from society generally receive a positive press as celebrities who are deserving of their position
Representation of the upper class in popular films and TV costume dramas
Rosy, idealised picture is painted of the elite characterised by honour, culture and good breeding in media such as The King’s Speech and Downton Abbey
Representation of the monarchy in the media post WW2
After WW2 the monarchy reinvented itself as the Royal Family with a cast of characters who stood for national values
Resulted in a national obsession with the Royal Family, reflected in media coverage that focused positively on every trivial detail of their lives
Representations of wealth according to Newman
The media focus very positively on the lifestyles of the wealthy, observing that the media focus too heavily on consumer items that only the wealthy can afford
Enormous amount of media is dedicated to daily business news and stock market quotations, despite few people actually owning stocks and shares
Three ways in which pluralists justify the media representations of wealth
They are represented of the idea of meritocracy
Such stories may motivate people to work hard, which benefits the economy
Focus on finance, stocks and shares may reflect importance of these sectors for the economy
Who is more represented on TV…the m/c or w/c?
In general the m/c are over represented on TV while the w/c are underrepresented
Media representation of w/c people according to Newman
There have been very little TV dramas or films in the past 10 years focusing on the everyday lives of the w/c, despite them making up a huge section of society
What does the reporting of w/c issues such as poverty, single-parent families and unemployment often focus on?
Focuses on blaming it on personal inadequacy rather than government policies
Content of newspapers aimed at w/c audiences
Newspapers aimed at w/c assume that they are uninterested in serious analysis of either the political or social organisation of UK society
Content of papers like The Sun and Daily Star assume that such audiences want to read about celebrity gossip
Changing representations of the w/c
Some media representation of w/c people portray them very sympathetically, portraying w/c life and problems in a dignified, realistic and supportive way, and even challenging social inequality
How do Marxists view the media content of papers aimed at the w/c?
They believe such content is an attempt to distract w/c audiences from the inequalities of capitalism
How do pluralists view the content of papers aimed at the w/c?
They argue the content is what tabloid newspapers readers want and the evidence lies in the sales for the newspapers (The Sun had 1.5 million more readers than the Daily Mail in 2015)
Portrayal of children in a study of children in American TV shows
Children often portrayed as motivated by peer relationships, sports and romance
Rarely shown as coping with societal issues like racism or with major family issues like child/domestic abuse
Children being represented as consumers in the media
Children represented in TV commercials in ways to socialise them to become active consumers
Children encouraged by TV advertising to have an appetite for toys and games
Pest power - the power of children to manipulate their parents to spend money on consumer goods that will increase the children’s status in the eyes of their peers
Limitations of the representation of children in the media
Most studies have been American so there may be cultural differences
Youth portrayal in the media
Youth often portrayed by news media as a social problem, as immoral or anti-authority, and they are consequently constructed as folk devils and part of a moral panic
What group has the majority of moral panics been constructed around since the 1950s?
They youth
Out of 286 stories that focused specifically on young people in May 2007, what percentage focused on young people as either the victims or perpetrators of violent crime? (Wayne et al)
82%
What featured in 1% of 2130 UK news items in May 2006 according to Wayne et al?
A young person’s perspective
How do functionalists see the media representation of young people?
Media representations remind young people what is socially expected of them and the punishment they can expect if they transgress
Pluralist view of the representations of young people in the media
Young people commit more crime and deviance than any other social group so therefore such media representations reflect reality
Interactionist view of media representations of young people
Young people are frequently labelled by older generations as a threat to social stability
Representations are a form of moral panic
Postmodernist view of the representations of young people
In media-saturated, postmodern societies, negative portrayals are only a small aspect of media representations
Young people in the new media can be creators and reporters so they can use it to construct positive representations of themselves
How do the representations of old age differ between men and women?
Female film and TV stars are often relegated to character parts once their looks and bodies are perceived to be in decline (after age 40)
Male actors continue to play leading roles regardless of their age
Overall opinion of age shown by the media
The emphasis on youth and beauty in TV, film and advertising imply that ageing should be avoided at all costs
Stereotypical ways the elderly are portrayed
Grumpy (stubborn and conservative)
Mentally challenged (decline of mental functions with age)
A burden (economic burden with welfare dependency or social burden on younger members of their families)
The change in media representations of old people
Recent research suggests that media producers may be gradually reinventing how they deal with older people, especially as they realise that they may have more disposable income to spend on consumer goods (the grey pound)
