Media representations: age/class/ethnicity Flashcards
Media Gaze
Filtered through the eyes of young to middle-aged male adults. Influences the overall representation of children, young people, and older people.
How are older and younger people represented in the media?
Older people = under-represented
Younger people = over-represented
Children, up to age 14
Depicted positively, mainly as consumers of toys or comedic figures.
What were the 7 prevalent stereotypes about children discovered by Children’s Express in their study?
-Kids as victims (innocent)
-Cute kids (evoke positive feelings)
-Little devils (mischievous)
-Brilliant (exceptional talents)
-Accessories (enhance parents image)
-Kids these days (adults express nostalgia for the past)
-Little angels (endure hardships with resilience)
Youth (age 15-20)
Often the subject of negative media stereotyping. Portrayed as selfish and rebellious, and a problem group in society. Depicted in the context of crime, gang, knife and gun culture, anti-social behaviour and binge drinking.
MORI for Young People Now Analysis
Analysis of the magazine showed that the majority of stories were negative, 57%, with just 12% being positive. 40% of articles about young people are focused on crime, vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
Women in Journalism survey 2009
Found that teenage boys most frequently appeared in the media in stories about crime - often described using words like ‘thugs’.
White et al
More than 40% of young people were dissatisfied with the way they were portrayed on TV as ‘disrespectful’ and living ‘unproductive and vacuous lives’.
Youth (age 15-20)
These representations are driven by news values, as exciting stories and sensational headlines which exaggerate the occasional deviant behaviour of a few young people out of all proportion to its real significance in society to help sell newspapers and attract TV viewers.
Youth (age 15-20)
The media provide the only source of information about events, and therefore distort people’s attitudes and give a misleading impression of young people as a whole.
Older people are particularly vulnerable to believing such stereotypes, as their impressions are likely to be formed strongly by the media.
Cohen (2002)
Young people are relatively powerless, and as easily identifiable group to blame for all of society’s ills. Young people, specifically young Afro-Caribbean males, have often been used as scapegoats by the media to create a sense of unity in society, and uniting the public against a common ‘enemy’ and encouraging them to support tough action against them. Leads to moral panics and young people getting labelled.
Youth AO3
These are the same young people who are the major users of the new media. Media stereotyping can be combatted by young people themselves through texting, tweeting, youtube, and other devices of citizen journalism. This means that mainstream media organisations may over time be forced to change their traditional media stereotypes of young people.
Youth AO3
‘New sociology of childhood’ - offer the idea that children are not passive puppets and are active agents who play a big part in society.
