Media-Social Class Flashcards
Explain Nairn’s analysis of how the monarchy have been represented
The monarchy has rarely any criticism of the institution or individuals in it; post WW2 they were reinvented as the ‘Royal Family’ w/ cast of characters of who stood for national values e.g decency; presented to be ‘like us’ and as the ‘nations family’ w/ their lives as an ongoing narrative or soap opera
What do Neo-Marxists say media representations of social class tend to celebrate?
Celebrates hierarchy and wealth, those who benefit are the very wealthy w/ upper class and monarchy receiving positive press seen as deserving of their position- very little attention to the inequalities in wealth and pay
How does Reiner illustrate Marxist arguments about myth of meritocracy?
Media represents the UK as a meritocratic society, in which talent, intelligence and hard work is rewarded but Marxists say it’s an ideological myth, as evidence suggests wealth is more important than ability in opening up opportunities
How does Newman argue the media celebrates wealth?
Media focus very positively on concerns of the wealthy and privileged, over focusing on consumer items e.g luxury cars, fashion accessories etc; tends to admire the achievements of celebrities and their lavish lifestyles w/ very little criticism
What evidence is there that the middle class are over-represented in the media?
1)Apart from Soaps and comedies, dramas focus on middle class families concerned about manners, social responsibility etc
2)large % of newspapers & magazines aimed @ middle class and their consumption- interests and tastes that can only be afforded by those w/ good standard of living
3)middle class anxious about decline of moral standards in society
4)most creative personnel are middle class- dominate positions of authority
What does Dodd and Dodd’s study of Eastenders tell us about working class representations in the media?
Change and continuity in Eastenders combining nostalgic portrayal of a working class community w/ modern issues, does not reflect contemporary working class culture
What does Newman say about representations of 1) the working class 2)the poorest in society, in the media?
1)few films focus on everyday lives of the working class, despite it constituting a significant section of society; when they are featured the media depiction is often unflattering or pitying
2)labelled as welfare cheats, drug addicts or criminals; youth subcultures the subject of moral panics and reporting of issues, such as poverty, often suggests that personal inadequacy is the main cause and not the government
How does Devereux note the newspapers represent the working class?
The working class people fall into 2 categories: positive portrayals of ‘happy’ and ‘deserving’ poor that contrast the negative images of those on welfare benefits
What does Jones say the ‘chav’ label allow society and the media to do to the working class?
Represents a way to condemn working class culture and uses term ‘chavtainment’ to refer to TV shows dedicated to working class Britain portraying them as slothful and aggressive e.g The Jeremy Kyle show; they deliberately show them in a bad way to seek and construct a type of underclass that contrasts ideas of working class culture from ‘salt’ to ‘scum’ of the Earth identity
What do Golding & Middleton tell us about media representations of the underclass?
Demonises certain sections of the underclass that lead to legitimising welfare cutbacks by the state
What does Price tell us about media representations of the underclass?
TV programmes that examine life of the poorest is ‘poverty porn’- intended to have shocking effect and shape people’s outlooks; empathetic aspects are frequently missed to make it seem they are deserving of their situation
What did McKendricks study of a week of mainstream media tell us about coverage of the poor?
Coverage of poverty is marginal, in that causes and consequences are rarely explored; shows like Shameless show a sanitised depiction of the lifestyle
