social class

Question 1

Nairn - Upper class (traditional)

Answer 1

After WWII, the monarchy developed close ties with the media and reinvented itself as the royal family, a family ‘like us but not like us’, their lives are presented to us like a soap opera. Royalty can also reinforce a sense of national identity, our opinions are formed directly from the media.

Question 2

Saunders - Middle class (traditional)

Answer 2

Conspicuous consumption - Media target the middle class because they have the highest disposable income and social anxiety. They want to buy expensive things to show off their wealth like the upper class do, to seem successful.

Question 3

Mertens and D’Haenens - Middle class (traditional)

Answer 3

Marxism - Believe the media representations of the middle class create a ‘false class consciousness’, working class people are deceived into believing that inequality is a result of the middle class deserving their success rather than due to unequal life chances. The digital divide shows that the digital underclass cannot access info like the middle class can.

Question 4

Leech - Middle class (traditional)

Answer 4

Pluralism- Media representations do accurately reflect the way media consumers perceive society, those working with the media industry are from middle class backgrounds, so that’s what is reflected within media content. Middle class lifestyles are presented as the ‘ideal’ lifestyle. ‘Cereal packet family’

Question 5

Newman - Working class (traditional)

Answer 5

The working class are being stereotyped in an unflattering and pitying light, there are very few shows that depict a realistic image. Tend to link the working class with moral panics (eg, high unemployment) suggesting the working class inadequacy was the cause of them not government policies.

Question 6

Devereux - Working class (traditional)

Answer 6

The working class is presented in 2 ways: Positive portrayals- they are happy and deserving poor, this is a more unrealistic attempt at portraying them at the turn of the millennium. Eg, ‘The Royal Family’ (show)- sense of working class community. Negative image- those who are on welfare benefits. Eg, ‘Ackley Bridge’.

Question 7

Jones - Working class (traditional)

Answer 7

Chavs: the Demonization of the Working Class (his book). The word ‘Chav’ condemns the working class culture and people and portrays them as bigoted, slothful and aggressive. They went from ‘salt of the earth’ to ‘scum of the earth’. Eg, Jeremy Kyle - Chavtainment.

Question 8

Baumberg et al - Underclass (traditional)

Answer 8

Benefit stigma in Britain - Disproportionate amount of focus on benefit fraud, 29% of news stories reference benefit fraud, estimated that a mere 0.7% of all benefit claims are fraudulent.

Common language used to describe benefits as ‘undeserving’ eg: fraud and dishonesty (eg, ‘aking illness), dependency (underclass, unemployable), non-recipocity/lack of effort (handouts, lazy) and outsider status (immigrant, obese).

Question 9

Golding and Middleton - Underclass (traditional)

Answer 9

Content analysis to look at moral panics surrounding the underclass. Found that welfare issues were not discussed unless they were connected to other social issues such as crime, fraud or sex. Demonisation of the underclass had led to justifying cuts in welfare state funding.

Question 10

Hall - Underclass (traditional)

Answer 10

Process of encoding (creating messages about certain groups) and decoding (making means of these) media messages. The middle classes believe Benefit Street is a good representation of the underclass. Audiences decode certain messages according to social experiences and political ideologies. Underclass aren’t always perceived accurately.

Question 11

Nairn - Upper class (changing)

Answer 11

Image is not so positive anymore as it traditionally was. Eg, Prince Charles met with government ministers 36 times since 2010: he makes his political views known, every law goes through the queen, could be swaying politics.

Question 12

Reiner - Upper class (changing)

Answer 12

The media uses the wealthy as examples of hard work, success and meritocracy. Eg, David Beckham (Functionalism).

Question 13

Giddens - Upper class (changing)

Answer 13

Traditional upper class (ascribed status eg, made in Chelsea), Entrepreneurial super rich (Achieved eg, Elon Musk) and Jet set pop aristocracy (Achieved eg, Beyonce).

Question 14

Leech - Middle class (changing)

Answer 14

Now presented as the ‘ideal’ in advertising.

Pluralism- Media representations do accurately reflect the way media consumers perceive society, those working with the media industry are from middle class backgrounds, so that’s what is reflected within media content. Middle class lifestyles are presented as the ‘ideal’ lifestyle. ‘Cereal packet family’.

Question 15

Dodd and Dodd - Working class (changing)

Answer 15

Eastenders present the nostalgic view of the traditional notion of working class communities. However, they’ve also introduced realism; showing issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, crime, attempted suicide, abortion, homosexuality, relationship issues, and while doing so, portray the outdated view of communal supportive network.

Question 16

Price - Underclass (changing)

Answer 16

Poverty Porn (Benefit Street) - Channel 4 exploits the underclass in Benefit Street to shock and entertain the audiences, encouraging the underclass to be condemned by the working and upper classes.

However, Price used discourse analysis and found Benefit Street has narratives that often present the characters as decent and compassionate people captured by an unfair society. These empathetic aspects are missed by viewers and political commentators.