Topic 5 Media Representations 1 - Age, Class, Ethnicity Flashcards
1
Q
What are the 2 key themes in all representations?
A
- the media gaze
- symbolic annihilation
2
Q
What do neo-marxists say the reason for media stereotyping?
A
- to make profit and reinforce the cultural hegemony of dominant class
- justify patterns of inequality in wealth and status
- reinforces meritocracy ‘they don’t work hard so they deserve it’
- media demonises working class, elevates the position of the rich
- distraction away from the bourgeoisie, stopping a revolution
3
Q
What do feminists say is the reason for media stereotyping?
A
- mass media play a major role in the social construction of gender roles, how children learn to be masculine or feminine
- creates a beauty myth so girls are more concerned by their looks, and they’re distracted from patriarchy
- male gaze - men creates the news
- media emphasis on females domestic goddesses and sex objects is seen as problematic, believe to have an effect on young females behaviour and aspirations
4
Q
What do Postmodernists, like Baudrillard see the reason is for media stereotypes?
A
- to create a sense of hyper reality eg photoshopping women’s bodies
- media doesn’t reflect reality, it actively creates it
5
Q
What do Postmodernists, like Gauntlett see the reason is for media stereotypes?
A
- old representations are changing and represents a variety of groups
- audience are more active and have a wider choice of media representations
- audience may choose to ignore, accept or reject media stereotypes
6
Q
What do Pluralists see the reason is for media stereotypes?
A
- media representations reflect audience demands
- audience have the choice to not buy the media product
7
Q
What does the media gaze mean?
A
media content does not reflect the social diversity that characterises our society, but the perspective of the predominantly male, able-bodied white upper and middle class who own and control the media and produce media content
8
Q
What does symbolic annihilation mean?
A
the way some groups are omitted, condemned or trivialised in the media, under represented or only appear in limited roles
9
Q
What do Gerbner and Gross suggest symbolic annihilation lead to?
A
this leads to a distorted impression of some social groups, or erase them from public consciousness altogether, we don’t see it in the media
10
Q
pg 3 analysis of previous
A
11
Q
How does the media gaze impact the representations of age?
A
- the media gaze is filtered through the eyes of middle-aged male adults, ad this influences the representation of children, young people and older people
- older people are under represented in the media, and youth are over represented
12
Q
What are the 7 stereotypes of children in the media?
A
- victims
- cute
- little devils
- brilliant
- accessories
- kids these days
- little angels
13
Q
What did Heintz-Knowles find about the representations of childhood?
A
Heintz-Knowles found that children were rarely shown as coping with societal issues, however there’s a trend showing more realistic drama from a child’s point of view
14
Q
How have the representations of children started to change?
A
- Ipad/ sephora kids
- more negative perceptions
- removal of information hierarchy
15
Q
How can the change in representations of childhood link to Postman?
A
childhood has disappeared and children are growing up too fast
16
Q
What does Bocock say about childrens’ exposure to media?
A
Bocock argues that exposure to media has led to pester power where children buy products to increase status
17
Q
What does Chandler say about childrens’ exposure to media?
A
Chandler suggests that pester power increase the anxiety of poorer parents who will often go into debt to meet their child’s needs
18
Q
How are the youth represented in the media?
A
- problem group
- source of anti social behaviour
- vandals
- troublemakers
- exaggerates the occasional deviant behaviour of a few young people out of proportion
(Labelling theory Becker, Cohen)
19
Q
What are the issues created through the negative representations of young people in the media?
A
- changes behaviour and makes them act in more deviant ways
- creates a deviance amplification spiral
- increase fear of young people
- more entrepreneurs
20
Q
What did Wayne et al find about representations of youth in TV channels?
A
- he looked at 2130 items in 2006 found 286 focused specifically on young people
- 82% focused on young people as perpetrators or victims of violent crime
- rare to see articles from young perspective
21
Q
What does Wayne et al argue about the representations of youth in the media?
A
- argue it acts as a scapegoat and distracts from capitalism
22
Q
What did White et al find about how the youth feel about how they’re represented in the media?
A
White et al found that more than 40% of young people were dissatisfied with how they were portrayed in the media
23
Q
What are the representations of youth driven by?
A
youth representations are driven by media news values which exaggerate occasional deviant behaviour, help to sell newspapers and attract tv viewers
24
Q
What are the positive impacts of the media on young people?
A
- more communication
- self expression
- education
- can challenge stereotypes
- more involved in the democracy process
25
What are the negative impacts of the media on young people?
- encourages deviant behaviour
- creates a deviance amplification spiral
- impacts employment status
- low self esteem
- exposed to inappropriate content
- targets for advertising
- lack of regulation
26
How are the elderly represented in the media?
- grumpy
- difficult
- infantile
- mentally challenged
- burden
27
What is the invisible elderly?
the elderly are overlooked by the media as they're rarely consulted
28
What did Cuddy and Fiske find about the characters of TV?
in the US only 1.5% of characters on TV were elderly and women, when shown were in minor roles
- the emphasis on youth and beauty suggests ageing should be avoided at all costs
29
What did Szmigin and Carrigan find about advertising agencies and the elderly?
found that advertising agencies were wary of using models that they considered might alienate younger audience
30
What is grey pound?
- elderly people being targeted as consumers, because of their vast majority of disposable income
- eg life insurance and anti ageing skincare
31
What do neo-marxists say the function of the media is in terms of representations of class?
- ensure the cultural hegemony of the dominant class
- ensures that inequality and exploitation are not defined as social problems
32
How does the media gaze impact the representations of class?
- media gaze means that representations of class are filtered through the eye of the rich and powerful upper class media owners and the middle class media professionals who produce the content
33
How are the upper class represented in the media?
- portrayed in an eccentric and nostalgic way
- create an idealised picture of the elite
- never portrayed in a critical light
34
How do pluralists see the representations of the upper class?
they see such coverage as simply providing what media audience want
35
How do neo-marxists see the representations of the upper class?
- mass media creates hierarchy and success
- upper class receive positive press
36
What do Reiner and Young argue about the representations of the upper class?
argue the media tend to represent the UK as a meritocratic society in which intelligence, talent and hard work are rewarded
37
What does Cohen argue about the representations of the upper class?
- Cohen suggests that British culture is monetary culture characterised by rewards
- top business men are rewarded for failure
- celebs are over rewarded
- media rarely focus on ordinary people struggling to get by
38
What does Newman argue about the representations of the upper class?
- Newman argues the media focus very positively on the concerns of the wealthy
- media over focuses on consumer items
39
What are the 4 categories of how the upper class are represented in the media?
- intelligent
- deserving of rewards
- consumers
- posh
40
Give an example of a positive representation of the upper class?
The royal family
41
Give 3 examples of negative representations of the upper class?
- prince andrew
- diana
- spitting image - ridicule the upper class
42
What are the 4 categories of how the middle class are represented in the media?
- over represented and positive
- as critical thinkers
- educated and experts
- functioning families
43
Why is advertising aimed at middle class?
- they're the ideal consumer with lots of disposable income
- Zaretsky - family are a unit of consumption, keeping up with the Jones', capitalising on relative deprivation
44
Give 2 examples of positive representations of the middle class?
- modern family
- outnumbered
45
Give 2 examples of negative representations of the middle class?
- flea bag - middle class with poor family dynamic
- ruby franke - middle class mormon family
46
What are the 4 categories of how the working class are represented?
- uncritical thinkers
- dumb
- source of trouble
- living in idealised working class communities
47
What does Curran and Seaton argue about newspapers aimed at the working class?
- assume they are uninterested in serious analysis of policies
- presume readers want to read about celebs, gossip and trivial human interest stories
48
What does Butsch argue about how the working class are represented?
- when working class are featured its very unflattering and worth pitying
- seen as well-intentioned but flawed individuals
- irresponsible
- immature
- incompetent
49
What does Newman argue about how the working class are represented?
- when news focus on working class, it is to label them as a problem
- they're subject to moral panics and blamed for issues
50
What does Jones argue about how the working class are represented?
- traditional working class communities are presented positively
- hardworking
- overcome adversity
- however these communities have disappeared due to decline in traditional industries
51
What do marxists say about the representations of the working class?
working class representations are demonised in attempt to enact symbolic annihilation
52
What does the media suggest about poverty and chavs?
- the poor are undeserving of public sympathy
- they're lazy and deserve their position
- we direct our anger towards them
- they're the scapegoat, the source of societies problem
53
What are the 4 categories of how the poor and chavs are represented?
- dangerous
- deserving of abuse
- entertaining
- failures
54
What does Lawler say about the representations of the poor and chavs?
- the media use 'chavs' to describe the underclass symbolised by a tracksuit and bling
- shows the underclass as dangerous who are criminal and happy to live off benefits
- this diminishes public concern for their socio-economic status
55
What does Tyler say about the representations of the poor and chavs?
- word 'chav' has become a common form of middle class abuse of the white working class
56
What does McKendrick et al say about the representations of the poor and chavs?
- media coverage of poverty is marginal
- causes of poverty are not explored across the news
57
What does Cohen say about the representations of the poor and chavs?
- media is so concerned with trumping the fortune of capitalism, it pays less attention to working class casualties of the capitalist state
- media are hopeless at giving a realistic representation of the plight of the poor
- media reinforce the idea that the poor are poor because of their own failures
- fails to explore the connection between wealth and deprivation
58
How can the view of representations of poverty and chavs, be evaluated?
- new media is changing perceptions
- citizen journalism - challenges media gaze
59
Give 3 examples of negative representations of the underclass?
- benefits street
- poverty porn
- jeremy kyle
60
What do Pluralists say about representations in the media as a whole?
- media representations are a reflection of audience demand
- there's diversity and choice within the media
61
What do Postmodernists say about representations in the media as a whole?
Gauntlett argues that stereotypes are changing and audience can ignore or question them
62
What do Marxists say about representations in the media as a whole?
- media gaze - white middle class men share the dominant ideology
- represent working class negatively as part of the dominant ideology
63
What do Neo-Marxists say about representations in the media as a whole?
- journalists have choice but write content against working class because they're white middle class
- continuing the hegemony
- exists to stop a revolution
64
conc pg 14
65
What do Neo-marxists say about the representations of ethnic minorities?
- filtered through the media gaze of a predominantly white middle class establishment
66
What did Cumberbatch find about the number of roles filled by EMG in TV programmes?
- Over 1 in 7 were filled by EM
- argues they're under represented in lead roles and very rarely appear as presenters
67
What happens to ethnic minority interests in the media?
ethnic minority interests are ghettoised, marginalised and featured mostly in specialised programmes, like those dealing with issues of stereotyping, discrimination and prejudice
68
What did Malik find about African Carribeans in the media?
Malik found that African Caribbeans were more likely to be found in programmes dealing with social issues rather than heavyweight roles
69
What did Beattie et al find about black people in the media?
Beattie et al found that black people were less likely to be shown in professional roles, more likely to appear as musicians, white actors more likely to be given speaking parts
70
According to Hall, how are black and asian people represented in the media?
- cheating
- cunning
- capable of turning nasty
- source of social problems
71
What did Hargrave find about black people?
black people were more than twice as likely as white people to be portrayed on TV as criminals
72
What are the 3 attributes of media suggested by Agebutu?
- involved in crime
- involved in sports
- involved in entertainment
73
What does Agebutu say about the focus of media?
- suggests they focus on black people as criminals not victims
74
What does Hall (Neo-marxist)argue about EMG and moral panics in the media?
- media created a panics around 'black mugging'
- led to labelling of all afro-caribeans boys as criminals and threat to the white
- serves ideological function of turning white people against black people
- led to an increase in demand for police in black communities
75
What are the 6 categories of how ethnic minorities are represented?
- deviants and law-breakers
- cause a moral panic
- as a threat
- causing social problems and conflict
- have limited talents
- having problems internationally
76
Who created the idea of stigmatised identity?
Goffman
77
How have muslims been stereotyped?
- fundamentalists who threaten british values
- oppressing women by forcing marriage hijabs
- replace british law with sharia law
78
According to Goffman, what has the word 'muslim' become, and what has this contributed to?
- muslim has become a stigmatised identity
- this has contributed to islamaphobia
79
What did Hargrave find about muslims?
- muslims are very concerned about the negative media portrayals and how views are depicted
- these representations bring harassment and fear
80
What do Pluralists say about stereotypes of the ethnic groups?
representations of ethnic minorities reflect the news values of journalists, providing material the audience want
81
What does Cottle (Pluralist) argue about stereotypes of the ethnic groups?
Media representation of ethnicity encourage media audience to construct a sense of their identity, meaning elite majority relate to who they are, in relation to others
82
What do Neo-marxists say about the stereotyping of ethnic minorities?
- media deliberately misrepresents ethnic minorities to create division and scapegoat them for societal issues, like unemployment
- depictions make it feel they're folk devils
- maintains dominant power
83
How have stereotypes of ethnic minorities changed?
- appreciation of black culture has grown
- more major black and asian figures appearing in music
- greater policy commitments to recruit ethnic minorities
84
What does Abercrombie say about the change in stereotypes of ethnic minorities?
- actors are now appearing more as ordinary routine characters who share the same interests and concerns as white people
- growing acceptance of ethnic minorities as normal
85
Give an example of a change in stereotypes of ethnic minorities?
Funmi Fetto - vogue editor advocating diversity in the beauty industry
86
How has the new media challenged stereotypes of ethnic minority groups?
- young minority ethnic groups are greater users and have greater access to social media to put across their own views and counter negative stereotypes
87
How are ethnic minorities seen as a threat?
- immigrants - number that enter the country impacting the job market
- refugees - drain on the welfare state and economy
- muslims - 911 led to islamaphobia, this has increased with stabbing of Lee Rigby
88
