Go to our Media Magazine archive, select MM38 and read the WHOLE eight-page feature. Answer the following questions on your blog with as many references to media theory and examples as possible. Refer to specific aspects of the Media Magazine article too:
- How did the language and selection of images in the coverage create a particular representation of young people?
The language- the language choice created a rather negative representation of the youth involved as the used words such as 'riots' instead of alternatives with less negative connotations 'unrest'. This placed alongside much of tabloid coverage referring to 'young people' targeted these specific demographic.
The images further reinforced these negative perspectives of the youth of them wearing hoodies, faces covered etc. Especially the one used a few times(5 covers) to become almost an icon of the riots was a young black male, created a generalized view. This was rather ironic because at the time "Youth offending, youth detention and re-offending have declined in recent years." and recorded passes in "GCSE and A Level exams."
- Why does David Buckingham mention Owen Jones and his work Chavs: the demonisation of the working class?
"The ‘feral youth’ imagined by the politicians and the tabloid headline writers are implicitly working-class." He references there is "a new form of class contempt" meaning that the lower classes/ working class "has become an object of fear and ridicule, not just in this kind of media coverage but also in popular figures" such as characters in dramas.
- What is the typical representation of young people – and teenage boys in particular? What did the 2005 IPSOS/MORI survey find?
"40% of newspaper articles featuring young people focused on violence, crime or anti-social behaviour; and that 71% could be described as having a negative tone."
"Brunel University during 2006 found that
television news reports of young people focused
overwhelmingly either on celebrities such as
footballers or (most frequently) on violent crime;"
"
"72% were negative – more than twenty times the number of positive stories (3.4%). Over 75% were about crime, drugs, or police: the great majority of these were negative (81.5%) while only a handful were positive (0.3%). Even for the minority of stories on other topics such as education, sport and entertainment, there were many more negative than positive stories (42% versus 13%). Many of the stories about teenage boys described them using disparaging words such as yobs, thugs, sick, feral, hoodies, louts, heartless, evil, frightening and scum." "model student, angel, or ‘every mother’s perfect son’ – but, without exception, these were all about boys who had met an untimely death."
- How can Stanley Cohen’s work on Moral Panic be linked to the coverage of the riots?
Cohen: "A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media;the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to; the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible."
- What elements of the media and popular culture were blamed for the riots?
The tabloids put much of the blame on rap music, violent computer games, reality tv - provoking young people to 'start rioting'.
The Daily Mirror, for example, blamed the pernicious culture of hatred around rap music, which glorifies violence and loathing of authority (especially the police but including parents), exalts trashy materialism and raves about drugs.
Also blaming the "narcissism and consumerism of the ‘Big Brother and X Factor generation’."
Blaming the media is a common aspect of moral panics making this a rather normal phenomenon.
- How was social media blamed for the riots? What was interesting about the discussion of social media when compared to the Arab Spring in 2011?
The skillful coordination of the rioters was said to be due to the likes of Facebook, Blackberry and Twitter. The Arab Spring revolution was also said to have sparked from social media such as Facebook.
- The riots generated a huge amount of comment and opinion - both in mainstream and social media. How can the two-step flow theory be linked to the coverage of the riots?
"media’s role in promoting debate and circulating opinion." "‘framed’. By putting a frame around a particular issue, the media draw it to our attention; but while the frame includes some things, it always excludes others."
The two-step flow theory may describe this through the riot coverage through suggesting that the main blogs, channels etc. covered the story it became the framework of how the other media platforms represented the stories to create a conformity amoungst the media in the coverage.
- Alternatively, how might media scholars like Henry Jenkins view the 'tsunami' of blogs, forums and social media comments? Do you agree that this shows the democratisation of the media?
Scholar "tend to celebrate these kinds of ‘participatory’
media; while some even see this as evidence
of a wholesale democratisation of the
communications system. They argue that the
age of ‘Big Media’ – of powerful, centralised
corporations controlling media – is now
finished: hierarchical, top-down communications
have been replaced by a more egalitarian
approach."
I don't completely agree with this though. I feel that many of these 'centralized corporations' have become even larger and even more powerful. I feel that the larger, smarter and more profitable organisations noticed this move to technology much faster than others, those who were weaker lagged behind and became eliminated competition. Now it is easier for these organisations to influence the mass through their opinion leader status or the correct online marketing and PR.
Yes the platform has allowed for a lot more voices to present themselves, but they aren't necessarily heard and if the do become larger predominant voices its after a lot of time and effort and still can be bought out.
or as the article puts it "simply providing more opportunities for ignorant people to mouth off about whatever happens to have annoyed them that day."
- What were the right-wing responses to the causes of the riots?
Max Hastings
of the Daily Mail, headed ‘Years of liberal
dogma have spawned a generation of amoral,
uneducated, unparented, welfare dependent,
brutalised youngsters’."
- What were the left-wing responses to the causes of the riots?
This was much more of a focus on the inequality aspect in areas of poverty and deprivation where were the riots were the worst. The blamed particularly the cuts in youth services, kids didn't have anything else to do, they felt neglected (much as ill manors argued), rising youth unemployment and and the removal of the Education Maintenance Allowance.
- What are your OWN views on the main causes of the riots?
I feel that it was due to the combination of many factors. The initial cause i think was the shooting, it was the only way they saw they could express themselves. This is probably due to the lack of understanding from the government of the youth and lower classes and the culture they share. Soon, due to social media, it spread very fast and many started doing it for the rush of it, for fun, to show off, it was becoming a part of the 'mainstream culture' of the time. This was possible due to the poor parenting i believe and lack of discipline within schools but i feel many 'got back' at the shops and areas that were bad to them. It would be crazy to try to reduce something so big into one root cause though, many did it for different reasons.
- How can capitalism be blamed for the riots? What media theory (from our new/digital media unit) can this be linked to?
"cannot be dissociated from the moral disintegration in the highest ranks of modern British society... It has become acceptable for our politicians to lie and to cheat... the sad young men and women, without hope or aspiration, who have caused such mayhem and chaos over the past few days... have this defence: they are just following the example set by senior and respected figures in society." meaning that those in power, politicians for example, are to blame as they lay the guidelines for the mass to mindlessly follow. (hypodermic needle model)
- Were people involved in the riots given a voice in the media to explain their participation?
No they weren't given much coverage, even the BBC didn't seem as impartical as they should have been.
- In the Guardian website's investigation into the causes of the riots, they did interview rioters themselves. Read this Guardian article from their Reading the Riots academic research project - what causes are outlined by those involved in the disturbances?
Some said "opportunism", "gang cultures limited role", "BBM was used rather excessively", and "political complaints" such as economic, social/ educational.
Much of it was anti police. Be that from the shooting of Mark Duggens or everyday experience of the police, it seemed to be one of the main causes (rather anti establishment but in a police manner)
"73% said they had been stopped and searched in the previous 12 months"
- What is your own opinion on the riots? Do you have sympathy with those involved or do you believe strong prison sentences are the right approach to prevent such events happening in future?
i feel that the riots weren't the right approach to solving any issue or making a point - if they were working on making a change they should have known it would be against them not for them if they cause so much destruction. Many local businesses, stander bys were pointlessly becoming victims of these 'attacks', it wasn't only on community being affected. Those that caused mass destruction or lotted weren't making a political message - i would have understood street graffiti a lot more - they should be punished. However prison sentences may not be the react way to make a change. I feel as if change would become a better change if education was given against sheep culture, following the mainstream, the police should be trained to see better signs of when to stop and search someone, they should be a lot calmer in their approach and individuals a lot less resistant. Collectively change has to be made on both sides, the capital and mass, by educating both sides and then punishing with sentences appropriate.
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