Print Representations

Channel 4 Teen Trouble (November 2007)

Journalist: If any other group was treated the way teens are it would probably be against the law.

Public adults have a distorted view of the truth. they think that the amount of crime  in Britain is extremely high(around 85% on average) caused by teens, when in fact only 12% of crime is commited by youths.

Despite the debates around the Hyperdermic seringe needle (theory) that people believe what they read in the newspapers, I would argue that through the proliferation of negative press that actually this theory does exist, particularly in adults.

Newspaper denies that they increase the overall fear of young people.

Police: agree media increases fear of youths, the views arent realistic. Tide of paranoid adults that think teens are no good.

Local shop owners getting moscittos (high pitch noises outside of shop) to stop youths from hanging around their shop, adults cannot hear it.

Teen 'asbo queen' got more publicity than what murderes, rapists did. Treated over the top?

Always been a minority of misbehaving teens

50 years ago people were paying teens to fight to give them something to write about in their newspaper. Journalists may still get people to do things to give them something to write about.

4.2 million CCTV cameras in the UK people are now caught doing crimes, more crimes are shown on TV making people more fearful. The more fearful we become the more we lose our sense of percpective linking with the cultivation theory, the more you see it the more likely you are to believe it is happening in real life. 
You are 6 times more likely to fall down a flight of stairs and die than you are to be a victim of a knife attack.

The small minority of crimes caused by teens is being demonated and putting a bad image on the whole generation.

Because of the demonised views of teens created by the media youths feel they need to fight to show they are not like this yet doing this they end up behaving in the way the media represents them because they get angered by it, responding to the way the media want youths to behave so they can write about it.

We are active consumers, we don't take responsibilty for our own actions we have to blame somebody e.g MacDonalds made me fat therefore I have to sue them, when in fact you are responsible for your own diet. Reflecting youths saying the media made me behave in this antisocial way when in fact you can decide how you behave.

Representing youth
IPSOS MORI Survey 2005:

• 40% of articles on violence, crime anti-social behaviour, 71 % are negative

Brunel University 2007:

• TV news violent crime or celebrities, young people are only 1% of sources.

Women in journalism 2008:

• 72% pf articles were negative, 3.4% were positive

Case Study

1. What role did the new media technologies, particularly social netwrokign sites play in the London riots?
2. Do media cause riots or revolutions? (think about globalisation, technology and surveillance: mobile phoned, CCTV, 24-hour news...)



http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/sep/08/broken-britain-rhetoric-fuels-fear

How can you link cultural hegemony to this article?

"massively exaggerated view of problems like crime and drugs, and stigmatise schools in disadvantaged areas."

How does the article suggest moral panic is being caused?

Can you link in McRobbies (symbolising youths as being violent e.g. through the hoody) symbolic violence theory? How?

How far do you agree with this article that governments decisions and policies are continuing to create a divide between the middle and working class? Discuss

Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting and arson.

Online Media

Connotations of the facebook logo:

- socialising
- friends
- sharing photos
- finding out news
- representations of yourself and others
- identity
- status updates
- advertising
- sharing info
- being nosey
- judgemental
- event invitations/information

Impact of facebook on British youth and youth culture:

Positive:
- Represents youths as social people
- Youths are shown seen in worth while campaigns
- Youths can market themselves e.g. bands, photography - free advertising
- Allows people to express themselves
- Portable - you can access it from anywhere
- never really needed to advertsise because they have esculated by word of mouth

Negative:
- Makes us look like binge drinkers through image and status updates about drunken nights out
- Cyber bullying
- Shown as uneducated when privacy isnt high
- Facebook and Blackberry played a strong role in informing people about riots and getting youths involved.
- May find it harder to socialise face to face

What new forms of social interaction have media technologies enabled?
- Development of self-identity
- Reshaping media messages and their flow - we can verbalise our opinions whether we agree or disagree about an idea the media has creates (goes against hyperdermic theory that the media inject information into us and we take it in and believe it all with no argument)
- Online media focus on some or all of the 7 functionmal building block - identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, repuation and groups (Kietzman 2011)

Online media are especially suitable to construct and develop several identities of the self (Turkle, 1998)

Two levels of representation on facebook:
1. Personal events through own specific language
2. Constructing own images - profile images

If facebook were a country it would be the third biggest country in the world.

The modern identity concept:
- personal identity
   - a sense of being unique
- social identity
   - results from being a member of a group
   - in former times: nationality, gender, race, occupation, sport club
- mediatization of the self
   - diversity of interset groups in online networks
   - easy transition between those communities

Digital identity:
- person has not just one stable and homogenous identity
- Identity consists of several fragments that permanently change
- multiple, but coharent (Turkle 1998)
- a live-long developing and new conceptualized patchwork

Media Use in Identity Construction

Katherine Hamley (done research into how online media has effected us)

Highlight ke points/quotes that you think are important and then answer these questions when reading this text:

•      Young people are surrounded by influential imagery – popular media (Examples?)

•      It is no longer possible for an identity to just be constructed in a small community and influenced by a family (Discuss)

•      Everything concerning our lives is ‘media saturated’ (What does this mean?)

In society today the construction of a personal identity can be seen to be somewhat problematic and difficult. Young people are surrounded by influential imagery, especially that of popular media. It is no longer possible for an identity to be constructed merely in a small community and only be influenced by family. Nowadays, arguably everything concerning our lives is seen to be ‘media-saturated’. Therefore, it is obvious that in constructing an identity young people would make use of imagery derived from the popular media.
However, it is fair to say that in some instances the freedom of exploring the web could be limited depending on the choice of the parents or teachers. So, if young people have such frequent access and an interest in the media, it is fair to say that their behaviour and their sense of ‘self’ will be influenced to some degree by what they see, read, hear or discover for themselves. Such an influence may include a particular way of behaving or dressing to the kind of music a person chooses to listen to. These are all aspects which go towards constructing a person’s own personal identity.
Firstly, it is important to establish what constitutes an identity, especially in young people. The dictionary definition states the following:

“State of being a specified person or thing: individuality or personality…” (Collins Gem English Dictionary. 1991).

The mass media provide a wide-ranging source of cultural opinions and standards to young people as well as differing examples of identity. Young people would be able to look at these and decide which they found most favourable and also to what they would like to aspire to be. The meanings that are gathered from the media do not have to be final but are open to reshaping and refashioning to suit an individual’s personal needs and consequently, identity. It is said that young people:

“…use media and the cultural insights provided by them to see both who they might be and how others have constructed or reconstructed themselves… individual adolescents…struggle with the dilemma of living out all the "possible selves" (Markus & Nurius, 1986), they can imagine.” (Brown et al. 1994, 814).

When considering how much time adolescents are in contact with the popular media, be it television, magazines, advertising, music or the Internet, it is clear to see that it is bound to have a marked effect on an individual’s construction of their identity. This is especially the case when the medium itself is concerned with the idea of identity and the self; self-preservation, self-understanding and self-celebration.

 “With a simple flip of the television channel or radio station, or a turn of the newspaper or magazine page, we have at our disposal an enormous array of possible identity models.” (Grodin & Lindlof 1996)

I believe the Internet is an especially interesting medium for young people to use in order to construct their identities. Not only can they make use of the imagery derived from the Internet, but also it provides a perfect backdrop for the presentation of the self, notably with personal home pages. By surfing the World Wide Web adolescents are able to gain information from the limitless sites which may interest them but they can also create sites for themselves, specifically home pages. Constructing a home page can enable someone to put all the imagery they have derived from the popular media into practice. For example:

“…constructing a personal home page can be seen as shaping not only the materials but also (in part through manipulating the various materials) one’s identity.” (Chandler 1998)

This is particularly important as not only are young people able to access such an interesting and wide ranging medium, but they are also able to utilise it to construct their own identity. In doing this, people are able to interact with others on the Internet just as they could present their identities in real life and interact with others on a day to day basis.
In conclusion it can be seen that the popular media permeates everything that we do. Consequently, the imagery in the media is bound to infiltrate into young people’s lives. This is especially the case when young people are in the process of constructing their identities. Through television, magazines, advertising, music and the Internet adolescents have a great deal of resources available to them in order for them to choose how they would like to present their ‘selves’. However, just as web pages are constantly seen to be 'under construction’, so can the identities of young people. These will change as their tastes in media change and develop. There is no such thing as one fixed identity; it is negotiable and is sometimes possible to have multiple identities. The self we present to our friends and family could be somewhat different from the self we would present on the Internet, for example. By using certain imagery portrayed in the media, be it slim fashion models, a character in a television drama or a lyric from a popular song, young people and even adults are able to construct an identity for themselves. This identity will allow them to fit in with the pressures placed on us by society, yet allow them to still be fundamentally different from the next person.

1. young people are surrounded by influential imagery on the internet, television, magazine, advertising, music this influences them because images of skinny models, opinions of others, fashion trends are shown in all of these mediums, for example lady gaga and her fashion trends, making them have an opinion of right and wrong and therefore influencing them to behave or dress in a certain way to what they believe in or think looks good. Social networking sites like facebook enable young people to create an identity and be influenced by their peers pages in order to build up their own identity.


2. 'It is no longer possible for an identity to just be constructed in a small community and influenced by a family' this is because the media has become more and more world wide we can speak to people in different countries and news can travel very quickly therefore fashion trends are kept up to date between different communities because we have more access to different cultures trends and beliefs. we have a massive range of technology enabling people to communicate with each other where ever you are in the world this influences peoples identity because they have a much wider imagination and understanding of what is going on in the world around them.


3. Everything concerning our lives is ‘media saturated’ means that everywhere we go has the media involved we are constantly updated with news on facebook, twitter, email, text, magazines, websites, television therefore we cannot escape the media we are constantly updated or judged by the media, we consume so many different media messages which will influence us.

David Gauntlett "Identity is complicated - everybody thinks they've got one"

- Religious and national identities are at the heart of major international conflicts

- The average teenager can create numerous identities in a short space of time (especially in the Internet, social networking sites, etc.)

- We like to think we are unique, but Gauntlett questions whether this is just an illusion, and we are all much more similar than we think.

Main themes

- Creativity as a process - about emotion and experiences

- Making and sharing - to feel alive, to participate, in community (facebook)

- Happiness - through creativity and community

- Creativity as a social glue - a middle layer between individuals and society (the connection between me and society)

- Making your mark - and making the world your own

-

David Buckingham "a focus on identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups"

- classifies identity as 'ambiguous and slippery'
   - identity unique to each of us, implies relationship with a broader group
   - identity can change in different circumstances
   - identity is fluid and affected by broader changes
       - how can you relate this to britishness? - government (political aspects), immigration (taking away britishness people feel threatened by the loss of britishness therefore identity becomes more important), where you live, cultural imperialism (the influence of one cultiure onto another e.g. British have always been massively influenced by American culture)
   - identity becomes more important as we feel threatened

Celebrities that have occured through their youtube videos

- Justin Bieber
- Rebecca Black
- Charlie bit me
- Jessie J

A new word that has come out because of the internet and youtube:
Memes - a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the internet.

An Anthropological Introduction to Youtube

Michael Wesch

Whilst watching the video answer these question

1.       When was Youtube first released?

•       February 2005, launched in April 2005

1.       According to Michael Wesch what does Web 2.0 allow people to do?

•       Equivilant of 385 always on tv channels

•       88% new and original content

•       People showing everyone their feelings

•       Gves people a stronger voice

•       Sense of community/ a connection between people all over the world

•       A celebration of new and unimaginable ability

•       Linking people in ways we’ve never been linked before and in ways we cant predict because its changing every 6 months or so.

•      

1.       When media changes what else changes?

•       Human relationships change

1.       What influenced the loss of community? And what has now filled this void?

•       Women have jobs

•       Super markets as opposed to groceries

•       Tv, mobile phones – makes you isolated

1.       How are communities connected?

•       Webcams and screens

•      

1.       Explain what he means by voyeuristic capabilities?

•       Speaking to a camera knowing that no one is listening at the time but eventually the world may watch this

•       Being able to watch a video and experience the human being and stare which would not be ‘normal’ in any other circumstance.

1.       Write 3 points about what he refers when he discusses playing with identity

•      

1.       What does the ‘Free hugs phenomenon’ suggest about people?

Media Effects

Media Effects- What are the social implications of different media representations of British youth and youth culture?

What effect do these media representations have?

21% of teenage boys feel wary when they are on the street and 51% of them feel it is because of the media stories they hear about teenage boys.

• Hypodemic theory - Passive consumers. Media inject us with information and we believe whatever they say with out arguing about it. (Old theory that people dont believe anymore, people now tend to think that we are active consumers now. This theory may still apply to the older generation)
• Cultivation Theory - The more (frequent) criminal behaviour/violence we see on British TV the more likely we are to believe it is actually happening in real life.
• The copy cat Theory - You copy what you see on TV. If you see violence on TV you are going to copy it and behave in that way. This behaviour is glorified and therefore they think it is cool to do it.
• Moral Panic - Creating panic within society the more the media represents youths as being violent the more panic that occurs so that British youths are represented as being antagonists the government come in and can be seen as the heroes (protagonists) saving is from the violent youths.

Analysing a media text:

• Whose perspective is dominant in each of the texts?
• What do the representations have in common?
• How are the representations different?
• How are parental figures represented?
• How important is social class?

(WATCH FISHTANK)

What do you understand by contemporary British social realism?

• Social realist films attempt to portray issues facing ordinary people in their social situations
• Social realist films try to show that society and the capitalist system leads to exploitaion of the poor or dispossessed
• These groups are shown as victims of the system rather than being totally responsible for their own bad behaviour

Audience for these films:

• social realist genre (hand held camera - more real life like) aimed at predominantly british audience

Analysinh representation of collective identity

• Who is being represented?
• who is representing them? (a lot of the violent stories revealed come from the police)
• how are they represeted?
• What seems to be the intentions of the representations? (what are they trying to make you feel)
• WHat is the dominant discourse/messages/values/beliefs?  (world view offered by the film)
• What range of readings are there?
• Look for alternative discources

Collective Identity

• The media contributes to our sense of 'collective identity' but there are many different versions that change over time.
• Representations can cause problems for the groups being represented because they have little control over how they are being represented/stereotyped.
• The social context of the film/TV programme influences messages/values/dominant discourse of the film.

Theorist Stuart Hall and Reading the media...
Encoding and Decoding theory, 1980

• Encoding - institution that creates the codes, conventions to create a meaning.
• Decoding - The consumer taking the meanings in.

Hall states that texts are polysemic, mening they can be read differently by different people, depending on the persons identity, cultural knowledge and opinions.

• Preferred Reading/Dominant Hegemonic - The audience interprets the messgae as the institution wanted us to understand it. We agree with the representation that is being shown, working with the institutions beliefs.
• Negotiated Reading - The audience will pick representations that they agree with but the bits the disagree with they will negotioate around them to come to their own conclusion at the end of the film.
• Oppositional Reading/'counter-hegemonic' view - They will argue with the film/media text and refuse to agree with the representations of that text, they completely disagree with the representations that the institution have produced.

Any representation is a mixture of:

1. The thing itself
2. The opinions of the people doing the representation
3. The reaction of the4 individual to the representation
4. The context of the society in which the representation is taking place

‘How are British youths represented in Quadrophenia and Harry Brown’

The main theme of 'Harry Brown' 2009, Daniel Barber is the representations of British youth in South London. The films presentation of British youth represents the attitudes of youths  very negatively and they are seen as a threat to society, Cohen 1972 'Moral Panic'. This is shown when the youths set alight to Harry's friend and when the youths are seen abusing a couple and seen with guns. The British youths in 'Harry Brown' are firstly represented as if they have gained dominance over any other social group or class this representation could be shown because perhaps the director, Daniel Barber, believes that society has to be ruled or dominated by one particular group, Gramsci 'Cultural Hegemony'. Gramsci also believes films that represent youths in a negative way help to teach people right from wrong therefore the main theme of this film could be to represent youths in a negative way to teach youth that are watching the film what is right from wrong. However, throughout the film the cultural hegemony switches from the youths to Harry Brown who gains power over them.

The main theme represented in 'Quadrophenia' 1979, Franc Roddam is similar to those in 'Harry Brown', however, because of the time difference the actions the youths take in 'Harry Brown' seem much more extreme than in 'Quadrophenia'. Death and fighting with knives is in 'Harry Brown' whereas 'Quadrophenia' just shows fighting and rioting. This could be because of the explosion of technology, guns are now more accessible and perhaps now we have too much disposable income and perhaps the council supports this stereotype of youths too much and therefore gives them no insentive in life. Although the representations of youths in 'Quadrophenia' seem much less extreme in this day and age in 1979 the representations of youths would have been seen as a 'Moral Panic', Cohen 1972.

The ideologies of gangs in 'Harry Brown' are probably those similar to a prisoner because the homes they live in cell like, with thin walls so you can hear all noises and the rooms are so small with everyone close together, the environment they live in is poor and therefore more arguments are caused. In 'Harry Brown' the youths are living in flats which is a stereotypical view of 'bad' youths and this helps to portray the 'Moral Panic', Cohen because this group of people are percieved as a major threat to society. Youths in 'Harry Brown' rebel against society probably because they want to gain power and be recognised similar to Gramsci's theory 'Cultural Hegemony' where he believes that society can be ruled by one social group and in 'Harry Brown' the youths are trying to gain this.

The ideologies of gangs in 'Quadrophenia' are somewhat similar to those in 'Harry Brown' in that they want to rebel however in 'Quadrophenia' I think the reason why the youths feel the need to rebel is because it was post world was three and therefore they were free again because they had more freedom to do their own things and more money and technology was available so people went wild and did crazy things.

The parent role in 'Harry Brown' is very rarely shown this probably reflects the neglect the youths have been through and shows why they act in such a way because they have been ignored and not brought up learning right from wrong. However, the parent role (uncle) in 'Harry Brown' is shown to be just as bad as the youth and almost sticks up for his 'son' even though he has murdered someone. It is ironic that the 'parent' figure is not actually his parent and could suggest that broken families also are the result of violent youths. The mother shown in the film is shown crying after her son gets arrested this suggests her weakness and inability to look after her son which represents the stereotypical views of youths that live in these type of areas and suggests that the parents could be to blame for their behaviour.

The parent role in 'Quadrophenia' is extremely different to that in 'Harry Brown' because the parents are discussed with their sons actions and kicks him out the house, quite rightly so. I feel that parents in 'Harry Brown' arent shown to be angry with their children probably because this type of behaviour has become more common and known that the parents either think it is normal or are too scared to react in the way that they did in 'Quadrophenia'.

The representations of youths havent changed they are still negative views and the director seems to persue the youths to be bad people. However, the one representation that has strongly changed is of the parents, the 1979 film 'Quadrophenia' represents parents to be teaching their children right from wrong and to have more morals whereas the parent figures in the 2009 film 'Harry Brown' are represented almost as if they accept the way their children are because it is almost seen as the norm now. It is also shows that the parent figures are much less powerful.