Events and Issues

Representation

Events

You will need TWO examples of events• Contemporary Events (within 18months)• Specifically discussing how different media

texts (e.g. newspaper story/TV coverage) cover that same event

Events

• How has the EVENT been REpresented– Language– Mode of address– Anchorage– Technical codes– Visual codes– Audio codes– Use of images

Events

• The construction of the representation– Whose viewpoint is being shown

• The process of selection– What has been selected and why?

• The audience who will consume the text– Some newspapers like particular celebrities

Political Ideology

Socialist/ Left-WingRights for workers and minorities are key.Believe the rich benefit from exploiting the poor and that this system should end. Prorevolution.

Liberal Pretty middle of the road. Tend to offer the most unbiased, objective perspective.Believe it is important to represent people from all minority groups and countries.

Conservative / Right of middleUphold traditional values about Britishness, class, gender etc.: anti-Labour and Lib Dems.Don’t like Britain being part of EU.Wary of immigration.Pro-Capitalist.

Nationalist / Right-WingIncredibly patriotic. Dislike change – highly supportive of traditional values: anti-abortion, anti-same sex marriage, heavily opposed to immigration. Believe Britain should be Britain for (White) British people.

Socialist WorkerMorning Star

Daily Mail

The SunDaily Telegraph

Financial Times

The Voice

Independent

Guardian The MirrorThe Metro

Evening Standard Daily Stari

The Times

News Values

• In 1965, media researchers Galtung & Ruge analysed international news stories to find common attributes.

• They identified a list of news values common across news bulletins and newspapers.

News Values• Negativity – bad news is good news!• Familiarity – local news is most relevant!• Immediacy – new News is News!• Continuity – people want to find out more about things in the public eye. They

want updates on existing News stories. • Amplification – Is it a big event? Involves lots of people? Plane crash kills one

or Plane crash destroys city – what’s more exciting?• Unambiguity – Is it clear an definite?• Uniqueness - ‘Man Bites Dog’ is more exciting that ‘dog bites man’.• Simplicity – a simple story is easier to read.• Personalisation – human interest draws on heart-strings.• Predictability – did people think there would be a riot and there was? People

love knowing they were right!• Unexpectedness – Surprise!• Elite Nations / People – Celebs, Royals, US and UK.

Task

Look at the following media texts in your groups and answer the following:

Who is audience for each one?Who is in control of the text? Whose ideas and values are

expressed through the representations?What mode of address is being used?What ideologies / messages might be contained within

the representation?How does this event show NATIONAL IDENTITY?

Mode of Address

• ‘Mode of address’ refers to the way in which a media text ‘speaks’ to it’s target audience in order to encourage them to identify with it.

• Newspapers often construct their presentation to reflect what they imagine is the typical identity of their readers.

Mode of Address

• The way a media text ‘speaks to’ its audience can depend on various assumptions the producers make about the people watching; what type of people are they e.g. old, young, etc.? Who does the text want to attract? What is the relationship between the audience and text – e.g. is the programme intended to be funny, serious, informative, emotionally moving, etc.? Furthermore, the mode of address it uses may lead audience members to assume a particular attitude towards the text, such as paying attention, taking it seriously or light-hearted entertainment.

Mode of Address

• What mode of address do you think The Sun uses?

• Use the handout to help you to complete the next task.

Narrative

• Construction• Structure• Key codes such as action and enigma

The Sun’s Target Audience• Male - heavy coverage of sport, particularly football; page 3 and

other “sexist” portrayals of women). There is some content that is ‘woman friendly’ (celebrity content).

• 16+ - simplistic coverage, celebrity content, titillating stories. • White British– possible negative representations of ethnic minorities,

xenophobic? or nationalistic attitude? Patriotic stories.• Working Class/C2DE – price (40p), very little serious political

coverage, focus on show business/sensational stories, 20%of the paper about sport with an emphasis on football, the size is convenient.

• Fairly right wing political views (political content).• Value and Attitudes: ‘Mainstreamers’, ‘Strugglers’ and ‘Resigned’.

Illustrated through advertising.

Current Events

• What events have occurred over the last 18months that you could use as case studies in the exam?

Events 14 February 2013: Oscar Pistorius is charged with murder. The South African athlete is charged with the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, in an incident in his home in Pretoria. Murder trial in March 2014

8 April: Baroness Thatcher, prime minister from 1979 to 1990, dies aged 87 following a stroke. The UK’s only woman prime minister, Lady Thatcher won three general elections as Conservative leader.

22 May: Lee Rigby, a Drummer of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, is killed near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London. He is knocked down with a car, then attacked with knives and cleavers in an attempt to decapitate him. His two assailants, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, are wounded by police gunfire before being arrested. Murder trial in March 2014

28 October: The biggest trial into phone hacking allegedly conducted by the now-defunct News of the World begins at the Old Bailey in London. Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, former editors of the tabloid, are among the eight defendants, who are charged with a range of offences including conspiring to access voicemail messages illegally.

2014

- Floods in Britain- Winter Olympics- Russia / Ukraine crisis

The Floods Feb 2014

TASKYou will need TWO examples of Contemporary Events (within 18months) from different media texts (e.g. newspaper story/TV coverage)

When discussing events in the exam you MUST use and reference SPECIFIC examples, e.g. The Sun represented the Royal wedding as…whereas PBS news…

Find and comment on 2 examples of events on your blog. Discuss the following:

• Who is audience for each one?• Who is in control of the text? Whose ideas and values are expressed

through the representations?• What mode of address is being used?• What ideologies / messages might be contained within the representation?

Issues

• The media construct representations of issues and indeed may be partly responsible for creating the issue itself.

Body image and beauty

• We have become a society obsessed with the way we look and what constitutes beauty.

• The definition of what is considered beautiful has narrowed and focuses solely on being white, thin and perfectly formed.

• The image of body image is represented across a range of media texts including.

Unrealistic images of perfection for both men and women in magazines

Gossip magazines where imperfections in the bodies of celebrities are highlighted and ridiculed

Documentaries raising awareness of the issue

Newspaper images of catwalk models that are a size zero

Media articles commenting on the concern of the beauty cult that means only thin is beautiful

Advertisements for products that aim to make us more beautiful less wrinkled and more flawless

Body Image

• Body image as an issue is represented across a range of media texts

• How the image is represented depends on the audience

• In magazines women are sold an idealised version of themselves and aspire to attain the unobtainable

Body Image

• Some programmes tackle the problem of body image from a range of points of view

• It may be through plastic surgery or general dissatisfaction with body size

• Most of these programmes are aimed at a female audience

Body Image

Body Image

Heat magazine

Constant focus on body image

Male gaze

Women are judged by men

Focuses on imperfections

Questioning women to be unhappy

Take heart that celebrities have similar issues