Upper class

• Upper class

  Neo-Marxists argue that mass-media representations of social class tend to celebrate hierarchy and wealth
• Upper class

  Those who benefit: the monarchy, the upper class and the very wealthy generally receive a positive press as celebrities are somehow deserving of their position
• Upper class

  The UK mass media hardly portray the upper classes in a critical light, nor do they often draw any serious attention to inequalities in wealth and pay or to the overrepresentation of public school products in positions of power
• Upper class

  Sociological observations of media representations of the upper classes suggest that popular film and TV costume drama tend to portray members of this class in ritter an eccentric or nostalgic way
• Upper class

  In films such as Downtown Abbey and idealised picture is painted of a ruling elite characterised by honour, culture and good breeding
• The monarchy

  Naim notes that the monarchy has successfully converted much of the modern mass media to its cause, so that, until fairly recently it was rare to see any criticism of this institution or the individuals in it.
• The monarchy

  Naim argues that this is because after the Second World War the monarchy reinvented itself as a 'Royal Family' with a cast of characters who stood for national values such as ‘maleness’ ‘decency’ and ‘ordinariness’
• The monarchy

  Members of this ‘family’ were presented as ‘like us’ but ‘not like us’; this successful makeover resulted in national obsession with the Royal Family reflected in media coverage focused positively on every trivial detail of their lives
• The monarchy

  Consequently, the media regard royal events such as weddings, births and funerals as national events to be celebrated  
• Wealth

  Newman argues that the media focus very positively on the lifestyles of the wealthy and the privileged ; he observes that the media focus too heavily on consumer items such as luxury cars, costly holidays and fashion accessories that only the wealthy can afford
• Wealth

  Newman also notes the enormous amount of print and broadcast media dedicated to daily business news and stock market questions, despite the fact that few people in the UK own stocks
• Wealth

  He observes that the media rarely focus on the inequalities of capitalism, such as the size of bankers’ bonuses, the fact that top businesspeople are rewarded with huge payoffs for failure or the growing divide between the rich and the poor
• Wealth - pluralism

  However, from a pluralist perspective, it can be argued that representations of the rich, their lifestyles and the business world are justified for three reasons:
• Wealth - Pluralism

  1.     The media view the UK as a meritocracy and the media portrayals of the wealthy are representative of the idea that talented people are deserving of high rewards

  2.     Such stories may motivate people to work hard in the belief that they can attain these rewards, which benefit the economy

  3.     The focus on finance, stocks and shares may merely reflect the importance of these sectors for the economy