Representations

• Childhood


  Representations of children in the media
• Representations of children in the media

  • Miniature adults (Middle Ages)
  • Separate to adults (1700)
  • Innocent and vulnerable (1900)
  • Seen as 'perfect angels'
  • Shown as having poor behaviour (e.g. 'Supernanny')
• Representations of British children in the media

  • Cute - common stereotype
  • Little devils - e.g. Bart Simpson
  • Brilliant - child prodigies
  • Brave little angels - survivors of long-term illness
  • Accessories - celebrities' children (e.g. Madonna)
  • Modern - presented as wise for their age, knowing more than previous generations
  • Victims of horrendous crimes - e.g. Maddy McCann, James Bulger (white children more likely to get coverage than other ethnic backgrounds, foreign children get negative coverage e.g. starving children in Africa)
• Portrayals of children on TV (Heintz-Knowles, 2002)

  • Motivated by peers, sports and romance, not community, school or religious issues
  • Rarely seen coping with societal issues like child abuse, domestic violence
  • 40% show them participate in anti-social behaviour e.g. bullying or lying
  • Last 15 years seen more realistic issues being told from child, not adult point of view
• Children as consumers


  • Encouraged by TV ads and merchandising to be active consumers
  • Pester power an additional pressure for poorer families who often go into debt as a consequence (Evans and Chandler, 2006)
• Youth - social construction


  • Whole media industry aimed at creating, constructing youth identity and lifestyle
  • Supported by magazines, record companies (internet music etc), emergence of social networks (Facebook etc)
• Youth - social problem

  • Presented as immoral or anti-authority, often the 'folk devil'
  • Moral panics since 1950s focus on youth's behaviour as deviant (drug taking, binge drinking etc) or their subcultures as deviant (teddy boys, mods, rockers, punks etc) (Cohen's view of moral panics)
• Representations of youth in the media (Wayne et al, 2007)

  • Analysis of 2130 news items across main TV channels in May 2006 found 286 stories focused on youth, 28% of these on celebrities, 82% showed youth as perpetrators or victims of crime, only 1% contained a young person's point of view
  • Media delivers one dimensional view of youth creating fear and condemnation rather than understanding, distracting from real issues like homelessness, unemployment, housing, mental health
• Representations of youth in the media (Batchelor, 1999)

  • Teen dramas and magazines were sensitive and helpful in addressing teen dilemmas, but emphasis on issues faced by heterosexual girls rather than a broader spectrum
• The Elderly


  Representations of the elderly in the media
• Representations of the elderly in the media

  • Class, age and gender often work together - upper/middle class elderly males often portrayed as the expert or leader (films and news reports), older women relegated in news to radio, replaced by a younger woman, in film women tend to only get character roles over the age of 40
  • Could argue age tends to be devalued by the media
• The Invisible Elderly (Age Concern, 2000)

  • Elderly are underrepresented in all areas of the media - 21% of population in 2000 were 65+ but only 7% of representations on TV of that age, with men 70% of the 7% despite making 43% of the elderly population
  • Popular magazines had very low coverage of the elderly - Family Circle 8%, Good Housekeeping 6%, most popular magazines for women had 9% of images or features on the elderly
• Stereotypes of the elderly in the media

  • Grumpy - women = shrews or busybodies, men = curmudgeons harping on about the past
  • Mentally challenged - forgetful, befuddled, feeble minded
  • Infantile - like children who need to be looked after
  • Burden - economic burden on society, physical and social burden for families
  • Enjoying a second childhood - especially if more affluent
• 21st century research on representations of the elderly

  • Contribution to society of the elderly is largely ignored, they are rarely consulted as experts
  • Emphasis on youth and beauty implies growing old should be avoided and is a stigma
  • This could be changing as companies recognise the spending power of the elderly (the 'grey pound')
• Representations of the elderly in advertising (Lee et al, 2007; Robinson et al, 2008; Williams & Ylanne, 2009)

  • Representation is still fairly low (15%), but they are often portrayed as 'golden agers' - active, able, healthy, successful and content, ignoring the reality of many about loss of status, poverty, loneliness and loss of partners
  • Older adults liked being represented as clever, vibrant and having a sense of humour, but disliked ads that poked fun at the elderly or presented them as out of touch
  • Now portrayed more as 'golden agers' - lively and enjoying life, mentors to grandchildren, less negative portrayals but still significant, concern that older people depicted for a reason to sell a product rather than just as people
• Postmodernist view


  No longer a metanarrative (wide scale explanation), lots of different types of media which involves significant choice for the individual, the way social groups are portrayed depends on the type of media the individual has chosen
• Assess sociological explanations for the representation of age in the mass media
• Maist views of the media

  • Suggest it is the role of the media to ensure that the cultural hegemony of the dominant capitalist class is upheld and to ensure that inequality and exploitation are not defined as social problems so they don't become the focus of a social debate and people don't start to demand a social change
• The monarchy have used the media for its cause


  There is little criticism of them in it
• Representations of the monarchy (Nairn 1998)

  • After the 2WW, they presented themselves as a 'Royal Family' with a cast of characters making them easier to identify with. For example the queen is often presented as a working mother
  • This creates a narrative in the press and a nation obsessed with trivial matters of the Royal Families lives
• Royal family coverage


  Aims to reinforce the Queen as a symbol of our national identity
• The tide only started to turn after the death of Diana


  The success of the Jubilee suggests the Royal Family, esp the queen as Head of State, is back in the media's good books
• Popularity of the Royal Family

  Is also emphasised in William's & Kate's representation as pin ups and Harry as a hero
• Media are now forgiving

  As seen by the dismissal of a racist comment made by Charles, which was very similar to what Jade Goody had said and whose career was ruined by
• Representations of the Upper class

  • Neo-Marxist suggest the media celebrates hierarchy and wealth. The rich are often well presented in the media. There is very little criticism
  • Also little attention is drawn to the inequality in society or the overrepresentation of public-school products in positions of power
  • Observations also tend to show the upper classes presented in a nostalgic or eccentric e.g. Gosford Park and the Queen creating rosy idealised view of them (honourable, good breeding, cultured…)
• Reiner (2007) and Young (2007) argue the media represent the UK as a meritocracy
• Marxists argue this is a myth as evidence suggests that wealth plays a bigger part in Oxbridge and top jobs than intelligence and hard work
• Representations of wealth (Cohen and Young 1981)

  • The UK is a monetary culture characterised by 'chaos of rewards' – top businessmen are rewarded when they fail and celebrities are over rewarded for their 'talents'. Whereas normal people struggle in everyday life
• The media celebrates celebrity and encourage audiences to engage in popular culture through conspicuous consumption
• Representations of wealth (Newman 2006)

  • The tabloid media examine celebrity lifestyle, inviting the audience to admire their achievements. Very little is critical and much is superficial
  • He also notes the media focused largely on their consumption habits, esp if they were out of the reach everyday people
  • Some media is esp dedicated to this e.g. Count Life, Horse and Hound and The Tatler
  • Also notes the large amount of media dedicated to stocks and shares when only a small amount of people dabble
• Observations on over representation of middle class concerns in UK media

  • Middle class overrepresentation and working class underrepresentation, esp in drama (except soaps and comedies), normally concerned with manners, decency and decorum
  • Large proportion of newspapers focus on middle class habits of consumption (cars, houses etc)
  • Content of newspapers such as Daily Mail show a middle class concern for a decline in moral standards and are proud of GB heritage and identity. So crusade on behalf of their readers (Moral panics)
  • Creative personnel in media tend to be middle class and this is reflected in their output. Experts also tend to be middle class
• Representations of the working class (Newman - negative)


  • Very few dramas, sitcoms or films which focus on the working class even though they form a large part of the population
  • When working class are often shown in an unflattering or pitying way
  • Blue Collar (manual labour) heads of households shown as dumb buffoons (Homer) or immature macho exhibitionists (the Mitchell's)
  • Butsch (1992) argued working class men more likely to be shown as flawed individuals than middle class. this is emphasized by portrayal of working class women as intelligent and rational
• Representations of the working class (Newman - negative)


  • When news focuses on working class it is often to label them as a problem, benefit scroungers and drug addicts
  • They are often the folk devil
  • Reporting of issues such as poverty, unemployment or single parent families suggest personal inadequacy rather than govt policies or bad business
  • GUMG (2000) suggest 'unreasonable' workers causing problems for 'reasonable' employers
• Representations of the working class - positive

  • 'kitchen sink' dramas – films of the 1960s (Kes, Saturday night, Sunday morning) and more recently (Full Monty and Brassed Off) portray working class problems in a sensitive and dignified way. Even challenge social issues, class exploitation and racial intolerance
• Representations of the working class – newspapers aimed at the w/c

  • Curran and Seaton (2003) note these simplify political debate assuming readers are uninterested. Often reduced to a debate between personalities rather than policy
  • Content is focussed on celebrity gossip and lifestyles, trivial human interest stories and sport
  • Marxists see this as an attempt to distract the working class from the inequalities of capitalism
• Representations of poverty and underclass (Newman)

  • Notes portrayals of the most destitute in society are negative or stereotypical
  • More likely to be portrayed in statistical rather than human terms by bulletins (numbers of Unemployed or on benefits)
  • Others suggest dumbing down of TV has resulted in decline of serious drama and docs on the issues
• Representations of the poverty and the underclass – CHAVS!!!


  • Shildrick and MacDonald (2007) suggest this implies they are undeserving of public sympathy
  • Hayward and Yar (2006) suggest Chav is used by newspapers as an amusing term of abuse
  • Lawler (2005) Chav is now circulated widely as a term of abuse and is imposed on people rather than claimed by them
  • Lawler goes on to say media use this term to vilify and depict a peasant underclass symbolized by stereotypical forms of appearance (bling + tracksuit)
• Representations of the poverty and the underclass – More CHAVS!!!


  • Often shown as a 'dangerous class' out of control and a threat to society
  • Webster (2007) media representations of chavs defines them as 'social scum' so get rid of any public sympathy for their social and economic plight
  • Swale (2006) noted use of term NEET (not in education, employment or training) used in Sunday Times to discuss youth who paper described as anti-social. Being poor was their own fault according to conservative newspapers. Girls became single mothers rather than worked. This stigmatised the group and they were then ostracised from society as the undeserving poor
• Representations of the poverty and the underclass – MORE CHAVS!!!


  • McKendrick et al (2008) studied a week's output of mainstream media in 2007 and concluded that coverage of poverty is minimal in UK media, causes and consequences are rarely explored across news, drama or docs. Poverty is either sanitized (Shameless) or made into entertainment (Jeremy Kyle)
  • Cohen (2009) suggested press spend more time 'trumpeting the good fortune' of British capitalism and less on the 'casualties'. Media is hopeless at reporting the realistic plight of the poor. They would rather revel in the suffering of the poor
  • Shows such as Little Britain or Shameless [shows]…the white poor [as] white trash; stupid teenagers who got pregnant without a thought, alcoholic fathers with delinquent children who wallowed in drugs and sex…a parasite paradise scrounging off the middle classes
• Cohen argues the media fail to see the connection between deprivation and wealth