age

• childhood

  1. cute
  2. consumers
  3. little angels
  4. little devils
  5. victims
  6. prodigies
  7. accessories
• chandler - pester power


  children targeted by media as consumers

  bombard them with adverts for toys, games etc

  'pester' their parents into buying it for them
• childhood represented more positively - families are more child-centred, viewing childhood as a separate Lifestage
• youth

  1. represented more negatively
  2. media socially-constructs youth culture
• How the media socially-constructs “youth”

  • media industry sought to create youth culture
  • e.g popular music - Taylor Swift , fashion through magazines, social media - highly influential on youth identity
  • most sociologists argue media make youth culture
  • a03 - pluralists - argue these products only give what youth want
• Cohen - moral panics

  • first coined the term moral panics
  • in relation to rival youth subcultures: the mods and the rockers, and the media reaction to clashes between the groups on bank holidays in seaside resorts. 
  • the youths were turned into folk devils and many subsequent moral panics have focused on youth culture too, from punks, to drug-taking ravers, to “hoodies”.
  • knock on effect on how youth are presented in media today
• Wayne et al - youth representation in news

  • researched the content of news programmes across the main channels in one month
  • found that 82% of news items concentrated on young people and violent crime (either as perpetrator or victim).
• elderly typically seen negatively and positively
• newman - elderly representation

  • upper/middle-class elderly people (particularly men) are often portrayed as being in leadership positions or elite occupations
  • presidents, judges and businessmen. 
  • audience trust an older male voice, with grey hair lending authority - more wise
• stereotypes of old age

  • grumpy - up (Disney film)
  • burden - due to ageing population
  • infantile - presented as childlike
  • demented or confused - Charlie and the chocolate factory
  • second childhood - involves elderly doing things they wish they did when they were younger e.g the real marigold hotel
• Williams and ylanne 


  elderly viewed nostalgically and as mentors
• lee et al 


  older adults in adverts are generally represented positively, healthy, active people

  enjoying a golden age
• Robinson et al

  found that older viewers were attracted to advertisements that presented their own age group positively: as vibrant and intelligent.