Key Concepts: Representation
Learning Intention: To gain an understanding of the term ‘representation’.
Task 2: Using the internet, search and copy 3 images of celebrities into a powerpoint. They
should come from newspapers that have been published this week!
Task 1: Write down your date, title and learning intention in your book!
Key Words and Theories• Representation: refers to the construction in any medium
(especially the mass media) of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures.
• Moral Panic: created by the media and published through the press. When a one-off event can be blown out of proportion and become a societal issue.
What is representation?Representation is the final key concept we will be analysing.
Representation in the media is concerned with how people, events and ideas are presented to audiences.
What we see, hear and read in the media is a representation of a subject. Even a live broadcast is a representation, because you only see what is filmed by the camera operator.
As a media studies student, it is important that you are able to identityand understand these representations.
What is representation?For instance, in relation to the key markers of identity – Class, Age, Gender and Ethnicity (the 'cage' of identity) – representation involves not only how identities are represented within the text but also how they are constructed in the processes of production.
Why is representation important?The media often claim that they show reality.
Gritty soap operas are meant to be true life, ‘reality TV’ claims to follow the lives of ‘real’ people, and magazines expose the ‘real’ lives of celebrities. However, none of this is truly real; they are all versions of reality which has been edited and packaged by the media for us to consume.
It is the media that decide how to represent people and events and, as a result, they have an enormous potential influence and impact on the audience.
Why is representation important?Representations can have a positive and a negative effect.
• People can be portrayed as heroes or villains. • The way they look can be airbrushed and altered • What they say can be edited. • Stereotypes can be reinforced and erode the self image of
people.
So, when studying the media, you need to think critically about how people and events are represented, misrepresented (distorted or falsified impression) and unrepresented (ignored or unconsidered).
I want to communicate an apple to the media consumer…..
how I do that will affect the message the consumer gets about the apple….
‘The World’s Strictest Parents’
• We are going to part of an episode.
• How fairly are the young people represented?
• What does this representation suggest about British culture and also British families?
• Do you agree that this is fair or not and why?
Reflect back and consider …• What is being represented? • How have different genders been represented?• How have different age groups been represented?• How have different races or religions been represented?• Have any age groups been unrepresented? If so, why?• How accurate is the representation?• Can the representation be interpreted in different ways?• Who has constructed the representation and why?• What effect does the representation have on the intended audience? How do
people make sense of it?• How might the audience react to the representation?• Whose representation is it? Whose interests does it reflect? How do you
know? • With what alternative representations could it be compared? How does it
differ?
STEREOTYPES; if a certain sort of person is represented in a similar way over and over again by the media, what is called a “STEREOTYPE” of that kind of character develops.
A STEREOTYPE is a fixed idea about the characteristics of a certain type of person or thing
Spotting the Stereotype
Have you seen these stereotypes? Find an example of each and describe them. The first has been done for you.
Movie StarBeautiful
YoungRich
Hero Villain Nerd Grandparent
Teacher Rock Star ? ?
Look at The Simpsons, we all know them well from television, film, radio, comics. In your books, write to describe their characters and the roles they have within the family.
Identify TWO ways each character is represented to the media consumer.
Can you identify the stereotypes that are being communicated?
A representation of young people in the media
• How do you feel when young people are portrayed in the media?
• Do you feel that young people are fairly represented, or does the media present inaccurate stereotypes?
Case Study – Leah Betts• Leah Betts died in the 1990’s of an ecstasy overdose.• While this was the first time she had taken drugs, she was
represented in the media as one of a mass culture who was misusing drugs frequently.
• The impact of this story lead to a misrepresentation that all teenagers and young people were taking and misusing drugs frequently.
• It lead to a moral panic in the media that all teenagers were using drugs and that parents were not monitoring their children appropriately.
Moral Panic (Cohen, S. 1987) “a condition, episode, person or group of persons [who] become defined as a threat to societal values and interests.” So the mass media fashions these episodes (often exaggerating) the nature of the facts and turns them into a national issue, when there may only have been one event.
A representation of young people in the media
POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE?What is the danger of ‘stereotyping’ today’s youth by the images we are
shown?
Independent Task (1)
1. Using the internet, research and collate any stories that are about young people in Britain. Print them off when you’re done; try to find at least 6.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hoodies-louts-scum-how-media-demonises-teenagers-1643964.html
Independent Task (2)
2. Divide your stories into three piles: positive, neutral and negative. Examine how young people are presented in the 3 different ways; what message do you think is trying to be passed onto the audience from this?
Make a note of your findings for each one in your exercise book.
Independent Task (3)
3. What do your findings tell you about the representation of young people in newspapers?
4. Now, collate your own collage of images and annotate each one, saying how they give a positive or negative image of teenagers.
Plenary
• What have you learnt today?
• Write down one thing you have learned during this lesson.
• Write down one comment of something that you would like more help or advice with.
• Write down a short evaluation of how you think you’re coping in Media!
