5 Target books

Jewkes, Y. (2004). Media and Crime. London: Sage

This book particualarly talks about how ethnic minorities who are involved within crime are being falsely targeted within the media.


Casey, Bernadette (2002)Television Studies Key concepts. London Routledge
Page 232
'Tesa Perkins suggests that stereotypes can often express something about real social relations '

' The continuing dominance of the televison industries by white middle class men has led to the recognition of the link between stereotyping and the relative lack of minority groups working in television'.

Thes quotes help as I will be focusing on the representation of black youths within Cinema adverts and within Television. These quotations offer me another side of the arguement.

Williams, Kevin(2003): Understanding Media Theor. London. Arnold Publishers.

Page 166

'The 'hypodermic modle' assumed media effects were simple and direct a casual connection existing between what people see, hear and read in the media and their knowledges, attitudes and behaviour'.

This qoutation offers me contextual analysis sorrounding the issues with the bias representation of black youths, thus using the 'hyperdomic model' adds sophistication to my essay.

Hayward, Susan (2000): Cinema Studies Key concepts. London, Routledge

'Iconography for audiences to follow the narrative, so characters where stereotyped'

Since my linked production is to create two cinema adverts which this particular book and quotation will allow me to understand how black youths are a target of a bias representation within cinema and how I could create a more positive representation.

5 Target websites

Black Youth and Mass Media: Current Research and Emerging Questions

http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/prba/perspectives/winter2000/cwatkins.pdf

Anti-Gun Campaign targets teens

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5377114.stm

Black and Minority and Ethnic groups

https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/2299/1125/1/901210.pdf

Can Gramsci's theory of hegemony help us to understand the representation of ethnic minorities in western television and cinema?

http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-rol6.htm

The Criminalisation and Demonisation of Hoodies

http://dissertations.port.ac.uk/218/01/PhippsA.pdf

Links useful to my critical investigation

The use of Stereotypes and Representation of Black People As Monkeys and Inferior in Western Cinema

http://www.blackinkmedia.co.za/node/11

BLACK AND ASIAN YOUTH REPRESENTATION

http://byempowerment.blogspot.com/2007/03/black-and-asian-youth-representation_22.html

A social representation isn't a quiet one.

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2443/1/A_social_representation_is_not_a_quiet_thing_%28LSERO%29.pdf

Whoy do black youths do crime? 1 xtra

http://www.ligali.org/pdf/www_bbc_co_uk_1xtra_tx_black_crime.pdf

Bibliography study....x

Laughey, Dan (2009): Media Theories and Approaches: Harpenden, Herts: Kamera Books This book is by Dr Dan Laughey, and is a senior lecturer in media and culture at Leeds University. He has mainly written about different aspects of the media, in a more micro outlook and wider context e.g. political influences.

Page 70- 71 Representation.

'Representation is the is the process of depicting real things, people, places, events'
' British cultural theorist Stuart Hall shows how real meanings are never fixed but always contested’
‘ representation and reality are not mutually exclusive’
‘don’t convey fixed meanings’
‘it is wrong to assume that a state of anarchy wherein everyone is free to interpret in our lives’.
‘Most of us grow up with shared beliefs, shard language, shared hopes and aspirations’

These quotations particularly are useful as Laughey directly addresses the wider context. Specifically speaking this does not link directly to the bias representation of the British media towards Back youths, however, looking at the wider context will not only give my essay more depth and marks but it gives a greater understanding as to why audiences tend to belive in what the media portray as being black, because of the fact we ‘have shared beliefs’.

Mckee, Alan (2003): Textual Analysis A beginners guide. London: Sage

Page 63 ‘What’s interpretation got to do with it? ‘

‘the ways in which different members of different cultures may make sense of a text will vary just as much as the way in which they make sense of the world around them’.

Again, this isn’t specifically linked to the representation of black youths, however, looking from a wider context- this provides reasons as to why the reception of the stories are formed from different cultures. Therefore, raising the debate as to whether it is actually the fault of the institutions- or whether the reception received from the texts is partly from the ideologies of the institution. Finally, raising many debates as to whether the content of the cinema adverts and newspapers are actually value free (objective) or value laden (subjective) baring in mind that media intuitions such as the ‘The Sun’ are not obligated to print information that can be related to all types of ethnicities and cultures within society, like the BBC have to conform to.


Manovich, Lev (2001): The Language of New Media: Massachusetts: MIT Press Page 15

‘As the case with all cultural representations, new media representations are also inevitably biased’
Page 16
‘They represent and construct features of a physical at the expense of others.
Page 17
‘Image interface’ – referring to how images are an illusion created by the newspaper – or media corporations.

Since I am looking at the representations of black youths, I felt it was important to look at the cultural representations and how new media acted as a pedestal in which cultural audiences can be segregated from society and be considered as the ‘other’. ‘Image Interface’ I felt that this makes my essay more sophisticated as having this term gives many meanings as to what the institutions intentions are by the use of ‘image interface’ and how much this anchors the entire story and influence the reception of the text.

Bennett, Peter, Slater, Jerry & Wall, Peter (2006): A2 Media Studies The Essential Introduction. Oxon : Routledge

Chapter 4 Representation page 74

'integral part of all human communication’

Page 78

Woodard 1997:145

‘Discourses and systems of representation construct places from which individuals can position themselves from which they speak... the media can be seen as providing us with the information which tells us what it feels like to occupy a particular subject position- the streetwise teenager, the upwardly mobile worker or the caring parent’.

Ross (2000)

‘The lack of positive role models and the way in which black minority characters are routinely stereotyped contribute to feelings of low self esteem and failure, especially among young black minority children...

'because most black minority children in Britain were born in the country, their knowledge of ‘home’ is very limited, gleaned from what their relatives tell them and of course form television.’

These quotes very much into how minorities- who are the subordinate groups within media- are represented differently, due to their background. Furthermore, looking at how society has made link to society and the effect it has had.

Osgerby, Bill (2004): Youth Media: Oxon Routledge

Page 107

Hechinger and Fred Hinchinger (1962) ' It is through the mass media that the images and desires of teen-agers are at once standardized and distorted'.

Lipsitz (1994)

'Today's youth culture proceeds from a different proceeds from a different premise. Instead of standing outside society, it tries to work through it'.

These quotations speak from an outsiders point of view and look further into how this representations as youths as a whole are treated within society.

Strinati, Dominic (2000): An introduction to studying popular culture: Oxon Routledge

Page 238

'Mass media as a type of designer ideology, Harvey (theorist) images dominate narrative'

This quotation is significant and important as this provides a simple yet meaningful insight as to how negative representations are created in the first place.

Rayner, Phillip & Wall, Peter (2006): The essential introduction for AQA: Oxon Routledge

'Subjective'

This term refers to how media texts are created that wouldn't normallty be exposed within the media as it would be highly contradicting. therefore, 'Subjective' refers to the actually writing and creating the text applied with thier own ideologies and beliefs and use that to create an interpretation.

Storey, John (2005): Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, An Introduction

'Race and Rascism'

These terms are both titles of debates within society, as to whether institutions are just reffering to their race or being racist.

Articles...x

The silenced majority

Since January, the term knife crime has been used more than 1,500 times by the national press - and it is a fair bet that most media images associated with these figures will be of young black men. Unsurprisingly, this is leading to a growing sense of frustration among black community leaders, academics and, not least, black youngsters themselves, over what they see as blatant misrepresentation.

Black youths who fit this media stereotype represent a tiny fraction of the young black population as a whole, they argue, and while negative stories about black teenagers are almost guaranteed headlines, the positive achievements of black youth go largely ignored.

This trend has consequences beyond creating an unbalanced picture. Numerous studies have shown a clear link between media furore and draconian policy-making, says Kjartan Sveinsson, the author of a Runnymede Trust report on the ways in which popular understandings of race and crime influence media reporting, and vice versa. "The tragedy is this can increase racial tension on the street and do little to stem the violence," he says.

Which in turn, of course, leads to further reports of violence, and the circle continues. In April 2007, for instance, after a number of high-profile shootings in south London, Tony Blair made a speech to the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce. Was he perhaps responding to media pressure when he asked: "When are we going to start saying this [gang crime] is a problem amongst a section of the black community and not, for reasons of political correctness, pretend it has nothing to do with it?"

There was no ambiguity when David Cameron spoke after the death of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool, singling out the media by saying: "Deaths by fists, knives and guns are becoming a regular feature of British news ... these murders must draw a line in the sand."

In Manchester, one group of black teenagers, who believe they should have made headlines for the right reasons, are angry at their treatment by the media. So much so they have published an open letter on the subject (see below

The Reclaim project began as a pilot in the autumn of 2007 at Urbis, an exhibition centre in Manchester, to work with 12-14-year-old boys from Moss Side and other perceived trouble spots in the city. The idea was spawned as a reaction to rising youth violence and the negative portrayal of young people, especially from the African-Caribbean community.

The project involves six months of intensive mentoring and events, including working with local statutory bodies and creative and sports providers. Self-development, discipline and anger-management courses form part of the syllabus, along with teamwork and respect for legitimate authority. Children on the project have drawn up an advisory document on combating gun and knife crime and presented it to Gordon Brown.

The scheme has been a remarkable success - and Reclaim has become synonymous with a powerful youth voice. Its story should be positive, but some of the young people involved feel they have been either ignored or that when journalists have turned up, most have only wanted to question them on guns and gangs.

In particular, some of the boys were unhappy about their treatment at the hands of a production company filming a documentary. They say they had understood it would be about their involvement with Reclaim, but the interviewer constantly brought up the subject of guns and gangs.

Fair representation?

On one occasion, the boys had been to a formal meeting and were wearing suits. According to 14-year-old Akeim, he and other boys were asked to go home and change into tracksuits and hooded tops and were then interviewed in the park where a 15-year-old boy, Jessie James, was murdered. Another boy, Amari, says the programme, shown on Channel 4 in July, failed to include a single mention of the Reclaim project and "was all about Jessie James". The interviewer asked whether he, or any of the other boys, had ever shot anybody, or been shot at, Amari says.

C4 says the producers "strongly feel" the young men were accurately and fairly represented in the short film, which was shown as part of a season of programmes about gun and knife crime. The boys were filmed where they said they regularly spend their time and were happy to be interviewed in those locations. They were not asked to dress in a way they wouldn't normally, and there was no intention or attempt to portray the young people as stereotypical or negative characters, the broadcaster says.

Professor Gus John, a fellow of the Institute of Education at the University of London, works closely with families affected by violence in Manchester. "When blac black males with k youths read about themselves," he says, "it goes something like this: you are a persistently under-performing group; you are six times more likely to be excluded from school and be a young offender; you may already be in a gang, or likely to join one. The likely causes of your condition are: absentee fathers; absence of positive role models; and being surrounded by women who cannot control or motivate you. You aim too low and do not believe people like you can succeed."

Cracker creator blasts 'chav' TV

Studio bosses 'ridicule white working classes'

One of Britain's most celebrated screenwriters has launched a blistering attack on the makers of so-called trash TV, accusing them of exploiting the white, working classes for their own amusement and entertainment.

Jimmy McGovern, who created Cracker and acclaimed dramas including Hillsborough, condemned 'latte-drinking, pesto-eating middle-class' TV executives, saying their treatment of Britain's working classes was not only patronising and offensive but also potentially dangerous. At a debate titled Chav TV at the Edinburgh Television Festival, panellists discussed whether the white working class was the only group left that it was acceptable to ridicule openly.

Reality television shows such as Wife Swap, Big Brother and the confessional Jeremy Kyle Show, which tend to rely on working-class participants in search of fame or fortune, were the focus of most criticism. But the portrayal of the working classes in comedy programmes such as Little Britain and dramas like Shameless were also debated.

McGovern accused industry executives of treating their audience with contempt: 'Normally, they would look to people on the left to speak up for them, but they haven't. Because they're not sexy. Unlike black lesbians, white, working-class men aren't sexy. So they are either ignored or patronised.

'I am delighted to see the state ITV are in. It is simply because they have utter contempt for their audience. These executives don't sit around and say, what kind of intelligent, informative, thought-provoking programmes would we like to watch? They think, what will the ignorant plebs that watch our channel want to see? They have total contempt for their audience, which is largely working class.' His comments come after Charles Allen, ITV's chief executive, who will step down in October, defended his much-criticised tenure at Britain's biggest commercial broadcaster. Speaking at the prestigious MacTaggart Lecture, Allen, who was ousted following investor dismay at ITV's flagging share price, admitted that some of ITV's problems were 'self-inflicted'.

However, he said the channel would only thrive if his successor sorted out 'the public service broadcasting hand tied behind our back and the CRR [the Contract Rights Renewal system, which limits the amount ITV1 can charge advertisers] gun to our head'.