Coursework draft 2..x

“I very rarely see white teens acting up”[1]

‘Black youths are a target of a negative and misguided representation within British mainstream media.’ To what extent is this statement true?

It is this essay’s contention that black youths are portrayed in contemporary media as thugs, out of control, anti-social and people who cause mayhem to society. Since the proportion of ethnic minorities ‘in London is over 30%’ - and ‘8% of the UK population’[2]this perhaps could be a reason why ethnic minorities within the UK are represented as subordinates within the media. With Britain as a democracy, and a multi-cultural society, one would think the media would represent a more diverse Britain and celebrate the hybridity of culture? Yet irresponsible caption, anchorage, controversial headlines, moral panics are some of many techniques used by the media to unfairly present all black youths as violent thugs. Consequently, Milligan argues ‘young black people grow up in a society where media images of black people are often negative and that it is therefore no surprise that many black children internalise such negative views about black people’[3]. Could this negative representation be a way in which the media punishes and suppresses black youths as an ethnic minority threatening progressive change in society? Or reinforce hegemonic values? Althusser, a Marxist theorist, argued the media was like an ‘ideological state apparatus’-where the ruling class pass down their values onto society and use their social status/position to manipulate audiences, making their views appear ‘right’. So the extent to which the British media actually reflect the truth and reality of social issues is highly debatable.
Firstly, in terms of print media- tabloids such as ‘The Sun’ and ‘Daily Mirror’ generate ‘moral panics’- which is the sense that a group threatens the social order within society. Cohen, who originated the theory, argues a moral panic occurs when ‘a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests’[4] This is particularly expressed by broadsheet newspapers who are politically biased, for example ‘The Sun’ is politically in favour of the conservatives- who are a right wing political party which follows traditional values. The use of moral panics used to describe the social concern of knife crime does reflect the media’s attempt to marginalize black youths in society. However, the negative representation of the media does reflect the social concerns within the media as ‘Black people make up only 5% of the United Kingdom’s population. However, over 50% of the prison population is black and 40% of the Black population is unemployed’. This is when the use of moral panics does reflect the ‘zeitgeist’. However, the irony is that the media continuously focus on the negative issues within society and ignore the positive to create a fair representation of black youths, the media clearly do not take the ‘we are all alike approach’. However, the struggle of the subordinate representation against the dominate representation is becoming increasingly difficult as ‘Every year 1000 Black pupils are permanently excluded and nearly 30,000 receive a fixed period exclusion. Black pupils are three times more likely to be excluded than their White peers; after all other background factors are taking into account.’[5]With this concern the negative representations and moral panics are – unfortunately- serving a purpose. Therefore, this constant recurring ideology of Black youths acting this way has created fear within society. The audiences are injected with this representation that the media feeds, and according to the hypodermic needle, there is the passive and the active, some of the audiences are passive, therefore take in these negative representation and physiologically create fear within.

Furthermore, for many years one particular issues that highlights the unfair representation by the media is the on and off screen representations. The on screen representation by mainstream media of black youths is a representation that suggests that black youths are a subordinate group within society. one particular text that looks at this is ‘WEST10LDN’ a BBC drama that was shown on BBC3 and set in greenside estate in west London the continuous use of high angle shots to show the estate from a bird’s eye view, was a technique used to represent the grim areas that they live in. this is significant because the mise-en scene and the use of props seemed similar to the representation by the media, such as the use of diagetic sound. E.g. the use of diagetic sound playing in the background connotes the grim and violent areas that they live in and the life that they lead. The drama does in fact focus upon the struggles by black youths but follow the conventions made by the media about representing black youths as deviant characters who take the illegitimate route to gaining success as they have been letdown by the government. The off screen representation of black youths in mainstream media does suggest that the black youths are a target of a misguided representation within mainstream media as ‘84.7% of offences in 2004-05 involving young offenders aged 10-17, the young people involved classified their ethnicity as white’[6] therefore this suggests that the violent and anti-social representation of black youths is most certainly misguided because ’84.7% of offences’ were not black.
Furthermore, films have always reflected stereotypical views of certain racial or cultural groups and often reinforced those stereotypes. There were very few black characters in earlier movies, as the black people were living on the margins of the Western society. If they were seen on the screen, they were cast as domestic servants, villains, or patronisingly as simple and uneducated, infantile (in 'Gone with the Wind', Scarlet's maid is an example of a black dim-wit). Such attitude started to change with the black liberation, when black people began taking higher professional positions - as teachers, judges, and doctors. On the other hand, the underprivileged groups of black youths have become 'the usual suspects' - always on a lookout to cause trouble, prone to crime, educational under-achievers. Therefore in my first paragraph I want to compare how the roles of black people in general have changed over time, and how the representation of black youths has been introduced.
Similarly, as Connor argues ‘Representation is [...]how we engage in media texts, representation is [...] just as much as audience interpretation as it is about the portrayals’ representations of black youths are merely an interpretation in which, through the cultivation theory audiences believe the negative representation. Particularly from a freedom of speech perspective, it is better to ensure that the media are able to distribute content even if harm is done; it is better to ensure that Britain can identify itself as a democracy and practice democratic laws.

The social and political contexts influencing a media text are often very clear. For example, A Time To Kill (1996)- is a film about a black father who sends his child to get groceries from the store is raped and beaten by two drunk and racist thugs, the father then kills the thugs cold blooded and is faced with a trial for manslaughter in the racist part of America which is the south. It is films such as these which showcase the historical struggles of black people within society. Samuel. L. Jackson’s character- who is one of the most prominent black actors in the film industry’s history – was represented as a subordinate who had to fight the racial stereotypes of society and the justice system. On the other hand, the effectiveness of the media’s portrayal can be argued from a market-liberalism perspective. Market liberalists argue that audience’s preference decide what media texts are produced. This perspective suggests that the power and influence of media texts rests with the audience and not the institution. As ‘Stuart Hall shows how real meanings are never fixed but always contested’[7]Therefore, the extent to which media texts portray black youths negatively are only effective unless the audience accepts and consumes the text produced, because if audiences consume texts then this generates profit for the institution which influence the institution to further distribute content. However, as money is a integral reason why institutions distribute content, however the media are sensitive to audiences reactions as- Princess’ Diana’s death shocked Britain the media did not show pictures of Diana -who was badly injured- as this may have offended people.

Historically this is linked in with the entire race as a whole: on a larger scale black people have been facing an upheaval struggle for equal rights, perhaps this struggle influences the media's easy ability to write negative stories about black teenagers. Tesa Perkins suggests that ‘stereotypes can often express something about real social relations’[8]. With events within history such as the Civil Rights Movement has a major impact on how black youths and particularly black people are portrayed within local and global news. Individually and as a group this will play a huge role into completely disproving all the stereotypes that have been created and use the Civil Rights Movement in a positive way to show the together and powerful community that black people have within the 21st century. The ideologies of my production as a whole would be to 'not judge a book by its front cover' and not to become passive audience as the unfair representation within the media is not serving a purpose for the sake of reporting news it is in fact a way in which exaggerated stories are a fast way to make money and gain power within the media as the media plays a highly influential role within society today. Furthermore, it can be argued that this representation comes a lot from the Brixton riots that occurred in 1981 and which is most famously known as ‘bloody Saturday’[9] by TIME Magazine, which marked a historical event within British history where this riot marked the beginning of black communities in Britain to be marginalised in society and the media. This event suggests to a large extent, that black youths are a target of a negative representation within the media because the riot was triggered by a young black youth who was a victim of a knife crime and was stabbed and a sense of anger occurred because the police officer at the scene hadn’t called for medical help for the youth. Therefore, it is ironic when this youth was a victim of a crime but a member of the justice system refuses to offer their help and the youth is marginalised in the media.

Furthermore, politics are perhaps the most interesting and significant sides for and to my critical investigation, as the overwhelming amounts of gun and knife crime statistics, it seems that politicians and their parties do not hesitate and take it upon themselves that this is the case. In addition, another focus on political influences of this particular stereotype is the lack of times that a politician has actually been seen within these estates and communities trying to solve and find a resolution to the growing problem: however this is not the case: one would assume that as supposedly unbiased and representative people, surely they are meant to be finding and helping find a resolution?

Additionally, Marxist perspective, Louis Althusser argues that the media is like an ‘Ideological state apparatus’[10], in which the ruling class pass their ideologies and views through their social position within society. Marxism is a conflict theory founded by Karl Marx which argues that society is a capitalist system in which capitalism only benefits the ruling class and legitimises class inequalities. Therefore, applying this theory into context; black youths are negatively portrayed because this reflects the ideologies of the ruling class and not society. Therefore, looking into the debate about media ownership and control, ‘the editor of the newspaper may well have "freedom" but freedom within certain limits. They cannot risk printing anything that offends the sensibilities of the owner as if they do this they risk unemployment.’[11], therefore, black youths are in fact portrayed negatively and this representation is misguided because the content distributed has many ideologies behind it and this representation does misguide people because a criticism could be that the media’s portrayal of black youths is too deterministic and only represents the ruling class’ ideologies and not the ideologies of society. Finally, the irony by the media is clear as the media also fail to be unbiased, because they ignore positive achievements of black youths.

To conclude, the debate about whether the media’s portrayal of black youths truly reflects the zeitgeist is what will provide the answers. ‘Black youths are a target of a negative and misguided representation within British mainstream media’- the misguided representations of black youths to a small extent does reflect the zeitgeist, however, to a large extent black youths are targeted negatively. On the other hand, this representation can only be fulfilled if the audience buy into what the media is distributing, therefore theories such as the 'The 'hypodermic model' assumed media effects were simple and direct a casual connection existing between what people see, hear and read in the media and their knowledge’s, attitudes and behaviour'.[12] Therefore, this misguided representation by the media is continuing because audiences believe in this representation by the media.

Word Count: 2,203


Bibliography

Works Cited
- Cohen, Stanley. Folk Devils and Moral Panics: Thirtieth Anniversary Edition. 2 ed. New York: Routledge, 2003. Print.
- Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media (Leonardo Books). null. Reprint. London: The Mit Press, 2002. Print.
- Laughey, Dan. The Media Studies Guide. Harpenden: Kamera Books, 2009. Print
- Bignell, J. (2007). An Introduction to Television Studies (2 ed.). New York: Routledge.
Website
Nature and extent of young black people’s overrepresentation- http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmhaff/181/18105.htm
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Priority Review: Exclusion of Black Pupils “Getting it. Getting it right” (September 2006)- http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/ethnicminorities/resources/PriorityReviewSept06.pdf
Ideological State Apparatus- http://changingminds.org/explanations/critical_theory/concepts/isa.htm
Bloody Sunday- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952979,00.html
Diversity-A two way street?http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_6360000/newsid_6368100/6368173.stm

Black youths - http://www.city-data.com/forum/politics-other-controversies/304357-inner-city-black-youth-14.html

Works Consulted
-Casey, Bernadette (2002)Television Studies Key concepts. London Routledge
- Hayward, Susan (2000): Cinema Studies Key concepts. London, Routledge
- Calvert/Casey/C. (2007). Television Studies: The Key Concepts (Routledge Key Guides) (2 ed.). New York: Routledge.
- Calvert/Casey/C. (2007). Television Studies: The Key Concepts (Routledge Key Guides) (2 ed.). New York: Routledge.
- Hayward, S. (2006). Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts (Routledge Key Guides) (3ed.). New York: Routledge.
- Hayward, S. (2006). Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts (Routledge Key Guides)


[1] http://www.city-data.com/forum/politics-other-controversies/304357-inner-city-black-youth-14.html
[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_6360000/newsid_6368100/6368173.stm
[3]http://partner.ncb.org.uk/ncercc/ncercc%20practice%20documents/ncercc_goodoutcomeswithbmechildreninrcc.pdf
[4] Cohen, Stanley. (2003). Page 139
[5] http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/ethnicminorities/resources/PriorityReviewSept06.pdf
[6] http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmhaff/181/18105.htm
[7] Laughey, Dan. (2009). Print
[8] Casey, Bernadette.(2002). Page 232
[9] http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952979,00.html
[10] http://changingminds.org/explanations/critical_theory/concepts/isa.htm
[11] http://www.smirnov.demon.co.uk/socialism/overview/media.htm
[12] Williams, K. (2003). Page 166