Media Studies

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• Media Studies
• Representation

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Aims and Objectives

• Define what we mean by Representation
• Discuss the accuracy of media representations
• Examine media sterotyping
• Evaluate how minority groups may be affected by
  media representations

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Representation

• What is Representation?
• The process by which the media present to us
  the real world
• (Rayner et. al p.63)

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Representation

• The media re-present reality to us
• Media texts are constructed using codes
  combinations of symbolic, iconic and indexical
  signs
• Representation is therefore a version of reality

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Mediation

• Before we read a newspaper or watch a film or TV
  programme mediation occurs
• Mediation is a process of intrepretation by
  producers of media texts involving-
• Selection
• Shaping
• Editing
• Emphasising
• De-emphasising

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Mediation

• Representations in the media are often subjected
  to
• Agendas a particular newspaper/TV station may
  adopt a particular ideological slant, e.g.
  conservative, liberal or left wing
• Gatekeeping ensuring only those items which
  suit the ideological agenda are used
• Why are American TV Stations not showing the
  bodies of US Soldiers arriving back from Iraq?

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Stereotyping

• What are stereotypes?
• Widely circulated ideas or assumptions about
  particular groups
• Branston Stafford, p. 91

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Stereotyping

• What characteristics would you attribute to the
  following groups?
• Irish
• Scottish
• English
• Americans
• Jews
• Women
• Homosexuals

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Stereotyping

• What characteristics would you attribute to the
  following groups?
• SA Rugby Supporters
• English Football Supporters
• Old People
• People with Disabilities
• Travellers/Gypsies
• Blacks

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Characteristics of Stereotypes

• They categorise and evaluate groups
• They place emphasis on a particular aspect of the
  group
• Stereotypes can be positive and negative

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Reverse Stereotypes

• Reverse Stereotypes seek to question stereotypes
  sometimes in an ironic fashion, examples
• Pregnant Men
• Role reversals men as homemakers
• Women as Boss

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Activity

• How do The Simpsons stereotype different groups?

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Media Debates on Representation

• Media Debates on Representation generally focus
  on the following-
• Gender
• Race and Ethnicity
• Age
• Socioeconomic Status
• Disability

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Gender

• Discrimination against women is called Sexism
• Feminist criticisms of depiction of women focuses
  on the stereotyping of women, e.g.
• Women in subservient roles to men
• Housewife, homemaker, mother
• Sexual Objects
• Idealised version of female beauty

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Gender Representations

• Recent media texts have shown a growth in gender
  equality in the media strong independent
  females sometimes referred to as Post-feminism
• Girl Power
• Absolutely Fabulous
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Lara Croft
• Charlies Angels
• Kill Bill

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Representation of Homosexuality

• Discrimination against homosexuals is called
  Homophobia
• Until quite recently, gays and lesbians were
  Taboo in the Media
• Gay characters and references to the existence
  of homosexuality were routinely laundered off the
  screen for ..half a century
• (Russo 1981, quoted in Branston Stafford, p. 99)

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Representation of Homosexuality

• In what way has representation of homosexuality
  in the media changed over the past decade?

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Queer Theory

• What is it?
• An examination of the way gender representation
  are changing and evolving
• People are developing more fluid identities
• Challenges traditional notions of masculinity and
  femininity

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Queer Theory - Activity

• Think in terms of the following TV Characters and
  Performers, what characteristics would you
  attribute to them?
• Frasier and Niles - Frasier
• Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha Sex and
  the City
• Ross, Chandler and Joey Friends
• Julian Carey - Comedian
• Graham Norton - Comedian

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Race and Ethnicity

• Discrimination against Racial and Ethnic
  Minorities is called Racism
• Race representation in the media has been
  criticised on the following grounds
• Rigid Stereotyping, e.g. Plantation Blacks, Red
  Indians, Black Gangstas
• Under-representation of racial minorities on
  prime time TV
• Few Racial Role Models depicted

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Race Representation in UK Media

• UK Media Representation of Race
• Stuart Hall (1974) Black Men, White Media
• Media reflects white middle class attitudes and
  experience
• Most Blacks belong to the working class
• Appearance of blacks in media usually connected
  to immigrant issues or social problems
• Childrens television was particularly whiter
  than white
• No coverage of black issues as perceived by
  Blacks

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Stuart Hall

• Examining media coverage of Blacks in 1981, Hall
  found that media images of blacks showed them as
  either
• The Native
• The Entertainer
• The Social Problem

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Race - Activity

• Has Race representation become more positive?
• Identify a number of TV programmes with positive
  representation
• Identify a number of Black, Asian and Latino Role
  models

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Age

• Discrimination against old people is called
  Ageism
• Rigid sterotyping of old people in the media
  think of Victor Meldrew
• Stereotypes are now being challenged
• The Golden Girls was a precursor of Sex and the
  City

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Socioeconomic Status

• Lower class, working class and unemployed people
  are often negatively stereotyped
• Lazy layabouts, - think of Les in Coronation
  Street, Mickeys family in Eastenders

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Disability

• Very little representation of people with
  disabilities in the Media
• Usually negative stereotypes, particularly of
  people with mental health issues
• Seen as somehow broken, dependent, pitiable
  rather than as independent human beings

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Useful Web Site

• Further discussion and articles on representation
  can be found at Mediaknowall a UK Site
• www.mediaknowall.com/representation.html

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• Select a media image that represents a stereotype
  and a media image that represents a reverse
  stereotype.

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• Create an ironic caption for your image.
• Produce an Indesign page containing your
  stereotype image with the caption placed below
  the image.

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Glossary

• Representation
• Mediation
• Agendas
• Gatekeeping
• Stereotypes
• Reverse
• Stereotypes
• Gender
• Sexism
• Post-Feminism

• Homosexuality
• Homophobia
• Queer Theory
• Race
• Ethnicity
• Racism
• Age
• Ageism
• Socioeconomic Status
• Disability

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References

• Branston, G. Stafford, R. (2003) The Media
  Students Book (3rd ed), Routledge, London
• Hartley, J. (2002), Communication, Cultural and
  Media Studies, The Key Concepts, Routledge,
  London
• Rayner, P. et. al (2001) Media Studies The
  Essential Introduction, Routledge, London
• Watson, J. Hill, A. (2000), Dictionary of Media
  Communication Studies, (5th ed), arnold, London