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Representations in the Media - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Rarely shown with coping with societal issues (racism, child abuse and domestic violence)
      - Representations = positive - pro social actions (telling the truth and helping others)
      - 40% depicted children engaging in anti-social actions (bullying or lying etc.)
    - - Emergence of pester power - power of children to train or manipulate parents to spend money on consumer goods that will increase children's status
      - Pester power creates greater anxiety among poorer parents, who often go into debt to provide for children's desires
  - - - Young people (esp. black males) are used as scape goats by media to create sense of unity in society
    - - 12% were positive and 40% had articles about young people focused on crime
  - - - Elderly women shown in social, family and recreational settings and represented as passive, socially isolated, unpleasant and poor
    - - Grumpy - Portrays old people as stubborn, conservative and resistant to social change
      - Mentally challenged - Involves loss or decline of mental function
      - A burden - Economic burden on society and physical/social burden on younger members of families
    - - in 91% of adverts, Portrays them as happy, active, alert, successful and content
      - Doesn''t reflect wide range of experiences (loneliness and loss of partner)
- - - - Fraud and dishonesty (including those such as ‘faking illness’);
      - Dependency (including ‘underclass’ and ‘unemployable’);
      - non-reciprocity/lack of effort (e.g. ‘handouts’, ‘something for nothing’, ‘lazy’, ‘scrounger’); •
      - outsider status (e.g. ‘immigrant’, ‘obese’)
    - - need (‘vulnerable’, ‘hard-pressed’);
      - disability (‘disabled’, ‘disability’).
    - - Such shows emphasize the difference between the working majority (‘us’) and the workless minority (‘them’) and invites us to identify ourselves against benefits claimants, and possibly to see claiming benefits as something which is a choice, long term and morally wrong, rather than as something which is a necessity, usually a short term stop-gap before a return work
- - - - Gross (1991) - media have symbolically annihilated gay people by excluding them, or trivialising, condemning, or making fun of them
      - Gauntlett (2008) - although things are changing, gay people are underrepresented negatively in mainstream media
      - Stonewall (2010) - In a study of TV programmes, lesbian, gay and bisexual people were portrayed in less than 5% of the total programming studied (36% of that were negative)
      - Cowan (2007) - 1/5 of people think TV is responsible for anti-gay prejudice
      - Cowan and Valentine (2005) - In study of representations on the BBC, found that gay people were 5 times more likely to be portrayed negatively than positively
    - - Media companies have realised the gay consumer market (pink pound) is large and affluent - courting it through advertising campaigns and the provision of media products
      - The popularity of gay media celebrities like Alan Carr, Matt Lucas and RuPaul would confirm that media representations and audience reactions are beginning to change
    - - Gill (2007) - Mainstream media represent gay sexuality in a 'sanitised' way to risk offending heterosexual audiences
      - Gay men are rarely portrayed in a sexualised way, like kissing, touching, and having sex
      - Lesbians rarely appear in advertising and other media in anything other than a sexualised manner
      - The media thirst for newsworthy, headline-grabbing stories around sexuality is now more likely to be quenched by stories about paedophilia
- - - - Segregated by society by stereotypes
  - - - Disabled characters are usually seen to be inspirational or someone to be pitted but with Isaac, he is seen as a divisive figure and shows wit and headstrong self-confidence – traits that are rarely, if ever, seen in disabled characters on screen
      - Sexuality
        
        Series three also sees an intimate scene between Isaac and Maeve, which George feels acts as an “important cultural moment”, particularly for teen dramas, in normalising disability and sex.
        
        The scene addresses the stigma, but in low-key fashion. George says it works because it “doesn’t pander” to its own significance and instead flows naturally in terms of the story and Isaac’s relationship with Maeve.
        
        It sees the pair tenderly discuss each other’s needs and bust open society’s unspoken curiosity. Both George and Emma Mackey, who plays Maeve, spent a long time working with intimacy coordinators and disability charities ahead of filming – aware of the positive impact it could have on perceptions
    - - However, this is the first time it has occured
  - - - Representations reflect the dominant view that disability is dysfunctional for the individual and society.
      - Representations mirror social anxieties about impairment.
      - Representations reflect the courage shown by disabled individuals, particularly if they are young. It portrays the reality for carers and individuals.
    - - Impaired individuals are disabled by society and the mass media.
      - Media professionals have a view of disability (unfortunate, dependant etc)
      - Representations show everything a normal person would dread- tragedy, loss, the unknown.
      - Disabled rarely consulted by journalists. Representations reflect their low status and exclusion in society
    - - The medical viewpoint is in decline and our understanding of health and the able-bodied is changing.
      - Shown in more positive representations (such as in sport)
      - You can’t make generalisations, different TV stations may represent disability in different ways. (Gauntlett)