Identities and the Media: Reading the riots

1. How did the language and selection of images in the coverage create a particular representation of young people? 

Young people came under scrutiny the most out of all of the groups rioting. They were described as the yobs and hoodies which only added more bad press when they were caught looting in their tracksuit bottoms. The minority of young people in the riots were captured in such a negative way that the shorthand stereotypes have caught on and now the youth are a group to fear.

1. Why does David Buckingham mention Owen Jones and his work Chavs: the demonisation of the working class?

It looks at who is portraying the working class to be the centre of fear and ridicule as they are not calling themselves it. It looks at the difference in class and how the middle class, the ones who write the newspapers are the ones laying down these stereotypes about the people who are "below them".

1. What is the typical representation of young people – and teenage boys in particular? What did the 2005 IPSOS/MORI survey find?

Looking at the survey results it shows that young people in the news and teenage boys in particular are spoken about very negatively. In particular it focused on violence and it found that 40% of newspapers featuring young people were about violence and 71% of these articles were negative. Other studies had found that with over 7000+ articles published about teenage boys in particular over 72% were negative. All this reinforcement of the youth being a bad and failed group sticks in peoples minds and gives them stereotypes to go on from.

1. How can Stanley Cohen’s work on Moral Panic be linked to the coverage of the riots?

Cohen suggested that the media play a role in "deviance amplification", they report on the coverage in such a way that is reaches people who might not have thought of becoming involved in the situation before.

1. What elements of the media and popular culture were blamed for the riots?

Mainly rap music was blamed for young peoples actions. The rap genre was said to influence the youth about views of the police and that violence was "good". Music and pop culture wasn't the only thing to blame, Newspapers themselves could be at blame for glamorising the looting by posting pictures of teens with hoards of loot and not many stories with them getting caught, it may have been a motivating factor to spur on riots around the capital.

1. How was social media blamed for the riots? What was interesting about the discussion of social media when compared to the Arab Spring in 2011?

Social media platforms that were used during the riots included Twitter and Facebook and also Blackberries messaging service. All were used similarly by the rioters to communicate about where to meet up. The protests that occurred during the Arab Spring event were also helped by the use of social media but it was seen as positive in its use unlike the London riots. Already we can see a difference, The Arab Springs were largely reported on to be about protests, what happened in London was largely called riots. The use of social media to organise political protests is good but to organise rioting against a cause is bad.

1. The riots generated a huge amount of comment and opinion - both in mainstream and social media. How can the two-step flow theory be linked to the coverage of the riots? 

 The two step flow model is a model used in the media to look at how news/opinions reach the mass media. It starts from the news producers goes to opinion leaders and is then taken on by followers. A lot of people, especially different class groups saw the riots differently, for example the upper class who fit into the socio-economic group of ABC1 may have had different opinions on the riots and some of these people who may have been involved in journalism for newspapers would have shared this. People in the lower classified socio-economic groups like he C2DE's may have had different opinions on the riots and they may have shared this on sites like YouTube or would have been interviewed by news companies.

1. Alternatively, how might media scholars like Henry Jenkins view the 'tsunami' of blogs, forums and social media comments? Do you agree that this shows the democratisation of the media? 

Henry Jenkins was one who "tends to celebrate this kind of participatory media". I do think that this is a good example of the democratisation of the media because people are free to post where and whatever they like, there is no institution producing the content on peoples personal blogs, however with any service on the internet there is always someone in control so i wouldn't say the people are totally free in there activities on the internet but they do have a certain degree of control which is a fundamental idea about democracy.

1. What were the right-wing & left wing responses to the causes of the riots?

The right wing responses mainly blamed youngsters and there lack of motivation and commitment to learning. an author for the daily mail gives his strong opinions on what he thinks about young people and in particular how they are amoral. The left wing response also looks at how young people were involved in the riots but it doesn't blame the youth directly, it blames the government for its cut backs and depriving the youth of community centres and the motivation for a full education.

1. What are your OWN views on the main causes of the riots?

 The main cause of the riots isn't the most obvious thing in my opinion. The shooting started a chain reaction of all the anger and hatred that was building up to the government and police. The cuts by the the Tories and the police violence here and in America influenced people. They just needed a cause to revolt. 

1. How can capitalism be blamed for the riots? What media theory (from our new/digital media unit) can this be linked to?

1. Were people involved in the riots given a voice in the media to explain their participation?

Yes but were represented in such a negative way that people only saw the rioters as uncontrollable, amoral youths who had no respect for the community.

1. In the Guardian website's investigation into the causes of the riots, they did interview rioters themselves. Read this Guardian article from their Reading the Riots academic research project - what causes are outlined by those involved in the disturbances?

1. What is your own opinion on the riots? Do you have sympathy with those involved or do you believe strong prison sentences are the right approach to prevent such events happening in future?