Mass Media - Representation

Question 1

What is a ‘stereotype’?

Answer 1

A inaccurate generalisation about social groups e.g gay men are camp, women belong in the kitchen etc.

Question 2

What are binary opposites?

Answer 2

Binary opposites are when the world is looked at in terms of pairs and opposites e.g male/female, gay/straight.

Question 3

Are stereotypes socially constructed?

Answer 3

Yes

Question 4

What does Levi-Strauss ‘63 said about the binary opposition of stereotypes?

Answer 4

That they appear to be natural, however, it is not natural and have socially constructed meanings. Also, these oppositions are not equal and one half is often portrayed as more positive than the other e.g male/female opposites where the man is seen as positive - we subconsciously relate this to all binary opposites.
The media often perpetuates this.

Question 5

Define the meaning and explanation of “The Other” in stereotypes?

Answer 5

The other means saying something is different and Unknown, often implying inferiority.

Said stated that the West defines the East as ‘other’ when studying Eastern culture - implying that the East is inferior to the West.

Social groups portray other groups as ‘the other’ to promote social cohesion within their own group.

The idea of ‘the other’ links in with binary opposition, the dominant half sees the suppressed half as ‘the other’.

Question 6

What are the four stages of Production to the End Effect in media me of media messages?

Answer 6

1. Message is formulated by editors - those in powerful positions put together the message.
2. Content reflects the groups in power - those in power have little representation.
3. Message is received by the audience - is interpreted in different ways depending on context and experience.
4. Messages affects the role and treatment of social groups - behaviours of individuals are influenced by maid messages. The impact depends on how strongly the person believe media effects the audience.

Question 7

What did Croteau and Hoynes in 2000 find about gender in the media?

Answer 7

Most editors are men. Only 6% of the top newspaper managers were women and only 20% in the top TV management.

Question 8

What did I Cumberbatch in 1990 find in their research about gender in the media?

Answer 8

Women do not appear in the media as often as men. 90% of all advertising voice-overs were men and 66% of those in advertisement were men.

Question 9

What did Wolf in 1990 and Orbach in 1991 find about gender in the media?

Answer 9

Women in the media are often presented as ideals for other women to aspire to, which is a direct cause of the rising numbers in eating disorders amongst women.

Question 10

What did Tuchman in 1978 find about gender in the media?

Answer 10

The media portrays women in a limited range of roles, with only two female roles portrayed in the meda - domestic and sexual.

Question 11

What did Ferguson in 1983 find in their research?

Answer 11

That in women’s magazines, they gave advice on training on becoming stereotypically feminine - sexual, domestic, romantic etc.

Question 12

How are some men portrayed in advertising?

Answer 12

As incompetent at stereotypically female domestic tasks like homework and cooking.

Question 13

How to action films portray women compared to men?

Answer 13

Male violence is portrayed as a positive thing.

Question 14

How are women represented in the media?

Answer 14

As victims of things like sexual and domestic violence.

Question 15

What did Gauntlet in 2002 say about masculinity?

Answer 15

There is a change in the media portrayal of masculinity - some male magazines were formatted like women’s magazines, advertising health, looking good, and attracting the opposite sex.

Question 16

What did Herms in 1995 say about media messages?

Answer 16

That in the postmodern society, people reject media messages about gender.

Question 17

What status do media editors mostly hold?

Answer 17

Middle class.

Question 18

Which class appears most on TV in the media?

Answer 18

Middle class, on both dramas and news programmes.

Question 19

Which shows are working class characters is mostly limited to?

Answer 19

Soap operas

Question 20

What shows are upper class characters seen in?

Answer 20

Historical costume dramas - romanticises higher class life

Question 21

How does the news present the working class?

Answer 21

As a source of trouble through things like riots, strikes and crime.

Question 22

What does the Glasgow University Media Group in 1982 say about media?

Answer 22

That the media is perpetuating the view that the working class are trouble to ensure toe dominance of the capitalist ideology.

Question 23

Outline the findings of Glennon and Butsch 1982’s research into media.

Answer 23

They found 4% of sitcoms featured families were the head of the household was a manual worker where in real life 25% of households are like this, with most TV families being presented as glamorous.

Also, working class dad were portrayed as stupid and comical.

Question 24

What did Medhurst’s reserach in 1999 about stereotypes in the media?

Answer 24

Middle class students were shown the show “The Royal Family” and believed it was an accurate portrayal of working class life.

Question 25

What does Hall say about the portrayal of the classes in the media?

Answer 25

That the middle classes are portrayed in a positive light and the working class in a negative light that reinforces people’s class identities, maintaining the divide between the classes.

Question 26

What are the government statistics for disability in the media?

Answer 26

20% of the adult population has some form of disability but disabled people only appear 7% of the time with only 0.75% in speaking roles.

Question 27

What did Cumberbatch and Negrine in 1992 find in their research on British TV?

Answer 27

That disabled people’s roles were based on pity and comedy and that disabled actors only play roles where disabilities are the master status.

However, in shows like “Four Weddings and a Funeral” has a positive portrayal of disability.

Question 28

How does the news often present the working class?

Answer 28

A source of trouble e.g anti-social behaviour, the cause of riots, strikes, crimes etc.

Question 29

Outline the findings in Glennon and Butsch’s 1982 research into 40 years of family TV in the USA.

Answer 29

They found that 4% of sitcomes had a manual worker at the head of the household which underrepresents the true figure of 36% of American families being like this.

Nearly half of the TV families had professional heads of house where only 25% of this was representative of real life with most familiesbeing potrayed as wealthy and glamerous.

They saw that working class Dads were potrayed as stupid and comical.

Question 30

What did Medhurst’s reserach say about how people interpret the media against the working class?

Answer 30

That when middle-class students were shown TV episides of ‘The Royal Family’, they belibed it was an accurate portrayal of working classs life.

Question 31

What did Hall say how the media portrays the working class versus the middle/upper class?

Answer 31

He said that the media has always potrayed the middle class and the working class in a negative light to keep the divide between the classes strong.

Question 32

What statistics show that there is an underrepresentation of diabled people in the media?

Answer 32

The government statistics show that 20% of the adult population in the UK.
However, the Broadcasting Standards Commission in 1999 found that people with disabilities only appeared 7% of the time on TV and only 75% with speaking roles.

Question 33

Outline Cumberbatch and Negrine’s research in 1992 into the roles of disabled people in the media.

Answer 33

They found that over six weeks of British TV that disabled people’s roles were:

• Based on pity or comedy.
• Their disability is their main role/masture status
• There were positive potrayals in shows like ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’.

Question 34

What did Cumberbatch and Negrine’s research show about audience response to disability in the media?

Answer 34

People with limited or no real-life experience with disability accept unequal representation of disabled people in the media, whereas those with experience of disabilities were critical and rejected the stereotyped images.

Question 35

What are specialised channels?

Answer 35

They are forms of media that are developed to cater for specific ethnic minorities which are managed and controlled by ethnic minorities.
However, there are not many people from ethnic minorities in positions of power in mainstream media.

Question 36

What did the Broadcasting Standards Commission in 1999 find about ethnic minority portrayal in the media?

Answer 36

They found that in satellite TV that ethnic minorities were portrayed in 42% of programmes, but only making up 7% of speaking parts.
However, these roles were restricted and a high percentage were in children’s programmes.

Question 37

What did the 2000 government report “Viewing The World” suggest about media coverage of ethnicity?

Answer 37

That coverage of less economically developed countries to be portrayed as starving and in conflict, giving the portrayal that they need saving from the West.

Question 38

What did Van Dijk in 1991 say about how ethnic minorities are stereotyped in the media?

Answer 38

That ethnic minorities are stereotyped by newspapers as problems or threats and were often associated in headlines with violent or negative language.

Question 39

What does it mean when some representations of multiculturalism are described as ‘utopian’?

Answer 39

It suggests that everything is perfect and there is no discrimination. However, some admit there are problems e.g Bend It Like Beckham.

Question 40

That does Cottle in 2000 say about how media portrays ethnic minorities?

Answer 40

They are seen as the ‘other’ and that media portrayals of multiculturalism gloss over problems like power imbalances between different ethnic groups and historical effect of colonialism and racism.

Question 41

Describe the research by Heartmann and Husband in 1974 about audiences responses to ethnic minority stereotypes.

Answer 41

They compared the responses of children in two parts of Britain and found that in areas with low ethnic mixes that children believe the negative media content and in areas where there was a high ethnic mix, children rejected the media stereotypes in favour of their own experiences.

Question 42

What age group are people with power most likely to be and why?

Answer 42

They are most likely to be older/middle aged because it takes time and experience to get into powerful positions.

Question 43

Describe the sexist double standard to how older people are represented in the media.

Answer 43

Older women are less likely to get leading film or TV roles, but in films, older males are romantically paired with vastly younger women.
Also men are able to get roles in presenting TV programs than older women.

Question 44

What did Biggs in 1993 find about representation of older people?

Answer 44

They found that there was lots of representation for older people, but they were often stereotyped as ‘forceful’, ‘vague’ and ‘difficult’, especially it sit comes.

Question 45

What did Signorelli in 1989 find about the representation of young and old people compared to the middle aged?

Answer 45

He found that both old and young were underrepresented in prime-time TV and the programmes were biased towards middle-aged people.

Question 46

What did Featherstone and Hepworth in 1995 find in magazines about age in the media?

Answer 46

They found that magazines aimed at older people pushes the image of being “youthful” on older people.

Question 47

What is the stereotype of children in the media?

Answer 47

Innocent.

Question 48

What is the stereotype of the ‘youth’/adolescents in the media?

Answer 48

As a social problem - prone to drugs abuse, binge drinking, petty crime and unplanned pregnancy.

Question 49

How did Cohen say that media reporting created a moral panic in 1973?

Answer 49

1. Small groups behave in a deviant way.
2. Media reports the story.
3. Media reports similar stories again
4. Original groups becomes labelled as a threat to social order.
5. More people join in with the deviant behaviour.
6. Moral panic - public demands that something is done about it.

Question 50

Explain how the Mods and Rockers in the 1960s were viewed as a moral panic?

Answer 50

Cohen

• Media reported the fights
• lots of people turned up to watch because of the publicity
• the public panicked over the reports of how many people turned up to the fights.

Question 51

How are gay men stereotyped in the media?

Answer 51

As ‘camp’ to use them as comic relief.

Question 52

How are homosexual relationships and heterosexual relationships presented differently in the media?

Answer 52

There is a lot more explicit heterosexual sex showed on TV than homosexual sex.
Shows like Coronation Street and EastEnders have plots with a ‘gay kiss’ which attracted widespread attention.
The HIV and AIDS epidemic was characterised as the ‘gay plague’ - however, gay men changed the message from anti-gay to a message about safe sex.