Representation in Media

Female Represenataion in newspapers:

sexualised

wives + mothers

whores

blamed for everything

revealing

should know their place

angelic (Madonna)

subserviant

short tempered

Representation: is how media texts deal with and present gender, age, ethnicity, national and regional identity, social issues and events to an audience.

Stereotypes: are a simplified representation of a person, groups of people or a place, through basic or obvious characteristics - which are often exaggerated.

Anchorage: Words that go along with images to give meaning to them in a specific context; includes captions in newspapers and taglines on film posters.

Counter Stereotypes:an idea or object that goes against a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment


Van Zoonen theory


Van Zoonen believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this behaviour reinforces societal views. The media does this because they believe it reflects dominant social values (what people believe in) and male producers are influenced by this. This is a patriarchy (a society ran by men for men) which dominates and oppresses women.

In these two seperate articles, Leonardo DiCaprio is presented as a strong, welathy gentleman wheread Lana Del Ray is naked in order to appeal to the partriarchal society that runs GQ. Women are deemed inferior and so she is down to wearing nothing so that more men will buy the article, men will also want to buy the DiCaprio covered one because they'll be happy with how confident an proud he seems. Leo is also described as a king, making him seem like the perfect definiton of a man.

Miley Cyrus- Wrecking Ball notes:

Essay task

Using Van Zoonen's theory and the stereotypes associated with gender discuss how the Daily Mail have represented gender from the two front covers presented.

In both newspaper articles, it can be seen that the imagery on display takes away from the actual main topic of the newspaper. For example, in the first example, the very serious topic of cancer is the headline which would by assumption be the thing to draw in the attention of the reader. However, in actuality, the focus is mainly on Princess Kate and her son. Van Zoonen's theory in this instance would be correct because Kate Middleton is seen as a mother and not as a princess here, allowing society to demean her as more domesticated that practical. As well as this, the idea of a mainly male workforce publishing this would make sense due to the topical issue being the secondary focus when in reality it should be all that a reader is focused on, due to the danger being presented. By having male influence over this newspaper, more attention is on the attractive female and less on the potentially life threatening topic. Females are also attracted to this paper yet again with the Van Zoonen theory that all females adore pink. Another point that can be made, is that females are often categorised to love babies, and so Prince George having a more 3D element of the newspaper would be sweet and adorable to them, encouraging to read pages 2-5 in order to see more of the royal family.

Similarly, in the second article, the focus is drawn to the sexual appeal of the newspaper and not the issue at hand of a P.A being harassed. To attract male readers who would be the clear target demographic, 'sex toys' is placed in giant bold letters due to the stereotype being that men love everything surrounding the word sex. As well as this, a woman with exposed skin is placed to the side of the word sex, to link them together and excite the male audience so that they'll be encouraged to purchase the newspaper. Women stereotypes are also met here, with pink being used to catch their eyes as well as a giant ad for weight loss, which all women are assumed to be interested in, even if confident in their bodies; this is what makes the newspaper fit with Van Zoonen's theory. The ad itself is representative of women due to the thought of losing a stone so quickly would excite them, with the stereotype being that all women want to always lose weight. The side section about Trinny is sadly also part of sexualised women in order to sell more papers, despite her discussing that her life has fallen apart, they male dominated workforce would've cared more about getting the best shot that shows off her body in a good light to make her the most attractive.



Representation of Class

Henogomy- a way to describe people or ideas that become dominant in society (Antonio Gramsci and Stuart Hall)

Regional Identity- Where in the UK someone is from; It could refer to a general area such as the "North" or "South" (where there is a big conflict between the two) as well as towns such as "London" or "Manchester".

Archetype definition- a very typical example of a certain person or thing






Islamophobia-

Left and Right Wing in the Media

Right wing is the conservative or reactionary section of a political party or system, it is also Someone who is right-wing in politics is usually someone who supports social or economic conservatism

Left wing is a descriptive term for liberal, radical, or revolutionary political views, particularly the view that there are unacceptable social inequalities in the present order of society. Communists and socialists, as well as moderate liberals, come under the term left-wing. Left-wing groups are sometimes known collectively as the Left. 

Mind Map of Media Industry

Industry mind map from Tilugerna

Constructed Media

"Media is biased, it has an agenda"

Gay men are usually the ones to represent the LGBTQ+ community despite lesbians having also been oppressed for years. The agenda in the media is to only promote gay pride during the month of June and no where else in the year by changing the appearance of products and logos to show support. The media do not really care about these issues and just want to gain more money from the sales of white skittles. 

The media only want to show the negative sides to certain age groups and ethnicities. For example, if a riot had involved a group of teens but also a large amount of adults, the teens would be in the news being labelled as 'reckless'. However, if a teen from that riot were to tragically pass away, the media would switch their opinions and label it as a 'tragic loss' despite not caring about the child's death. 

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How do Trump and Obama's opinions towards Mexicans vary? 

Donald Trump assumes that mostly all Mexicans that cross the border are drug-slinging rapists who won't bring anything good to the USA and instead just contribute to overpopulation and unemployment. His demographic are typically middle-aged, white men with no religion who fear other ethnicities due to never being raised around them. Barack Obama however sees no issues with Mexicans and does not choose to diminish them down to their stereotypes but instead appreciates them for who they really are. His demographic are more of the ethnic minorities who would otherwise have no voice as well as young to middle aged people who understand the issues that the country face and want to make a difference; they are also mainly liberals. 

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        Media are not windows on reality or mirrors of society. They are carefully constructed products. From newspapers to nature shows, media producers actively select and construct particular images of the world.

A media literate person is aware that many decisions go into every media product, and that even the most realistic images represent someone's interpretation of reality.

Moreover a truly media literate person can produce media as well, thereby offering their own construction of reality.

When we say that all media messages are constructed, we mean that all media messages have been assembled by someone. That “someone” could be a single person, or it could be a large organisation. The messages and values embedded in this particular piece of media are those of the people who created it.

In photographs, the photographer's own vision of what she wants to show within the frame demonstrates her own values and beliefs. A newspaper writer’s articles may be based on his own beliefs, or based on the beliefs and ideologies of his publishers, or perhaps even the beliefs of the companies who advertise in that particular newspaper


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In the Daily Mail, they use a catching headline that suggests that the former prime minister is dying, which is further helped by the hopeless look on her face. However, in actuality she was just fighting to save her job due to her defeat in attempts for Brexit. The red colour suggests danger, and with the number in a red box, it makes it clear that the objective set by the daily mail is to show the public how in danger her job is due to the large number of people who are against what she wants. 

In the Daily Mirror, this red colour is used once again to highlight 'Brexit shambles' in order to make it immediately apparent to a reader that the newspaper has a negative opinion about Theresa May, which is backed up by the headline. 

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Extra conventions: short text, bright colours, celebrity gossip, informal language, address=puns, smaller than broadsheets, not serious, less detailed, paparazzi shots, big pictures

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My analysis of The Sun's front cover

 The colour of the newspaper is not in typical black and white form, but instead uses the very bold and striking colour of red to draw in possible buyers. The picture of Jeremy Corbyn is also in colour which has been done in order to make the newspaper stand out in competition with others. The main image is very controversial due to it displaying a well-known and respected man inside of a bin with very untasteful imagery of dead fish and an apple core; This has been done because the writers of The Sun have no respect for Corbyn and want to shock the public due to them being right wing while he is left wing, causing a clash between them. The copy on the front cover is very small due to The Sun wanting the main focus to be on the shock factor that comes with such an informal image that takes front and centre. The Stand First of this newspaper states that “Jeremy Corbyn would not just reverse seven years of job creation and growth under the Tories. He would chuck our country’s spectacular progress and prosperity over the last 35 YEARS in the bin.” The use of bold is efficient as it shows off just how much time and effort Corbyn would throw away, which has been done to anger a reader and get them on the right wing side. The mode of interest is extremely informal due to the pun in the headline describing Corbyn as garbage and the image portraying him in a very humiliating manor with the excessive amounts of Photoshop that have been used. The headline itself suggests that as a result of Corbyn’s potential actions, the fate of the country could get even worse than what it currently faces. The bold text of the headline is ‘Cor-bin’ which is in the biggest text visible on the front page so that a reader knows that Corbyn is losing creditability as soon as they look at the paper; the pun itself comparing his name to something that is filled with waste, hinting that his position in parliament is a waste of a chair and a party leader. The San –Serif font in this particular article is used to list the bad qualities of Jeremy Corbyn and exaggerate things to make him seem like a menace to society who needs to be removed from the labour party before he jeopardises this countries chances. Finally, the mast head of the red top tabloid is The Sun, who are well known for creating contentious headlines to appaul readers. They are also very openly right wing, which makes them not socially conscious and instead have a more reckless attitude towards what they widespread to the UK. Jeremy Corbyn is a liberal, which makes him susceptible to end up on the front of The Sun due to writers being sure to pick on any and all mistake he makes. In this case, The Sun are publicly calling Corbyn out for all of his mistakes. 

Comparison of Newspaper Articles

In these 2 articles, there is a big difference in how Jeremy Corbin is presented, with GQ wanting to make him look like a well-presented gentleman, whereas The Sun want to humiliate him. Starting with QG, they have the main image of Corbyn as well dressed in a fancy suit and tie that make him look professional so that people that buy a copy of GQ will look at him highly. The copy is speaking of him positively and complimenting what he is wearing, emphasising that he always likes to look good based on what he is wearing in the main image. The mode of address is slightly informal due to GQ calling him 'hostile' which contrasts the friendly and calm image they have of him in his picture; this is further confused with the use of bold red letters to highlight the idea of him being hostile, which could partially be seen as a compliment due to the company calling him a threat to competition when it comes to how well dressed he is. They also have Corbyn staring at the camera, to express confidence and have him as someone you look up to. 

In comparison to this very charming portrayal of Corbyn by GQ, The Sun have taken a much different approach, starting with use of the same suit; I believe this has been done to express the idea that being well dressed doesn't make you a good person, making it evident that the purpose of this paper is to expose him rather than make him look good. Corbyn is also looking away form the camera in this newspaper, to suggest that he should feel ashamed over what he has done and doesn't want to accept that he's doing everything wrong. The mode of address here is much more informal due to The Sun photoshopping Corbyn inside of a rubbish bin to insult him and give the reader the impression that he should be removed from his role in the Labour party. The imagery of the apple core and dead fish are done to belittle him and suggest that he means no more to this country than the food we throw away.