lesson 17 - social classes
DESCRIPTION
AS Media, Representation, MS1, Social ClassesTRANSCRIPT
Representation of Social Classes
Social Classes?
How many social classes are there?
How would you describe them?
Working class
Presented in the stereotypical context of traditional working class communities such Eastenders and Corrie, Shameless
Community values often praised but do not reflect reality,
Working class communities have declined with the collapse of traditional industries such as coal mining,
Often presented in the context of trouble, undesirable welfare scroungers, unable to cope with their delinquent children.
Upper class
Mainly done through the coverage of the monarchy,
Seen as well bred and cultured, Represented through their accents,
estates, and a taste for shooting and hunting,
Usually represented in costume and period drama.
Mass media representations of social classes rarely focus on the social tensions or class conflict that some critical sociologists see as underpinning society.
Representations of the monarchy
Contemporary media coverage of the monarchy has focused positively on every trivial detail of their lives, turning the Queen and her family into an on-going soap opera, but with a glamour and mystique far greater than any other media personality.
Furthermore, mass media representations of the Queen are also aimed at reinforcing a sense of national identity, in that she is portrayed as the ultimate symbol of the nation. Consequently, the media regards royal events, such as weddings and funerals, as national events.
Representations of the upper class and wealth
Mass media representations of social class tend to celebrate hierarchy and wealth. Those who benefit from these processes, i.e. the monarchy, the upper class and the very wealthy, generally receive a positive press as celebrities who are somehow deserving of their position.
The British mass media hardly ever portray the upper classes in a critical light, nor do they often draw any serious attention to inequalities in wealth and pay or the overrepresentation of public-school products in positions of power.
(1) the Hon. Edward Sebastian Grigg, the heir to Baron Altrincham of Tormarton and current chairman of Credit Suisse (UK)(2) David Cameron(3) Ralph Perry Robinson, a former child actor, designer, furniture-maker(4) Ewen Fergusson, son of the British ambassador to France, Sir Ewen Fergusson and now at City law firm Herbert Smith(5) Matthew Benson, the heir to the Earldom of Wemyss and March(6) Sebastian James, the son of Lord Northbourne, a major landowner in Kent(7) Jonathan Ford, the-then president of the club, a banker with Morgan Grenfell(8) Boris Johnson, the-then president of the Oxford Union, now Lord Mayor of London9) Harry Eastwood, the investment fund consultant
The media focus very positively on the concerns of the wealthy and the privileged. The media over-focuses on consumer items such as luxury cars, costly holiday spots and fashion accessories that only the wealthy can afford
There is also an enormous amount of print and broadcast media dedicated to daily business news and stock market quotations, despite the fact that few people in Britain own stocks and shares.
Representations of the middle classes
Four broad sociological observations can be made with regard to mass media representations of the middle classes.
The middle class are over-represented on TV dramas and situation comedies.
Part of the British newspaper market is specifically aimed at the middle classes and their consumption, tastes and interests, e.g. the Daily Mail.
The content of newspapers such as The Daily Mail suggests that journalists believe that the middle classes of middle England are generally anxious about the decline of moral standards in society and that they are proud of their British identity and heritage.
It is assumed that their readership feels threatened by alien influences such as the Euro, asylum seekers and terrorism.
Consequently, newspapers, such as the Daily Mail, often crusade on behalf of the middle classes and initiate moral panics on issues such as video nasties, paedophilia and asylum seekers.
Most of the creative personnel in the media are themselves middle class.
In news and current affairs, the middle classes dominate positions of authority – the ‘expert’ is invariably middle class.
Representations of the working class
When news organisations focus on the working class, it is generally to label them as a problem, e.g. as welfare cheats, drug addicts or criminals.
Working class groups, e.g. youth sub-cultures such as mods or skinheads, are often the subject of moral panics, whilst reporting of issues such as poverty, unemployment or single-parent families often suggests that personal inadequacy is the main cause of these social problems, rather than government policies or poor business practices.
Studies of industrial relations reporting by the Glasgow University Media Group suggest that the media portray ‘unreasonable’ workers as making trouble for ‘reasonable’ employers.
Newspapers aimed at working class audiences assume that they are uninterested in serious analysis of either the political or social organisation of British society. Political debate is often reduced simplistically to conflict between personalities
The content of newspapers such as The Sun and the Daily Star assumes that such audiences want to read about celebrity gossip and lifestyles, trivial human interest stories and sport.
Newman (2006) Argues that the tabloid media dedicate
a great deal of their content to examining the lives of another section of the wealthy elite,
This dedication invites the audiences to admire the achievements of these celebrities,
Media over focuses on consumer items such as luxury cars, costly holiday spots and fashion accessories
Chav
What does this term mean to you?
Lawler (2005) Chav is used as a term of disgust and
contempt, Argues that the media use the discriminatory
and offensive language to vilify what they depict as a peasant underclass symbolised by stereotypical forms of appearance,
Swale (2006) – usage of the term NEET (Not in Employment Education or Training),
Some suggest that those from the underclass are responsible for their own poverty. (Daybreak)
Representations of poverty
When the news media turn their attention to the most destitute, the portrayals are often negative or stereotypical. Often, the poor are portrayed in statistical rather than in human terms by news bulletins that focus on the numbers unemployed or on benefits, rather than the individual suffering and personal indignities of poverty
McKendrick et al. (2008) studied a week’s output of mainstream media in 2007 and concluded that coverage of poverty is marginal in British media, in that the causes and consequences of poverty were very rarely explored across the news, documentaries or drama
Dramas such as Shameless presented a sanitised picture of poverty, despite featuring characters who were economically deprived,
Family issue-based programmes such as The Jeremy Kyle Show treated poverty as an aspect of entertainment.
Cohen (2009)
Argues that the UK mass media was so concerned about trumpeting the good fortune of British capitalism that it paid less attention to its casualties
Marxism
Marxists argue that the content of newspapers such as The Sun and The Daily Star is an attempt to distract the working class audiences from the inequalities of capitalism.
H/W: How Has Social class been represented in the following ‘Street’ Extract on the next slide? Due Monday
Use a micro analysis grid to make as you watch:
Mise- En Scene Cinematography
Sound Editing
