Knife crime doubles in 2 years
The Sunday Times
August 19, 2007
Colour Coded
Representation and stereotyping;
Media effects;
News Values (Statistics);
Moral Panics;
The full extent of Britain’s violent crime epidemic, which yesterday claimed the life of another teenager, is revealed in shocking new figures that show the number of street robberies involving knives has more than doubled in two years.
Attacks in which a knife was used in a successful mugging have soared, from 25,500 in 2005 to 64,000 in the year to April 2007. The figures mean that each day last year saw, on average, 175 robberies at knife-point in England and Wales – up from 110 the year before and from 69 in 2004-5.
The study, by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) at King’s College London, is based on the government’s own statistics. It shows that knives are used in one in five muggings, twice the frequency reported two years ago. The new figures will renew pressure on ministers to address the rising tide of violence and antisocial behaviour on Britain’s streets.
The surge in knife crime was highlighted yesterday when police announced a murder investigation after Andrew Holland, 16, died following a stabbing in Bolton. The teenager was awaiting his GCSE results this week and wanted to join the army, his family said.
In a separate attack, Northum-bria police charged a man after an incident on the Tyne Bridge in which a policeman was allegedly attacked with a knife.
This weekend David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said ministers had been complacent.
“This explosion in knife crime is the most astounding symptom of Britain’s broken society. The government has been slow to recognise and even slower to act to deal with this plague on the streets of our towns and cities,” said Davis.
Richard Garside, director of the CCJS, said ministers had taken the wrong approach to tackling the problem. “The government has embarked on endless law and order initiatives, yet knife-related robberies appear to be increasing, if the latest figures are to be believed,” he said.
“This challenges the notion that there is a policing or punishment solution to this problem. Success in tackling knife-related violence will require a concerted strategy to deal with the causes of violence, of which the social antagonisms caused by poverty and inequality are key.”
According to the study, to be published next month, there were 320,000 robberies in the 12 months to April 2007. That contrasts with 311,000 last year and 255,000 in 2005.
The number of knife-related muggings seems to be rising rapidly despite a spate of new laws and amnesties.
Earlier this year the government increased the penalty for carrying a knife in public from two to four years’ imprisonment. But the Tories complained that ministers, including Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, had voted against a proposed increase two years before.
Of the 820 homicides in 2005 in England and Wales, 236 – or 29% – were with a knife or other sharp instrument. Those figures showed that knives are used in 6% of all violent crimes.
Critics have accused the government of lacking a coherent strategy to tackle the problem and of resorting to knee-jerk legislative responses.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Public protection is our top priority, which is why we have recently introduced tough legislation such as increasing the maximum sentence for carrying a knife in public without good reason from two to four years.”
Ministers will hope that the latest figures are a blip rather than the reversal of a downward trend since 1995.
Enver Soloman, the CCJS’s deputy director, said there needed to be more research into the problem. “There is no doubt there are more kids carrying knives, but it’s not clear why,” he said.
“Much of it is for personal safety rather than for putting it against someone’s throat.” The new report, which analyses figures in the British Crime Survey, concludes: “Since it’s extremely difficult if not impossible to limit the availability of knives, and knives are merely a tool used in violent crime, success in fighting knife crime will only come with success in dealing with the underlying causes of violence, fear and insecurity.”
Bernard Hogan-Howe, chief constable of Merseyside, yesterday described the increase as “massive” and said police are struggling to cope with the sheer volume of alcohol-fuelled youth crime.
This article was taken from the Times newspaper, issued on the 19th August 2007. The article is about the increase in knife crime, and how the government and the police are trying their best to stiop it from continuing in the way which it is.
The way in which the piece in put across could cause a great deal of moral panic through the statistics, and various opinions broadcasted throughout the review; An example of this being: -The government has been slow to recognise and even slower to act to deal with this plague on the streets of our towns and cities,” said Davis.-. The ways in which this could cause panic are multiple, the least obvious, but most effective is the way that the government are said to be unaware of the effects of knife crime. This is important, as in this society, the government are those who make the rules and inforce changes. If they can not see what is happening on the streets, then it is almost impossible for change, or to make a stop.
Another interesting quote i found was made by Richard Garside (director of the CCJS (Center for Crime and Justice Studies) in Kings College) stating: “The government has embarked on endless law and order initiatives, yet knife-related robberies appear to be increasing, if the latest figures are to be believed,”. This shows that when the government do their part in making changes to restrict knife crime from spreading, they make it worse, and this is an obvious causer of moral panic as it shows that the goverment are in fact no more or less powerful than the public.
This can all be related into Marxism, as it shows how the public are dependant on the upper classed; or in this case the government, to make changes in society. It also reiterates the fact that us as consumers of the media, are meerly pawns in a game of chess where which the government test their rules upon, and watch down on us wen we are in trouble. As pawns, we look up to the government in the hope that they will make the right choices; us being the lower classed.
Saturday, 26 December 2009
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Xmas Task 1 on "An investigation into the medias role in generating the ongoing moral panic in Britain surrounding knife crime"
The moral panic over knife crime
There are two major problems with the current debate about knife crime. The first is that national politicians are seeking to solve what ought to be a problem for the Metropolitan Police – a number of unconnected murders, mostly in London – and misrepresenting that problem in the process as an expression of general social breakdown.
The second is that a genuine and much wider moral malaise is being discussed and interpreted through the prism of this localised crime problem, distorting the nature of that malaise.
As members of the Institute of Ideas’ Education Forum recently noted, the high profile given to knives by politicians and the national media has led to politically-motivated campaigns in schools where knife crime is simply not a problem. This strategy risks having the perverse effect of normalising and glamorising the carrying of knives (”Everyone else has got one: where’s yours?”)
In a paper published by the Institute of Ideas in 2005, sociologist Stuart Waiton coined the term ˜amoral panic’ to describe situations in which the panic is less about a perceived threat to social mores than anxiety about the absence of any moral consensus to be threatened.
Characteristically, such panics give rise to awareness campaigns and authoritarian gimmicks like curfews, rather than any attempt to address hard moral questions, which indeed often have little to do with the particular issue in the news.
The willingness of the political class to see a localised problem with knife crime as emblematic of a “broken society”, and then to offer technical fixes, is testament to a failure of the moral imagination.
Today’s politicians may be unable to resist the temptation to bundle these two very different problems together. A real moral and political lead would mean leaving knife crime to the police, and offering a political vision capable of inspiring all of us rather than keeping the kids off the streets.
There are two major problems with the current debate about knife crime. The first is that national politicians are seeking to solve what ought to be a problem for the Metropolitan Police – a number of unconnected murders, mostly in London – and misrepresenting that problem in the process as an expression of general social breakdown.
The second is that a genuine and much wider moral malaise is being discussed and interpreted through the prism of this localised crime problem, distorting the nature of that malaise.
As members of the Institute of Ideas’ Education Forum recently noted, the high profile given to knives by politicians and the national media has led to politically-motivated campaigns in schools where knife crime is simply not a problem. This strategy risks having the perverse effect of normalising and glamorising the carrying of knives (”Everyone else has got one: where’s yours?”)
In a paper published by the Institute of Ideas in 2005, sociologist Stuart Waiton coined the term ˜amoral panic’ to describe situations in which the panic is less about a perceived threat to social mores than anxiety about the absence of any moral consensus to be threatened.
Characteristically, such panics give rise to awareness campaigns and authoritarian gimmicks like curfews, rather than any attempt to address hard moral questions, which indeed often have little to do with the particular issue in the news.
The willingness of the political class to see a localised problem with knife crime as emblematic of a “broken society”, and then to offer technical fixes, is testament to a failure of the moral imagination.
Today’s politicians may be unable to resist the temptation to bundle these two very different problems together. A real moral and political lead would mean leaving knife crime to the police, and offering a political vision capable of inspiring all of us rather than keeping the kids off the streets.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Selina stokes a diversity debate that needs addressing
It will come as a surprise to few but a delight to many that Selina Scott is suing Five over ageism in its refusal to hire her for a maternity cover role and choice of younger presenters instead. It is a delight not because Five is worse than anyone else in this respect, but because it stokes a debate which urgently needs to be taken more seriously. Casual sexism, ageism and racism are the collective dirty secret of the vast majority of media institutions, and they represent as much of an industrial challenge as they do a moral one.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission's Report on Sex and Power, published last week, drew a depressing picture for women in the workplace. In general the progression of women at the highest level in the workplace is pitiful and the media are no exception: only 13.6% of national newspaper editors (including the Herald and Western Mail) are women; only 10% of media FTSE's 350 companies have women at the helm; and at the BBC, which has often been held as an exemplar of diversity, women make up less than 30% of most senior management positions. It puts into context Jeremy Paxman's deranged rant about the white male in television. Ethnic minority representation is even worse.
A couple of weeks ago Pat Younge, former BBC head of sports programmes and planning who left to work for Discovery in the US, caused a stir at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International TV Festival by saying that diversity targets should be like financial targets - you don't hit them, you get fired. I have to say that as board champion for diversity at Guardian News and Media I would currently be firing myself and most of the board for some missed targets. But Younge is right - because diversity targets are not just a feelgood add-on, they are vital to the health of any media business. The temptation to hire in one's own image for most managers is as irresistible as it is subliminal - which is why there are a lot of opinionated women working in digital management at the Guardian, and why we all need targets to remind us to look beyond the mirror.
On screen, any number of unconventional-looking ageing blokes (Jeremy Clarkson, Jonathan Ross, Chris Moyles, Alan Sugar, Adrian Chiles, Jeremy Paxman, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan) are paid at a top rate for the talent they possess beyond their appearance. For women it is an altogether different story - appearance and age are clearly factors in choosing female presenters in a way that they aren't for men.
The media should be deeply concerned about this un-diversity - not because it represents moral turpitude on our part, but because it represents bloody awful business sense. What is happening to the UK population at the moment? It is ethnically diversifying, and it is ageing. It is also the case that it is, as of the 2001 Census, marginally more female than it is male. And we live longer - so older women, and non-white potential audiences are on the rise. In London, the major urban conurbation and key market for so many media brands, the population is around 37% ethnically diverse, yet this is nowhere near reflected in the management structures of media companies. Or indeed in their on-screen or in-paper representation.
How though, can you hope to address audiences for which you have no instinctive feel, and towards which you show casual discrimination? We are all in danger of becoming irrelevant to the changing demographics of our target audience at a time when holding any kind of audience is key to survival. If white men are so good at solving business problems - and given that they represent well over 80% of FTSE 100 directors we can speculate that this is a skill they must possess in measure - then I'm surprised they haven't grasped this one already.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission's Report on Sex and Power, published last week, drew a depressing picture for women in the workplace. In general the progression of women at the highest level in the workplace is pitiful and the media are no exception: only 13.6% of national newspaper editors (including the Herald and Western Mail) are women; only 10% of media FTSE's 350 companies have women at the helm; and at the BBC, which has often been held as an exemplar of diversity, women make up less than 30% of most senior management positions. It puts into context Jeremy Paxman's deranged rant about the white male in television. Ethnic minority representation is even worse.
A couple of weeks ago Pat Younge, former BBC head of sports programmes and planning who left to work for Discovery in the US, caused a stir at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International TV Festival by saying that diversity targets should be like financial targets - you don't hit them, you get fired. I have to say that as board champion for diversity at Guardian News and Media I would currently be firing myself and most of the board for some missed targets. But Younge is right - because diversity targets are not just a feelgood add-on, they are vital to the health of any media business. The temptation to hire in one's own image for most managers is as irresistible as it is subliminal - which is why there are a lot of opinionated women working in digital management at the Guardian, and why we all need targets to remind us to look beyond the mirror.
On screen, any number of unconventional-looking ageing blokes (Jeremy Clarkson, Jonathan Ross, Chris Moyles, Alan Sugar, Adrian Chiles, Jeremy Paxman, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan) are paid at a top rate for the talent they possess beyond their appearance. For women it is an altogether different story - appearance and age are clearly factors in choosing female presenters in a way that they aren't for men.
The media should be deeply concerned about this un-diversity - not because it represents moral turpitude on our part, but because it represents bloody awful business sense. What is happening to the UK population at the moment? It is ethnically diversifying, and it is ageing. It is also the case that it is, as of the 2001 Census, marginally more female than it is male. And we live longer - so older women, and non-white potential audiences are on the rise. In London, the major urban conurbation and key market for so many media brands, the population is around 37% ethnically diverse, yet this is nowhere near reflected in the management structures of media companies. Or indeed in their on-screen or in-paper representation.
How though, can you hope to address audiences for which you have no instinctive feel, and towards which you show casual discrimination? We are all in danger of becoming irrelevant to the changing demographics of our target audience at a time when holding any kind of audience is key to survival. If white men are so good at solving business problems - and given that they represent well over 80% of FTSE 100 directors we can speculate that this is a skill they must possess in measure - then I'm surprised they haven't grasped this one already.
Coursework Title
C.I= "An investigation into the medias role in generating the ongoing moral panic in Britain surrounding black teenage males"
L.O= "To produce a two minute long opening introducing the documentary in a 'channel 4' style format"
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/batty-man
L.O= "To produce a two minute long opening introducing the documentary in a 'channel 4' style format"
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/batty-man
Friday, 20 November 2009
Konnie Huq turns seductress for HIV awareness ad
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/19/konnie-huq-hiv-awareness
The former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq appears as a seductress in a tongue-in-cheek web video ad that aims to show young people that it is OK to kiss someone with HIV.
The online ad, created by the British Red Cross, has been created in the runup to World Aids Day on 1 December.
Developed by Red Bee Media, the 60-second ad aims to tackle the prejudices that many under-25s hold about those with HIV and Aids.
The ad opens in the style of a fashion or drinks commercial with Huq sitting sexily on a bar stool, asking: "If I had HIV, what would it take to get you to kiss me?"
Huq then runs through an increasingly ridiculous set of measures, such as shaving her tongue and wearing a chemical hazard suit, as she attempts to convince viewers to agree to kiss her.
"Knowing you can't catch HIV from kissing is one thing – but when young people were asked if this was something they would actually do, the majority still said no," said Huq. "The video is a light-hearted way of challenging some of the negative assumptions people hold and hopefully forcing them to rethink."
The British Red Cross ran research among 15- to 25-year-olds that found that while 85% of young people knew that it is not possible to contract HIV from a kiss, 69% still said they would not kiss someone HIV positive.
"The video also acts as a call to action to young people to encourage them to sign up as peer educators – young people who train and teach people their own age, covering a range of humanitarian issues including HIV," said Alyson Lewis, the health and care team leader at the BRC.
The former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq appears as a seductress in a tongue-in-cheek web video ad that aims to show young people that it is OK to kiss someone with HIV.
The online ad, created by the British Red Cross, has been created in the runup to World Aids Day on 1 December.
Developed by Red Bee Media, the 60-second ad aims to tackle the prejudices that many under-25s hold about those with HIV and Aids.
The ad opens in the style of a fashion or drinks commercial with Huq sitting sexily on a bar stool, asking: "If I had HIV, what would it take to get you to kiss me?"
Huq then runs through an increasingly ridiculous set of measures, such as shaving her tongue and wearing a chemical hazard suit, as she attempts to convince viewers to agree to kiss her.
"Knowing you can't catch HIV from kissing is one thing – but when young people were asked if this was something they would actually do, the majority still said no," said Huq. "The video is a light-hearted way of challenging some of the negative assumptions people hold and hopefully forcing them to rethink."
The British Red Cross ran research among 15- to 25-year-olds that found that while 85% of young people knew that it is not possible to contract HIV from a kiss, 69% still said they would not kiss someone HIV positive.
"The video also acts as a call to action to young people to encourage them to sign up as peer educators – young people who train and teach people their own age, covering a range of humanitarian issues including HIV," said Alyson Lewis, the health and care team leader at the BRC.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Cadbury Dairy Milk ad cleared of racism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/11/cadbury-dairy-milk-cleared-racism
The advertising regulator has cleared Cadbury of racism and perpetuating colonial stereotypes of African people in its latest TV advertising campaign.
Cadbury's campaign featured Ghanaian musician Tinny and aimed to promote the chocolate brand's tie-up with the Fairtrade organisation for cocoa from the African nation for its Dairy Milk range.
The Advertising Standards Authority received 29 complaints that the TV campaign was demeaning to African people and perpetuated racial stereotypes.
However, the ASA's council has decided not to formally investigate the complaints. "Although the council acknowledges that Cadbury had used stereotypes in their ads, they felt that the stereotypes were not harmful or offensive," said the ASA, which argued that most ads use some form of stereotype device to get a age across.
Cadbury has steadfastly maintained that the company went to "considerable lengths" to ensure that the ad campaign was culturally sensitive and developed as a "joyous and uplifting portrayal of Ghanaian culture and something which Ghanaians can feel proud of".
In 2007 the ASA banned an ad for Cadbury's Trident chewing gum, which featured a black "dub poet" speaking in rhyme with a strong Caribbean accent, after more than 500 complaints that it was racist.
The advertising regulator has cleared Cadbury of racism and perpetuating colonial stereotypes of African people in its latest TV advertising campaign.
Cadbury's campaign featured Ghanaian musician Tinny and aimed to promote the chocolate brand's tie-up with the Fairtrade organisation for cocoa from the African nation for its Dairy Milk range.
The Advertising Standards Authority received 29 complaints that the TV campaign was demeaning to African people and perpetuated racial stereotypes.
However, the ASA's council has decided not to formally investigate the complaints. "Although the council acknowledges that Cadbury had used stereotypes in their ads, they felt that the stereotypes were not harmful or offensive," said the ASA, which argued that most ads use some form of stereotype device to get a age across.
Cadbury has steadfastly maintained that the company went to "considerable lengths" to ensure that the ad campaign was culturally sensitive and developed as a "joyous and uplifting portrayal of Ghanaian culture and something which Ghanaians can feel proud of".
In 2007 the ASA banned an ad for Cadbury's Trident chewing gum, which featured a black "dub poet" speaking in rhyme with a strong Caribbean accent, after more than 500 complaints that it was racist.
Monday, 16 November 2009
Relation to Different Media Representations
BBC Opinion Based
Ch Supt Jack Russell said: "I called a meeting because of serious concerns I had regarding possible trouble between rival groups who may attend the carnival.
"I believe that some groups who have been involved in the recent spate of firearms incidents could use the event to continue their disagreements.
"I want the carnival to go ahead because it wouldn't be reasonable or fair to cancel an event which not only celebrates the history of the West Indian culture but also brings together many other diverse communities in our city."
About 12,000 people are expected to attend the event.
Ch4 Opinion based
A teenager was killed in a gang-related shooting a few streets from where I live in East London. As the police cordoned off the crime scene and the TV cameras arrived, I began to wonder what separates our lives so much that while some of us can look forward to a bright future full of opportunity, others end up involved in guns, drugs and crime before they have a driving licence. In Britain, does your postcode determine your future or are teens in poorer areas just easy targets to blame? Are schools failing to inspire teens to chose another route? Why are gangs, so-called ASBO kids and 'hoodies' all so attractive to frustrated and disillusioned teens in the first place? Young people have always rebelled, but is it all getting increasingly violent? Or is the whole idea that teenagers are 'out of control' a product of media hype?
Ch Supt Jack Russell said: "I called a meeting because of serious concerns I had regarding possible trouble between rival groups who may attend the carnival.
"I believe that some groups who have been involved in the recent spate of firearms incidents could use the event to continue their disagreements.
"I want the carnival to go ahead because it wouldn't be reasonable or fair to cancel an event which not only celebrates the history of the West Indian culture but also brings together many other diverse communities in our city."
About 12,000 people are expected to attend the event.
Ch4 Opinion based
A teenager was killed in a gang-related shooting a few streets from where I live in East London. As the police cordoned off the crime scene and the TV cameras arrived, I began to wonder what separates our lives so much that while some of us can look forward to a bright future full of opportunity, others end up involved in guns, drugs and crime before they have a driving licence. In Britain, does your postcode determine your future or are teens in poorer areas just easy targets to blame? Are schools failing to inspire teens to chose another route? Why are gangs, so-called ASBO kids and 'hoodies' all so attractive to frustrated and disillusioned teens in the first place? Young people have always rebelled, but is it all getting increasingly violent? Or is the whole idea that teenagers are 'out of control' a product of media hype?
Marxism..
Marxist on Gangs
As Marxists we have to note that the material reality has a large effect on
the distance gangs usually travel down the political road. The Watts
uprising of 1965, for instance, united different gangs in their struggle
against police brutality which paved the way for a formation like the Black
Panthers which could recruit from different gangs and put aside petty
differences in favour of revolutionary struggle and unity. And the heyday
of the Black Panthers was the late 60s; no one on this list needs to be
reminded of the political climate during that time. Or more recently the
police killing of New York City resident and black man Sean Bell created a
climate where the Bloods and Crips (who are usually in a state of war with
each other) both marched together to protest police brutality in NYC.
Marxist on Gangs
As Marxists we can look at street gangs sociologically or politically.
Sociologically, Marxists favour a much more sympathetic view towards gangs
then the mainstream view, for the reasons Piercy stated. We acknowledge
that these groups are almost entirely composed of impoverished people and
are often targets of the blame game when capitalist politicians need a
scapegoat for the system and its results. As Mike Davis so brilliantly
noted in an interview he gave in the DVD 'Bastards of the Party,' if you had
39,000 union jobs in L.A. you could very well get 39,000 gang members to
leave the negative aspects of their gang lives behind. Gang leaders
pursuing reform often complain that without jobs they find it extremely
difficult to stop members from pursuing monetary gain through illicit
means.
Marxist Perspective
From the Marxist perspective, adolescent gangs are a collectivist subculture which forms as a reaction to an impoverished lifestyle and an environment lacking in intellectual stimulation, in order to share knowledge about criminalistic activities, and to share the proceeds generated from deviant behaviour.
As Marxists we have to note that the material reality has a large effect on
the distance gangs usually travel down the political road. The Watts
uprising of 1965, for instance, united different gangs in their struggle
against police brutality which paved the way for a formation like the Black
Panthers which could recruit from different gangs and put aside petty
differences in favour of revolutionary struggle and unity. And the heyday
of the Black Panthers was the late 60s; no one on this list needs to be
reminded of the political climate during that time. Or more recently the
police killing of New York City resident and black man Sean Bell created a
climate where the Bloods and Crips (who are usually in a state of war with
each other) both marched together to protest police brutality in NYC.
Marxist on Gangs
As Marxists we can look at street gangs sociologically or politically.
Sociologically, Marxists favour a much more sympathetic view towards gangs
then the mainstream view, for the reasons Piercy stated. We acknowledge
that these groups are almost entirely composed of impoverished people and
are often targets of the blame game when capitalist politicians need a
scapegoat for the system and its results. As Mike Davis so brilliantly
noted in an interview he gave in the DVD 'Bastards of the Party,' if you had
39,000 union jobs in L.A. you could very well get 39,000 gang members to
leave the negative aspects of their gang lives behind. Gang leaders
pursuing reform often complain that without jobs they find it extremely
difficult to stop members from pursuing monetary gain through illicit
means.
Marxist Perspective
From the Marxist perspective, adolescent gangs are a collectivist subculture which forms as a reaction to an impoverished lifestyle and an environment lacking in intellectual stimulation, in order to share knowledge about criminalistic activities, and to share the proceeds generated from deviant behaviour.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
To what extent is the media to blame for the raise in moral panic in Britain surrounding Black Male Teens
Media Language and Institutions..
I will use media language relevant to the text i am studying. The reference point for my production will be the BBC documentary "MAX: Black Britain".I will be focusing on looking at BBC, and Channel 4 as they have a tendancy to feature the same shows as i wish to. With this i will cast an eye on the clothes which are stereotypically found amongst young black boys.
Narratives..
There are no real narratives, however we can talk about the ways in which the interviewee will be addressed etc.
Genre..
The genre of my piece will be drama-documentared, as it will show the real life conventions of the black 'gangtser life' and the successful working black mans life. I will be studying moving image adverts, and still images such as posters for example.
Ideologies..
I will be addressing the stereotypes of young black people, and investigating whether the media could be partly to blaim for the image put across about them. My research is a radio clip talking about the successes of Black peaople in britain, and how the had originiated to the country. I believe strongly that taking the problem or investigation back to its source can help to reach conclusions.
Audience..
My main audience would obviously be black people, but this isn't a race war, so any other ethnic group will also be accepted as an audience. The secondary audience however would be males, as this is surrounding them also.
Historical values..
Ways in which my prodution can be deemed as historical, is through its relationship and influence from the past. This is through the slave trade, and through the migration and settlization of black people in britain. Also how does this affect the standards of life in which they live when they grow up... And why do teens not strive to get out of this stereotype? Is media really to blaim?
Social issues..
My production is related to social issues, as this is an ongoing moral panic, which is affecting Britain as wide scale. I will take research from http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=267 Which is a table of racially related crimes. This shows that white people are at the least attacted (pre 2000).
Economic..
The ways in which black youths are going to be at the bottom of the class system in terms of wealth (relation to Marx's theory). The stereotype of feeling the need to steal etc in order to earn money.
Political..
Talks about the ways in which Black youth crime may be sensationalised undercoverly through newspapers and other texts. An example being the amount of stabbings on an increase, and the ongoing conferences about how to reduce these levels of crime. Additionally, how this may have a negative affect on their social image.
"This study fits into the contemporary media landscape because it looks at the effect of stereotypes and Marxism in life, and the affects it may have in society".
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
What is the Guardian 100 and who are the panellists who create it?
The media guardian 100 are the top 100 symbolic figures in the media industry. They are judged on three main criterias: their cultural, economic and political influence in the UK.
The media guardian 100 are the top 100 symbolic figures in the media industry. They are judged on three main criterias: their cultural, economic and political influence in the UK.
The panellists are Peter Barron, Peter Bennett-Jones, Brent Hoberman, Tessa Jowell, Siobhan Kenny, Andrew Neil, Trevor Phillips, Chris Powell, Janine Gibson, Jane Martinson
There are 15 women in the top 100
The women and their roles are..
Jane Tranter - Controller of fiction, BBC
Lesley Douglas - Controller, BBC Radio 2 and 6Music, BBC popular music
Jana Bennett - Director of vision, BBC
Helen Boaden - Director, BBC news
Dame Marjorie Scardino - Chief executive, Pearson :publishing, digital media
Elisabeth Murdoch - Chairman and chief executive, Shine Group : broadcasting
Rebekah Wade - Editor, the Sun
Carolyn McCall - Chief executive, Guardian Media Group
Arianna Huffington - Founder, editor-in-chief, Huffington Post
Veronica Wadley - Editor, London Evening Standard
Katie Price - Reality TV star, author
The percentage of the list that are women is 15.
How would you assess the balance of power in this list and why do you think it is this way?
"I believe that the balance of women in power compared to men is inadequate, and doesn't reflect the overall achievements or capabilities of women".
Friday, 9 October 2009
FLIGHTPLANFlightplan is a movie which is directed by Robert Schwentke, and produced by Brian Grazer. It hosts Jodie Foster playing Kyle Pratt as the leading character, in a film about a woman who loses her husband after he falls from a building. She is summoned to Long Island by plane with her daughter in order to bury her husband; however her trip takes a turn for the worst when her daughter is kidnapped, and all documentary statements proving she was a passenger on the plane have been erased. Background information on Jodie Foster shows that she is known for being an actress who likes to put herself into the spotlight by starring in hard-hitting memorable films; the most well known being Silence of the Lambs, where she played Clarice Starling, and the Accused (A film about her being abused and raped 1988) where she had won her 1st academy award.
The film was made in 2005, which is important as this was a time-period where which females felt they belonged and that there was no real segregation through work pay etc. In this movie, Kyle Pratt is made out to be insane and told that her child never boarded the plane. Throughout many scenes, her madness is reiterated through camera angles, such as that taken when she is talking to the captain of the plane. In this scene we see a 360 degree shot where she is depicted as a mad woman as most of the people in the room were men, and were looking at her madly; in relation to this, the two women in the room were also looking at her madly which could emphasise a point of women being groomed into a man’s sidekick. This shows that post modernist feminism exists as it shows the theory of everyone being against her, and her having to survive and fend for herself.
This film is patriarchal, but the stereotype is questionable, as she dominates the film. Although she is being helped by a male police officer, it is obvious that the crew still don’t believe anything she says. This is because through normalisation, people are taught, or brought up usually thinking and believing that men are the most constructive force, and that women are merely ‘offspring’ who have no say in situations unless there is a male voice of approval.
There is a scene in the film where the Kyle sends across the message that she is mad, in order to draw less attention to herself. This is shown when the psychiatrist is seen speaking to her and she breathes into the window, and sees the heart which her daughter drew on the window hours before. This can show us that the only way females in the film, and reflected in society, can make their voice heard is by going along with the male voice, and having a male to back up their situation. Concluding this with the point of females never actually being equal to men, they are in fact more subordinate.
Monday, 28 September 2009
Final Destination 3 Presentation Evaluation..
WWW:
Very good links
Was simple and effective
Limited Text
Well selected images
Some media terminology
Spoke about Villain
Spoke about User Generated content.
EBI:
Slow down the pace of the presentation
Link the characters to Proppian roles
More on genre conventions
Use other cases to back up presentation.
Significance: 3
Structure: 3
Simplicity: 2
Rehersal: 3
Overall: 11
Very good links
Was simple and effective
Limited Text
Well selected images
Some media terminology
Spoke about Villain
Spoke about User Generated content.
EBI:
Slow down the pace of the presentation
Link the characters to Proppian roles
More on genre conventions
Use other cases to back up presentation.
Significance: 3
Structure: 3
Simplicity: 2
Rehersal: 3
Overall: 11
Monday, 21 September 2009
BBC review on Final Destination 3
Combustion, mutilation and decapitation are only slightly more painful than watching Final Destination 3. After a successful first instalment, writer/director James Wong returns to the helm and proves that this horror franchise really has nowhere left to go. Again fate pursues a class of cocky teenagers with pranks in the vein of Tom & Jerry - only bloodier and less scary. But the real tragedy is that promising young actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead must endure this torture.
She plays Wendy, a "control-freak" who has a vision of dying with her schoolmates in a roller-coaster crash. She ditches the ride and persuades some to leave with her, but most perish in an impressively staged, adrenalin-pumping sequence. Unfortunately, it’s the only highlight as the action rapidly descends into a monotonous series of absurd accidents, which, just as in the first two films, claim the lives of the survivors in the order they would have died in the crash. Of course Wendy is last in line.
"AN ORGY OF CHEERFUL CARNAGE"
Once more, Wong raises questions of fate and predestination and, while throwing in a tasteless reference to 9/11, fails to address them. It’s an orgy of cheerful carnage with no context or purpose and, worst of all, no suspense. Instead of inspiring fear, the lingering close-ups on misplaced tools and faulty electrical wiring, have the feeling of a cheesy public information video. Then again, a convincing sense of peril is hard to achieve with characters so weakly drawn. Ultimately you will be left with a pointed sense of your own mortality, but for all the wrong reasons. Life is too short...
She plays Wendy, a "control-freak" who has a vision of dying with her schoolmates in a roller-coaster crash. She ditches the ride and persuades some to leave with her, but most perish in an impressively staged, adrenalin-pumping sequence. Unfortunately, it’s the only highlight as the action rapidly descends into a monotonous series of absurd accidents, which, just as in the first two films, claim the lives of the survivors in the order they would have died in the crash. Of course Wendy is last in line.
"AN ORGY OF CHEERFUL CARNAGE"
Once more, Wong raises questions of fate and predestination and, while throwing in a tasteless reference to 9/11, fails to address them. It’s an orgy of cheerful carnage with no context or purpose and, worst of all, no suspense. Instead of inspiring fear, the lingering close-ups on misplaced tools and faulty electrical wiring, have the feeling of a cheesy public information video. Then again, a convincing sense of peril is hard to achieve with characters so weakly drawn. Ultimately you will be left with a pointed sense of your own mortality, but for all the wrong reasons. Life is too short...
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Research from gaurdian on Final Destination 3
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/110587/final.destination.3
Philip French
I couldn't print screen the image from the website so i pasted the link instead. In a nutshell, the gaurtian website basically states that the film is funny, but still gory and enjoyable. This review was contributed by Philip French, and Peter Bradshaw. It includes a summary of the film, and was rated 3 out of 5 stars overall.
The winner
Evidence that 3D can be just as potent for live-action as it's already proved in animation arrives with the opening weekend results for The Final Destination. Kind of a sequel, kind of a franchise reboot, the film opened with £3.63m over the weekend, and £4.6m including takings on bank holiday Monday. 3D accounted for 80% of that tally, despite playing in the format on fewer screens than those projecting it in 2D. The Final Destination is by far the biggest opening for a live-action film in 3D, beating Journey to the Center of the Earth (£954,000 debut) and My Bloody Valentine (£1.34m), as well as the live-action/digital hybrid G-Force (£2.48m).
The Final Destination Production year: 2009 Country: USA Cert (UK): 15 Runtime: 81 mins Directors: David R Ellis Cast: Bobby Campo, Haley Webb, Jenna Craig, Krista Allen, Mykelti Williamson, Nick Zano, Shantel VanSanten, Stephanie Honore More on this film The Final Destination's three-day 3D tally of £2.91m is not far behind the record-breaking opening haul achieved in the format by Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: £3.18m. However, the film has a long way to go to match Ice Age's lifetime total – the family-friendly hit has so far grossed just shy of £18m in 3D (and £16m in 2D).
The latest Final Destination is convincingly ahead of previous installments of the gory-accidents franchise: the original film opened in 2000 on £1.5m, the sequel three years later on £1.68m.
Philip French
I couldn't print screen the image from the website so i pasted the link instead. In a nutshell, the gaurtian website basically states that the film is funny, but still gory and enjoyable. This review was contributed by Philip French, and Peter Bradshaw. It includes a summary of the film, and was rated 3 out of 5 stars overall.
The winner
Evidence that 3D can be just as potent for live-action as it's already proved in animation arrives with the opening weekend results for The Final Destination. Kind of a sequel, kind of a franchise reboot, the film opened with £3.63m over the weekend, and £4.6m including takings on bank holiday Monday. 3D accounted for 80% of that tally, despite playing in the format on fewer screens than those projecting it in 2D. The Final Destination is by far the biggest opening for a live-action film in 3D, beating Journey to the Center of the Earth (£954,000 debut) and My Bloody Valentine (£1.34m), as well as the live-action/digital hybrid G-Force (£2.48m).
The Final Destination Production year: 2009 Country: USA Cert (UK): 15 Runtime: 81 mins Directors: David R Ellis Cast: Bobby Campo, Haley Webb, Jenna Craig, Krista Allen, Mykelti Williamson, Nick Zano, Shantel VanSanten, Stephanie Honore More on this film The Final Destination's three-day 3D tally of £2.91m is not far behind the record-breaking opening haul achieved in the format by Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: £3.18m. However, the film has a long way to go to match Ice Age's lifetime total – the family-friendly hit has so far grossed just shy of £18m in 3D (and £16m in 2D).
The latest Final Destination is convincingly ahead of previous installments of the gory-accidents franchise: the original film opened in 2000 on £1.5m, the sequel three years later on £1.68m.
Thursday, 10 September 2009
MEST 4: Research & Production
Media Representations:- (The Final Destination)
Who is being represented?
Students are being represented throughout the film, reiterating their young minds in some cases.
In what way?
They do this by putting themselves in vulnerable situations such as that shown on the left. in this situation, she has stumbled backwards against a wall in an uncomleted building, after knowing that her death involved constuction tools.
Who is being represented?
Students are being represented throughout the film, reiterating their young minds in some cases.
In what way?
They do this by putting themselves in vulnerable situations such as that shown on the left. in this situation, she has stumbled backwards against a wall in an uncomleted building, after knowing that her death involved constuction tools.
By whom?
According to the movie, all incidents are created or caused by death itself, or the person who actually gets killed being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Why is the subject being represented in this way?
I believe the subject is being represented this way to follow the stereotypes surrounding the 'know it all teen'.
Is the representation fair and accurate?
The representation of teens are sensationalised but captured relitively well. By this I mean that the overall teenage mentality of knowing everything and not taking heed to ones advice, eventually results in getting themselves into trouble. The below clip shows the warning given by the premonisionist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyYGmC3pmm8
What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?
I think that the opportunities existant to the subject are that they can do as teens do, meaning, they can act, talk , and behave as teenagers do.
Media Languages and Forms
What are the denotative and connotative levels of meaning?
The meaning of the film is that there are several warnings given to us in life, and it is up to us to take action and with that, take control of a potentially harmful situation.
What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
The text is significant as it uses the right type of characters; the characters are all at age where they care more about themselves than of the well-being of others.
What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?
Clothing is normal, obviously not the expensive sophisticated clothing seen on the backs of the upper-classed, but nonetheless, they aren't skimpy. Speech used throughout the film is normal from teenages also, as they swear more frequently in sentences.
What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings?
The mise-en-scene is important as it is parallel to the storyline, likewise the set. The setting is important also as it allows time for the viewer to build suspence as they know something is bound to happen.
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