1. KQ: Does the mass media represent a true picture of society?
27 November 2018
KQ: Does the mass media represent a true picture of society?
Starter: Is it OK for the bad guys to get away with it in films and television programmes?
How much of your identity do you think is connected to the media? Why?
If you saw a celebrity who you admired doing something that you thought was wrong, how would you react?
TIF: Which group in society do you think is most influenced by the media? Why?

2. Direct and Indirect Control
The media has a direct and an indirect control on people’s behaviour.
For example, an advertisement for a new brand of jeans, in which the trousers are described as ‘cool and youthful’, is a case of direct control.
Equally, the fact that male newsreaders tend to be older and female newsreaders tend to be younger is an example of indirect control.

3. Think back over all the media you have used in the past week.
Discuss this with your partner and try to come up with five examples of direct control and five examples of indirect control in two spider diagrams.
TIF: How might people resist the direct and indirect control of the media? What examples can you think of?

4. The media as an agent of informal social control
The media is an agent of informal social control. Here are some of the ways it affects our behaviour:
Showing underlying values of what is good
Demonising the undesirable (demonising = making them out to be bad)
Showing consequences for actions (e.g. good guy always wins)
Socialising through desirable norms and values
Showing role models
You’re the director!
In your group, come up with an idea for a television episode covering at least one of the above methods of social control.
TIF: Can you include all of them in your plan?

5. How are the following subcultures represented in the media?
Black people
Christians
Women
Elderly
Teenagers
Asians
Upper class people

6. Media Content Analysis Which soap would you like to analyse?
Eastenders Coronation Street Hollyoaks
You need to choose three areas to focus on in your content analysis:
Gender norms and identity - Age norms and identity
Class norms and identity - Public/Private norms
Ethnicity norms and identity - Family norms and roles
Norms and roles in different locations:
Pub, Businesses, Outdoor spaces, Homes
Use Iplayer or ITVPlayer to show students an episode of the soap.

7. Content Analysis Write-Up
Are the norms, identities, roles and values similar to your own? How are they similar and how are they different?
Most episodes of soaps are watched by between five and fifteen million people. Do you think soaps reflect society, or do you think they help to make society?
TIF: Do you believe writers and directors should have to follow rules about what can and cannot go into TV programmes? Why?

8. Reciprocal Reading pp.118-221

9. Media representations of Black people
This is a very important area of study when we look at how groups of people are represented in the media.
We will be looking at how realistically the media shows people from Black and Ethnic minority backgrounds.

10. In the past...
In the 1950’s,60’s and 70’s black people were often not shown on TV or in film. They did not work on the News or present radio programmes.
The times they were shown on TV they were often STEREOTYPED in a negative way.
They were shown to be CRIMINALS or shown only to be SINGERS,DANCERS,SPORTS PEOPLE or MUSICANS

11. In the 50’s

12. The 1960’s and 70’s
News simplified race issues or reported them negatively.
In Britain they were associated with CRIME,CONFLICT and RIOTS
The news tended to over-report issues of Famine and poverty in Africa and Asia.
COTTLE(1994) argues that news is the real problem of racism in the UK

13. The Cosby show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGuV6i5hGFk
Abercrombie(1996) believes that it changed in the 1990’s when black actors played normal roles in soaps such as the Cosby show.

14. Fresh Prince of Bell Air
Challenged stereotypes but dealt with stereotypes that people held such as black fathers being absent
Class and opportunities

15. Bend it like Beckham http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bwVgfhilM8
Challenged stereotypes about women and Asian women whilst looking at Asian families, to show us a picture of modern Asian families in the 1990’s

16. Does the media represents non-white people honestly and fairly today?
Should the government pass laws to ensure everybody is fairly represented in the media?
Does the media represents non-white people honestly and fairly today?
Is it ever right to present a biased view of a group of people?

17. How might you connect one or more of these pictures to what we have learnt today?

18. Homework Create a quiz based on what we have learnt today. You must:
Cover all areas covered
Include at least 10 questions
Make your questions challenging but achievable!
Have a separate answer sheet
Due Monday 26th January