Collective Identity Media Script

Collective Identity is about how identity is represented in the media, whether that be new media or traditional media forms. We can see a change in the way different identities are represented over time through Film and Television media forms.

A past example of British male representation is the 1966 film Alfie. The film stars Michael Caine as Alfie, a young man who leads a promiscuous lifestyle until some life reversals make him rethink his purposes and goals in life. The director and writer obviously aimed to target cultural issues of the time,  after the Second World War people began to live more prosperous lifestyles and felt more freedom in their lifestyles. Alfie is an obvious example of this, he completely contrasts with the more traditional male stereotype in almost everything he does, causing the audience to believe in a more traditional attitude to aspects such as gender, status and abortion laws.

Later on in the film, Alfie is forced to change his attitude towards women as another naive young women, Annie, tries to do everything she can to please Alfie. However we becomes flippant with her, after telling her than he doesn't appreciate having the same type of food over and over again. This results in the first rebellion from a women against Alfie, as she packs her stuff and leaves without any command - this could be seen as a real turning point in Alfie's character.

Media Theorist David Gauntlett would suggest that “Media has a role in thinking about identity because media productions enable us to think about life through frames and narratives. These narratives have turning points and themes which we can reflect on life with.”

Another example of British male representation is through TV show "Life on Mars". After being hit by a car in 2006, Sam Tyler awakes in 1973 and finds himself working for his predecessor  at the same station and location as 2006. This contemporary production show the importance of power in Western society, we learn that Sam Tyler represents a very fast-paced, modern lifestyle who could stereotypically have an obsession with monetary value. Also Tyler awakes as a Detective Inspector, one rank lower than his 2006 rank of Detective Chief Inspector. Throughout both series Tyler appears confused about whether he has died, gone mad, in coma or has actually travelled back in time. From the audience's perspective it doesn't really matter how Tyler is now in 1973, it educates us all on how far equality has come, and the value of both men and women.

A key scene is where Sam tries to bring in the women officer when they are discussing a case, as she has a professional advantage with a Psychological degree. The was of-course quite controversial for the 1973 police officers, making it clear to our modern day audience how wrong their attitudes to equality and status were.

Tyrannosaur is our modern day example, the film completely destroys any male stereotypes we had before. The main character, Joseph, a lower class man suffering from depression after his wife's death, appears more violent and troubled. However, the film proves that our preconceptions of people are completely wrong. Infact Hannah, a Christian charity-shop worker, is the one who murders her own husband after being continually mistreated and abused. This is a huge shock for the audience, which is perhaps the aim of the director, causing us to realize that stereotypes are very misleading. Therefore, David Gauntlett's theory that we are all forced to choice an identity is also wrong as Tyrannosaur proves that we don't attempt to fit media stereotypes and often can contrast with these dramatically.

Looking to the future, it will be very difficult for media to represent anyone with the use of a stereotype. Although is it clear that we are gradually beginning to address issues of equality and gender through media, which can only be a good thing.

Online Identity

After watching the documentary "Catfish" directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, we are now able to discuss some issues related to social networking and online identity.

What issues does this film raise about online identity?
Anyone can effectively create a fake persona online. There is a large amount of freedom and very little regulation of the content that we create, or the things that we say. The documentary addresses the dangers of getting too involved with an online relationship, especially when you've never met the other person in real life.

Do you think that social networks alter the values of authentic experience?
Much of an experience or relationship can be created on social networks, for example, the conversation element. Howevere, nothing can replace the real physical relationships and experiencing something first-hand. It is hard to distinguish a real person from a fake through text conversations, showing that we are far to easy to accept an indentity without a voice or a face.

Do you think social networks can affect the representation of individual identity?
The real identity and the online identity are two separate things. It is much easier to assume or add things to our online identity, which we also subconsciously do to get more attention of appear popular, as there is no regulation of our 'true' identity. We can use multiple social networks to be become a deeper, more rounded personality/presence online.

How do social networks encourage participatory culture?
Social networks work in a viral or participatory sense, meaning that family and friends online are all encouraged to respond to each others posts. This also leads to large, and very public community or shared personal information. Features such as statuses, suggested friends, comments, 'liking' and retweeting cause everyone to have knowledge of something. The freedom of this participatory culture is almost based on gossip or rumour.

Participatory Culture - Henry Jenkins

The Internet enables us to

1) expand communities

2) extend opportunities

3) exchange knowledge across limitless geographical boundaries

Note - Not all countries have access to the same information which we do

- is culture diverse? - YouTube is predominately used by white middle class males ged 20-30 from america

What are the positives of participatory culture and why has it come about. (Points from the video)

• Everyone is a producer of media as well as a consumer.
• Technology amplifies Culture - we are the ones that demand technology advances.
• "Not everyone knows everything but everyone knows something".
• Participators interacting with other people's products.
•  The level of capacity to process information to 2nd nature to the young.
• If content is not openly available, people will steal it.

This links to our study because of the way people can participate using media, they can share media which they have made and enjoyed. People can share a YouTube video on facebook and this relates to their identity because they are showing their interests.

How are identities are being constantly being mediated?

Characters in Television and Films are constantly being mediated and being portrayed as archetypes rather than unique characters which go against the common character conventions portrayed in different genres.
The Character 'Gene Hunt' in 'Life on Mars' is portrayed as the ruthless cop. 'Life on Mars' is set in the mid 1970s and therefore the character archetypes which we would expect would be different to our modern day archetypes. Reflecting back on the past often means that we expect the stereotypical archetypes such as 'The ruthless cop' rather than a more common and accurate portrayal of a 1970s cop.

However the Character 'Alfie' is not mediated in the same way, as of the time. Alfie represented a new archetype in cinema because of the changing attitudes and ideas, to relationships and marriage, which came about in the 1960s. This archetype would have been uncommon as this type of male archetype would not have been widely representative of the male gender. Although this was new archetype in it's era, modern day audiences have viewed this archetype in many different forms since the film was created. i.e. James Bond represents a similar archetype, who does not care about relationships - therefore this has now become a mediated archetype.

Portrayal of social class has changed since the 1960s, nowadays the working class has been more widely represented in different forms of media. in Tyrannosaur we see a common modern day archetype being portrayed. This archetype is of a unemployed working class male. We see 'Joseph' as a un-employed, alchoholic and violent. the mise-en scene portrays him as working class because of the clothes he wears such as the tracksuit which he wears. this costume is synonymous with working class and 'chav' lifestyle. which is a often archetype of modern media.

Media and Collective Identity Questions

What collective does your example illustrate?
Through our three examples Alfie, Life on Mars and Tyrannosaur we represent a range of different British male identities over time. In Alfie we follow the main character, a young Londoner and stereotypical Casanova. He soon sees the flaws in his lifestyle, and consequences that his dominance, and mistreatment has on the women involved. By the end of the film we hope to Alfie in a better moral state, has he realises that what his previous actions are morally wrong.

In Life on Mars we follow another male character, Sam, who is involved in a car accident resulting in being transported back in time. The TV show clearly shows the opposition between current and past morals and beliefs, again particularly towards women, perhaps highlighting how far things have really come.

The final example is Tyrannosaur is set in the modern-day, as well as highlighting the issues between men and women, and within some marriages, it more obviously targets class and religion as big themes. A violent man, Joseph, confides in religious charity shop worker Hannah who has equally troubling problems of her own. In this example, we are able to see male identity in a weaker role, where the character does not have power or much money - this being an attempt from the director to highlight these common class conflicts.

How has the representation of that group changed over time? What examples do you have to support this claim?
Through these examples we have found that men and women have become increasingly more equal. The issues of sexism and gender have now been replaced with ones of class struggle, and the insignificance of the lower classes over higher classes. However it is always clear that conflict in these examples occurs due to some sort of power struggle.

In Alfie his dominance over the women allows him to have a very free lifestyle, but his soon realises that his modern principles are not in the best interests of others around him. Life on Mars ofcourse gives the male detectives more important roles in the policing system, with women's ideas (which could be equally relevant) labelled as skeptical or not worthy of listening too. Finally, Tyrannosaur we still see the stereotypical agression of male identity, but Joseph proves that male character can be just has helpless as female character - simply in different ways. The modern film puts our faith in the generosity of humanity, proving that stereotypes need to be ignored.

What are the advantages to representing this collective in this way?
The advantage of representing Alfie as free and non-caring or emotionless male, is that the director can easily combat current issues (1966) of cheating and 'sleeping around' which of-course result in abortion etc. Here the director/writer arguably supports a more traditional male identity - one that get's married, and works hard for the family, who is concerned about the house and finance - this simply being the welfare of others around them, particularly women.

In Life on Mars male identity is shown as contrasting, for the modern day audience it is a realization as to how much equality has changed and how far humanity has a whole has come. It illustrates that the world, and British workers, have become very obsessed with speed and detail, perhaps trying to create a realization of the culture that we have lost.

Tyrannosaur is the most intense of all three productions. It's clear advantage being that the British male, Joseph, is a character that we begin by not liking for killing the dog and for his attitudes towards life. However, as the story progresses Joseph comes more forgiving, and it proves that our preconceptions of the modern-day lower class stereotypes are in-fact very wrong. The film is intense and depressing, but it highlights the harsh realities of our society, which of-course have a place to be addressed. The treatment of women is also addressed, with the other character Hannah suffering from rape and abuse - again it crushes our stereotypes of a stable British marriage.


How can you express your identity in the world?
Through these productions we are able to see a range of elements in life which create our identity, almost everything we do gives us a label or places us in a specific stereotype. For example, in Alfie the London culture, the accent, the Casanova attitude to life, and his treatment of women. In Life on Mars we could additionally see Sam's career as a police man, and his modern-day attitudes as having an effect on his identity. Tyrannosuar of-course specifically highlights class, religion and marriage as elements which enable us to express who we are. From our own knowledge we can see that money, clothing, sexuality, ethnicity, race and gender are some basic elements which give a sense of identity to an individual.

What barriers are there to expression, what facilities are there to express identity?

There are subconscious barriers, for example, on social networking websites you choose to represent parts of your identity rather than who you are in reality.

Tyrannosaur

Tyrannosuar represents a different type of identity for British males. We follow the main character, Joseph, an unemployed widower with a drinking problem, who also suffers with continual rage and violence. After meeting Hannah, a religious charity shop worker, he attempts to turn his life around with her assistance and advice. However, we find that Hannah also has a problem of her own, she is a victim of abuse in her marriage and it is slowly destroying her too. There is a transition in the film as Hannah begins by taking pity on Joseph, but soon Joseph finds that he needs to help Hannah instead. As a whole the film has deep religious connotations and proves that abuse and domination of men is still a problem in the 21st century.

One key scene would be the Joseph's second visit to the charity shop. Joseph talks with Hannah, and brings a sense of realisation to her life, and perhaps the audience as well - that the world is not as nice, and easy as we would all like to think. There are clear class issues that Joseph highlights in his dialogue, representing himself as a symbol of harsh realities.

Another key scene could be the funeral, where Hannah realises that these lower class people are perhaps even more forgiving, and community-like her Christian friends, her family and even her family. This is a definate social comment, and proves that we all too easily stereotype the lower class like Joseph. There is also religious connotations, with the writer questioning how God could create evil in the world, and how women could suffer from such sexual depravity.

Life on Mars

We watched the first episode of Life on Mars which was a good example of both the present and past worlds which the narrative follows. Below are some notes on male identity.

• There is one female police officer in the past world, but she doesn't do many police-related tasks. However, Sam can't understand why she is mistreated and not used even though she has a psychological degree. The male identity of the past would have looked down on this, it was controversial and skeptical to treat women this way and put faith in them.
• In the future, there is also one women police officer, she is mistreated (although this is not common) and dropped from the case. This results in her kidnap. It could be argued that Sam's mistreatment of the female officer is the reason for her kidnap, almost as if he learns to respect women better in the past world.
• The first discussion n over a murder, in the past world, uncovers that technology is quick or detailed enough. Through this we are able to see Sam's frustration, and represent the modern day male identity as a fast-paced lifestyle, needing things in a rush, and having an obsession with monetary value.
• Also women refer to men by their professional title such as "D.C" or "D.I". Whereas, men refer to women in a more objective sense, and often call them by their actual name.
• There is a women's department in the past world, showing a form of segregation between the higher status of males and the lower females. It may also be a much needed segregation for the women officers.
• When they interview Dorrah, a witness to the murder case, Sam simply questions and does not really get his point across. Although Gene Hunt is far more rough proving that the male identity did not have as many boundaries are were far more free to dominate over women.
• Sam attempts to bring in the women officer when they are discussing the case, as she has a professional advantage with a Psychological BA. The other detectives look down on him, and believe that it's controversial.

Pete's Media Blog

Here are some examples of previous exam questions:

• Analyse the ways in which the media represent any one group of people that you have studied. 
• With reference to any one group of people that you have studied, discuss how their identity has been ‘mediated’. 
• Analyse the ways in which the media represent groups of people. 
• “The media do not construct collective identity; they merely reflect it”. Discuss. 
• “Media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward”. How far do you agree with this statement in relation to any one group of people that you have studied? 
• What is collective identity and how is it mediated?

We should be able to answer these questions from the Specification:

• How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic / social / collective groups of people in different ways? 
• How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?
• What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?
• To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’?

The kinds of thing you might use as case studies include: national cinema, television representations, magazines and gender, representations of youth and youth culture, representations of different ethnic and cultural groups sexuality, gender, disability.

It is pretty open in terms of what you might have studied, so I would expect answers to draw upon very different case study material. This part of the exam asks you to do three more specific things, whatever topic you answer on:

 1. You MUST refer to at least TWO different media
2. You MUST refer to past, present and future (with the emphasis on the present- contemporary examples from the past five years)
3. refer to critical/theoretical positions

 So for 1. you might compare and contrast examples from film and TV or from newspapers and social media. For 2. the main thing is to ensure you have a majority of material from the past five years. There were a number of answers last year which were dominated by older films, so beware of this! For 3. you need some critics/writers who have developed ideas about representation and identity.

You can't cover everything in this exam, as you only have an hour, so you need to be selective and very systematic in your answer. Have case study examples which really illustrate the kinds of points you want to make.

Pete's Media Blog

Alfie

The film follows the main character, Alfie, a Casanova from London who presents himself as very un-English. Isabel Quigly described him as "Vain, easy going, autocratic, physically fastidious, cowardly, undomestic, irresistible, he is the sort of man once thought totally un-English". However, as the film develops Alfie's character changes to become more traditionally English. Through the character decided to address the audience directly, this enabling us to truly experience his "charm" and personality first-hand. This being an attempt from the writer, or director, to emphasise his revelation.

We find Alfie to be a dominant male character, who creates a sense of hierarchy and superiority between himself and the female characters. When Alfie returns home, there is a very traditional status between man and wife, where the women prepares the food and the man simply relaxes. Stereotypical Londoner who believes that you have to make your own way in life, and use more "illegal" tactics to progress in life.

Alfie is very reluctant to get married, however when Gilda becomes pregnant later in the film is appears they have broken the common beliefs of society. In the 1960s it was still believed that you should get married before having children. In the end, Gilda breaks away from Alfie with her child and forms a new family, this being symbolic of the tradition between what is not respectable and tradition. There is also the issue of love, which Alfie seems to completely neglect, the writer perhaps combating abortion, prostitution etc.

A further scene of interest is when Alfie visits Ruby's, being an American we find her to represented as more powerful than other women in the film and has a more business approach to everything.

The audience may also notice that Alfie refers to women as "gal" or "bird" at the beginning, and the new born baby as "it" rather than "he" or "she". This proves that Alfie has a lack of respect for these other characters, but is soon forced to change his treatment of others later in the film.

Another naive young women, Annie, tries to do everything she can to please Alfie. However we becomes flippant with her, after telling her than he doesn't appreciate having the same type of food over and over again. This results in the first rebellion from a women against Alfie, as she packs her stuff and leaves without any command - this could be seen as a real turning point in Alfie's character.

The next significant scene would be the abortion. Of-course this challenges the Casanova identity which Alfie seemed to uphold earlier in the film, questioning whether it is moral to 'sleep around', guiding the audience to take the more traditional route. Male british identity is represented as someone who always "knows a guy who can fix it", and the same principle is applied to this abortion, even if it means that it's illegal and painful.

After going through with the abortion, Alfie returns to his home to find the remains of the new life. At this point we see Alfie present real emotion through crying, as he truly realises that his "moral lapse" has effectively "murdered" a child. Alfie obvious feels guilty as he recognises that his entire lifestyle is "playing" with people's life, but also new life as a whole. This is later emphasised by a scene where Gilda is seen with her new family at the baptism of her second child, she has been able to move on.

Male british identity is then proved to change after a realisation, with his attempt to create a good relationship with Ruby but finds her to be just as bad as he.

Alfie's final speech to the audience summarises his thoughts:

• "I think of all the things they've done for me, and the little I've done for them" - on the women that he's been with, and the trouble which British male identity causes.
• Alfie lists what he has achieve, "I've got a bob or two, some decent clothes, a car, I've got my health back and I ain't attached". Most of these items are material showing some sort of important in money and power for males. The reference to "I ain't attached" suited Alfie's previous Casanova mindset.
• "I ain't got my peace of mind, and if you ain't got that you ain't got nothing." - a male Casanova like Alfie is stuck and his past will forever haunt him.
• "What's the answer... what's it all about" - Alfie's final line, perhaps about life. What is important for any of us? What is the right thing or the wrong thing to do? Alluding to the question of which way modern British males, like Alfie, should behave.

Textual Examples

Film - Alfie (1966) - Past Example


Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Written by Bill Naughton
Starring Michael Caine, Shelley Winters, Millicent Martin.

"Alfie tells the story of a young man who leads a promiscuous lifestyle until several life reversals make him rethink his purposes and goals in life. Alfie frequently breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the camera narrating and justifying his actions. His words often contrast with or totally contradict his actions."

TV Show - Life on Mars - Representation of past 

BBC Television
Starring John Simm and Philip Glenister

 

"Life on Mars tells the fictional story of Sam Tyler (John Simm), a policeman in service with the Greater Manchester Police. After being hit by a car in 2006, Tyler awakes in 1973 and finds himself working for the predecessor of the GMP, the Manchester and Salford Police at the same station and location as in 2006. Early on in the series, it becomes apparent to Tyler that he awakes as a Detective Inspector, one rank lower than his 2006 rank of Detective Chief Inspector. As part of the Criminal Investigation Department, Tyler finds himself working under the command of Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Throughout the two series, the central plot centres on the ambiguity concerning Tyler's predicament of it being unclear to both the audience and the character whether he has died, gone mad, is in a coma or has actually travelled back in time"

Film - Tyrannosaur (2011)- Modern example


Written and Directed by Paddy Considine
Starring Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan

 

"Joseph, an unemployed widower with a drinking problem, plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction, undergoes a life change after killing his dog in a fit of rage. Desperate to change his ways and get out of his unpleasant past and surroundings, he earns a chance of redemption when by chance he becomes close to local charity shop (Thrift Store/Op Shop) worker Hannah, a respectable wholesome and kindly Christian woman who takes pity on him, and they become close friends. However Hannah has a dark secret of her own which threatens to plunge Joseph back into his former life."

Media Theory: Identity

Althusser's theory
Louis Althusser was a French Marxist (someone who looks to the economy and peoples needs in the development of society), he believed that things came together structurally from the real and from imagination. The philosopher saw ideology as the force which shaped a person and their consciousness, rejecting that humans were motivated by economic success. In his theory, media is affected and has an affect on the subject, whereas new media theorists argue that the subject can see meaning in the media.
Althusser has greatly altered the way Marxists view media.

In relation to identity, the representations of subjects are therefore affected by our own real knowledge of society. Althusser would see that the subjects/characters in media do not add meaning to the media.

Representing Identity
David Gauntlett from University of Westminster researched how people represent themselves, and how our perceptions of identity works. Using Lego, he got participants to represent thoughts through a visual medium, and asked them to use metaphors which enabled them to reflect on this. There were eleven findings:

• Creative and visual research methods give people the opportunity to communicate different kinds of information. People are able to think about this and reflect on it, this is because visual or more practical methods of research gives a higher sense of connection.
• Metaphors are important, so abstract feelings and thoughts can be easier through visuals, media or acting. In this way we are able to look at society as a whole through media as a whole.
• People need to time to reflect on society or themselves, this can cause the subconscious to "bring things to the surface". It allows an abstract experience to be represented in a mediated way.
• People have knowledge of identity, they know what it means and how it can be represented through aspects of their life. This proves that it's an important issue for society.
• Two theories that are commonly known (in simple terms). They were aware that they were constructing a narrative or story about themselves, and that there are two identities - the ones at the front and the ones which are hidden.
• Identities are generally consolidated and clear, they are not fragmented. People had a desire to be coherent and to belong to an identity.
• There is a desire to be different to everyone else, but still want to be part of society (a community). This is like George Simmel (1893), "On the one hand the individual belongs to a whole and is part of it, while on the other hand they're independent and stand opposed to it.
• Media studies is too must about media, people's identities are not controlled or affected by the media. We should not assume their identities due to media influence.
• The audience is complex.
• People do not generally think that media affects their identity, or their everyday life.
• Media has a role in thinking about identity because media productions enable us to think about life through frames and narratives. These narratives have turning points and themes which we can reflect on life with.
• Paul Ricoeur suggests narratives offer "a vast laboratory for thought experiments' becomes especially pertinent in the new media age".
• The study proved the tensions we suffer in everyday life, and what is obvious to people.

The main point is that media is based on archetypes. His book "Media, Gender and Identity" follows more in depth analysis, which would be beneficial for this topic. You can read the book here.

National Identity
An article on how internet usage effects national identity after the UN released a Human Development report in 1999. The writer argues that countries with more money are able to afford better internet access, and there is generally a higher demand for it. It is clear that even in the early days of the internet, people were able to see that it offered a sense of freedom, and was "a phase change" that would need "massive increase in political freedom". Again later on it is speculated that "Among nations of relatively equal development, it will be the freer nations and not the richer ones that adopt the internet fastest". There is also allusion to "potential for human development", combined with the freedom will allow new thoughts, new theories, the spread of ideas to be quicker and the acceptance of different identities to be easier.

Theodor Adorno
Adorno argued that capitalism fed people with "culture industry" products which kept people accepting and uninterested in politics. Unlike Marx, Adorno placed emphasis on the role of culture in the current state of society, rather than economics. He saw popular culture as the reason people were accepting and satisfied, whilst still having a lack of interest in overthrowing the capitalist system. Adorno now believes that culture industries create unsophisticated and sentimental products replacing more complex art forms -  resulting in people not questioning social life (and identity). There are a few keywords which he often used:

• False needs - created and promoted by the capitalist system, and replace the 'true' needs of freedom, expression and creativity.
• Commodity fetishism - social relations and culture experiences are objectified in terms of money, and we put value in the cost of something.
• Standardisation - popular media and music are very similar and have a structure.
• Pseudo-individualisation - when small differences make something appear distinctive, but they're not.

Products of the culture industry can be emotional but Adorno saw this as more of a cathartic process. In modern-day terms, TV and other media has prevented people from talking and questioning problems in their lives. Adorno thought lives were like a ongoing, repetitive cycle.

Two Media Areas

We have decided that we are going to focus on TV and film as our two media areas. However, written media such as newspapers would also be a good media to have some knowledge of, this giving us extra reference.

We need to have a variety of examples from both TV and film, so productions that are made in different periods will give a range of views on British identity.

Film:

• Past example - "If" - directed by Lindsay Anderson.
• Past example - "Alfie" - directed by Lewis Gilbert.
• Modern example - "An Education" - directed by Lone Scherfig.
• Modern example - "Fish Tank" - directed by Andrea Arnold.

TV Show:

• Past example - "Ashes to Ashes" or "Life on Mars".
• Modern example - "Skins"or "Misfits"

Exam Requirements

In preparation for the exam students must:

• Engage with a range of theoretical perspectives 

• Demonstrate a personal position on the issues 

• Know about research carried out to discover audience practices and habits (this could be research carried out by themselves) 

• Exam answers must have a historical, contemporary and future perspective, focussing mostly on the contemporary. 

• Emphasise the active audience i.e. how people 'give meaning' to cultural products (media texts). 

• Have an understanding of two different areas of the media ie. film, television, internet, magazines, etc.

Newspaper Analysis

Newspapers are a good media source that represent different identities and segments of society. Media organizations generally favor one party and focus on one type of news, for example, gossip news in the Daily Star or the Daily Mirror.


The Guardian - Priced at £1.20, it's the most expensive out of the papers. It's aimed at people in public sector and graduates with high paid jobs, or the middle class. The Guardian follows more liberal outlook, which promotes equal rights and freedom to express your identity.  There are many different sections to the Guardian as it's a really big broadsheet, there's Sport, Entertainment, Financial etc, along with supplements such as "The Truth About How Cambridge Picks Its Students". With all these sections, the paper comes across more cultural with movies, theatre and the arts. The articles in the first few pages are either political issues concerning the UK, international news and race issues.


The Times - Price at only £1, which is an attempt to bring in a larger audience. The paper has downsized to a tabloid size, but it was traditionally broadsheet. Rupert Murdoch owns the news corporation under News International which also owned The News of The World (it got closed down), and it still owns Sky. The paper could be seen as a more 'intelligent' version of the Sun, as it's aimed at professional but still has a smaller readership. There are sections similar to the Guardian, giving it a cultural feel.

Cambridge News - Priced at 50p and owned by Archant Media that focuses on regional news. The newspaper tries to promote good news in the local area, this is an attempt to raise community spirit and morale. This is very important in the current economic climate where the society can get depressed with bad news. The sport section and page 4 are the same in all of the Archant Media, this helps to promote the company and gives a sense of connection with the rest of the community. We have noticed that most of the images included have people smiling, again this adds to the upbeat atmosphere.

Daily Mirror - Marketed as "Real News.. Real Entertainment", and features gossip news on the front page rather than politics and "important" issues. The articles are generally about celebrities or shocking stories about members of the public.  The Daily Mirror supports the Labour party, and has as section for politics using this to mock the current Conservative government, this is an attempt to vocalize which Labour supporters think. It's reactionary, they react and support whatever views the country follows at that time.

Daily Star - Priced at 30p, again it's a gossip paper which could be seen as a socially acceptable gossip for men. Again the articles are mostly about sport and celebrities, with lots of large photos and uses some adverts. These gossip newspapers can make the readers appear very unconcerned about politics, and generally have little intelligence.

Newspapers not only represent different identities in their articles, but show us what the identity of the readers is too. This can be particularly helpful when considering what Britain's identity really is.

Prompt Questions

The media represents different cultures through it's representation of characters in film and TV shows through the use of micro elements such as cinematography and mise-en scene. Representations depend on on the director, their own views, the event that is being accounted/the topic of the piece, and the time in which it was created. This topic focuses on class, race, gender, ethnicity and sexuality.

1. How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic/social/collective groups of people in different ways?

The question is asking us to consider different nations, their representations of us and our representations of them. We will have to have to watch media productions and attempt to analyze how cultures affect different characters and the audiences that watch them.

2. How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?

Representation of different cultures and identities change over time because of changing stereotypes. and how the internet has made us more connected with different cultures has changed our perspective on the outside world, where as before we could effectively ignore the outside world. We will have to research media productions with similar topics but from different time periods.

3. What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?

Society traditionally was very stereotypical of cultures, yet in more recent times has attempted to challenge this. It is, however, clear media still struggles to do this. One good example of changing media would be soap operas, which continue to develop their views and stereotypes as society has developed - they are forced to adapt to accepting groups of people.

4. To what extent is human identity increasingly mediated?

Media has become increasingly important in people's life's, and it has now become inescapable. Media has the capability to alienate a culture or to show acceptance towards a culture. The Internet has given us the ability to change our identities, we are able to represent ourselves how we want to be represented, this gives us more freedom to show our identity for example somethings we share on a blog, we wouldn't share on facebook. 

Introduction

This is Sam Payne and George Adamson's Media Studies: Contemporary issues blog. The topic we will be focusing on is Media and collective identity. We think this topic is about how media represents different identities, and how it affects those identities. Below are the prompt questions to begin our thoughts on the topic.


1. How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic/social/collective groups of people in different ways?


2. How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?


3. What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people? 


4. To what extent is human identity increasingly mediated?