"The British media's coverage of asylum seekers and refugees is characterised by stereotyping, exaggeration and inaccurate language" - Discuss.

"The British media's coverage of asylum seekers and refugees is characterised by stereotyping, exaggeration and inaccurate language." The quote above comes from "It's Official: media coverage of asylum is distorted and unfair" This was a piece of writing, analysing how the media displays asylum seekers as misfits and outcasts. The analysis was written by a Cardiff University research team, which studied the media content on asylum coverage in depth, for a period of 12 weeks. In their research during this 12-week period they found 14 negative front-page articles based on asylum seekers in Britain. The majority of these front pages were in the Daily Mail and Daily Express, both of these mid-market tabloids are aimed at a right wing Tory biased audience, who perceive the asylum issue in many ways. The media's articles on asylum seekers uses a negative tone in the headlines and the text, it uses negative connotations to represent asylum system as overburden and intruders, for example the Daily Mail's headline on Tuesday, December 16th states: "£16,000 That's what the average asylum seekers family gets a year in handouts (and it's all tax free!)". The Newspaper has written £16000 in this bold font to represent it as a huge amount; the £16000 takes up half the page and is there to cast the reader's eye indicating what a significant amount of money it is. The headline also

  • Word count: 2162
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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"The British media's coverage of asylum seekers and refugees is characterised by stereotyping, exaggeration and inaccurate language." Discuss this statement, with reference to at least two newspaper articles.

"The British media's coverage of asylum seekers and refugees is characterised by stereotyping, exaggeration and inaccurate language." Discuss this statement, with reference to at least two newspaper articles. A Cardiff University research team found that in the 12-week period studied in depth, there were fourteen negative front page articles on asylum, more than one per week. The majority of these front pages were in the Daily Mail and the Daily Express. In the two articles we studied, both had negative representations of asylum seekers and gave the audience a biased opinion of refugees seeking asylum and benefits in the UK, just as the statement suggests. The articles use an unflattering use of language to outline what the Mail and Express call an 'overburdening' and 'troublesome' problem. Stereotypical images are portrayed in these newspapers and readers would imagine their 'average asylum seeker' as undeserving, unemployed and just 'scrounging' money from the government. The Mail and Express rely heavily on politicians and dwell on negative statistics, and examples, to represent asylum seekers in a pessimistic light. The articles continually highlighted the amount of money given in 'handouts' as a huge sum of money and other valid comments [such as family sizes] appeared irrelevant. For instance, it seemed that the bold "£16,000 in tax free handouts" title makes the

  • Word count: 1298
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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This essay based on wide background information. The writer of this essay tries to show the Hungarian stereotypes through theoretical view, statistical facts and mainly his own thoughts.

Name: Kornél Krámer Course: BABL Year: III. Module: Business Communication Module leader: Ildikó Polyák Date: Monday, 20th January 2003 Hungarian Stereotypes Content of pages Content of pages 2 Introduction 3 Theory of stereotypes 3 About Hungarians 4 Hungarians about Hungarians 4 Hungarian stereotypes 6 Foreigners about Hungarians 7 Conclusion 8 Bibliography 10 Introduction This essay based on wide background information. The writer of this essay tries to show the Hungarian stereotypes through theoretical view, statistical facts and mainly his own thoughts. It must be mentioned that the writer is a Hungarian person, so the ideas are more original and the essay shows the inner information about Hungarian society. The essay starts with a theoretical approach of stereotypes, then it continues with an introduction to Hungarian stereotypes. This part of the essay contains findings and analyses of certain questionnaires. Interesting things of Hungarian stereotypes in a more experience approach close this part. Theory of stereotypes1 Social psychology just like other modern disciplines rooted in sociological and philosophical customs. From the Enlightenment social psychology inherited two basic dilemmas: 1. universalism versus relativism; 2. action versus cognition. Ad 1.: The Enlightenment's philosophy says, that every man is a personality and the member of

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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" The media helps to advance public interest by publishing facts and opinions without which a democratic electorate cannot make responsible judgements." Explain this perspective and assess its effects on the audience.

Stephen Rooney " The media helps to advance public interest by publishing facts and opinions without which a democratic electorate cannot make responsible judgements." Explain this perspective and assess its effects on the audience. The question seems to be taken from a functionalist approach to the media and sees the media as non-problematic. It suggests a Pluralist perspective that we get the media we deserve. It shows the media as a helpful tool in which a person can vote without being influenced by bias or manipulation but can vote knowing both sides of the story and can make a responsible judgement. It does not take into account who owns the media or who controls it. It also does not broach upon the idea that media messages are inflicted upon us rather than the audience being active. Who owns the media? Marxists would suggest that the media is a capitalist organisation owned by the ruling classes. The alienation of the working classes is due to the filtering of bourgeoisie values and morals through the media that help exploit the workers. The ruling classes that own the media have their own hegemony that allows them to maintain the status quo. The restriction of information is a means of control that allows them to maintain their power economically, politically and ideologically. Marxists would point out that during time of crisis e.g. wartime it is known that the

  • Word count: 671
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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"Any sociological explanation of the influence of the mass media needs to take into account the social situation of the audien

"Any sociological explanation of the influence of the mass media needs to take into account the social situation of the audience." Explain and evaluate this view. "Members of a given sub-culture will tend to share a cultural orientation towards decoding messages in particular ways. Their individual 'readings' of messages will be framed by shared cultural formations and practices." [The Structured Interpretation Model] which is associated to Morley, David (1981b, p. 51). V arious theories, approaches, experiments & researches looked into the effects of the mass media on the audience. The social situation of the audience is considered in some of the studies. Others may believe that the influence of mass media would heavily depend on the social situation (age, ethnicity, gender, class, educational attainment, abnormality, etc.), while others may think that the audience in the society is greatly influenced by the mass media alone. Recent news alarmed the reading-audience how influential mass media could be. An Eminem impersonator killed his fan without a particular reason! Some believe that media played a role why he behaved in that particular way, while others may argue that it is because of his social situation. This will be assessed by looking at different arguments & explanations. The Hypodermic Syringe Model of mass media effects suggests that media content is directly

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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"Does the Mass Media Influence Youth Culture?"

"Does the Mass Media Influence Youth Culture?" A S o c i o l o g i c a l S t u d y a n d S u r v e y 1 . . . Introduction What is the mass media? The dictionary tells us that it is: "those means of communication that reach and influence large numbers of people." (Collins Pocket English Dictionary, 1981 edition) To many people, however, it is something much more sinister - a monster that seeks to manipulate and control public opinion. A flotilla of highly entertaining novels and films draw upon the idea of a tyrannical government secretly controlling zombie-like citizens, using the mass media as its weapon. Ironically, these conspiracy novels and films themselves are simply another aspect of the media. But perhaps - especially now, when we are more exposed to forms of mass media than any other previous generation - the seeming fantasies are not as fantastic as we might think. Certainly times have changed significantly since George Orwell first wrote his chilling novel, 1984. For example, Hitler's government proved that it was possible to persuade an entire nation to ignore - or even to condone - horrific acts of inhuman cruelty on a huge scale. This could be done only because of the recent expansion of the mass media to include radio, film and television, meaning that there were now more potential ways of influencing the general public. And making the most

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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Examine the ways in which the output of the mass media may be influenced by owners and journalists.

Examine the ways in which the output of the mass media may be influenced by owners and journalists. The mass media are organisations and forms of communication used by specialist social groups to convey messages to a large, socially mixed and widely dispersed audience, without any personal contacts. Those who control the programming and editorial content are strongly encouraged to deliver what the audience wants. Their jobs are to attract a large, desirable audience. Traditional Marxism would be in favour of the view that the media output is influenced by the owners. Traditional Marxist would say all historical societies contain basic contradictions, which means that they cannot survive forever in their exiting forms. These contradictions involve the exploitation of one social group by another. In capitalist society, employers exploit their employees. This creates fundamental conflict of interest between each social group, since one gain at the expense of another. In Marxism, there is a large believe in patterns and structures in society. This structure is based on conflict and is known as conflict structuralism. This view believes that ideologies are set by owners, and that the owners control the media. The owners - usually rich and successful, ruling class people benefit from capitalism, as the media help to promote a set of believes and values which are favoured

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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What are some of the key messages and ideas presented in the novella, Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 What are some of the key ideas and messages presented in the novel, Fahrenheit 451? Explain your answer with examples and quotations. Jacob Goering Jacob Goering February 21, 2005 What are some of the key messages and ideas presented in the novella, Fahrenheit 451? Explain your answer with detailed examples and quotations. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian, science fiction novel, which is written through the perspective of Bradbury's protagonist, Guy Montag. Fahrenheit 451 was initially published in 1953; however it is set in the twenty fourth century in a conformist society, where literature is illegal. Throughout Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury conveys some very important messages and ideas. Among these are; censorship, the influence of technology, individual choice and the role of the individual in society, ruling by fear and totalitarianism, and the evolution of society. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 forces us to envision a world that has been so thoroughly censored that firemen, such as Guy Montag no longer exist to fight fires (for all buildings are fireproof) but rather to start them and take part in censorship. In this world individuality and individual choice are lost. Appropriately named, Guy appeared from the start to be just like any other firefighter. He found it "a pleasure to burn (p.3)", and followed the dictations of his

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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In resent years in education, family life and in the work place, society has become much less sexist. Are these changes in society shown in todays media?

In resent years in education, family life and in the work place, society has become much less sexist. Are these changes in society shown in today's media? Sociological research in the media has shown that gender stereotypes and sexist images still continue to be shown regularly in today's media. In films and television programs research has shown that women are shown in a more narrow range of carers and roles in their lives. Where as men are shown in a variety of carers, women are more likely to be shown as the 'house wife' Another stereotypical role for women involves 'romance' and 'sex'. (Tuchman, 1978). When women are seen in an important carer they still are not as well paid or well looked after as a man in the exact same carer. Ferguson's content analysis of women's magazines (1970s, 1980s) showed that a 'cult of femininity' existed, with women's lives being successful in marriage and looking good. The focuses of makeup, fashion, relationships and appearance is still high even though there has been change from this research from teenage girl magazine such as Cosmo Girl and women's magazines such as Take a break. Women also has to take care of their physical appearance to get a good carer like TV presenting or a main role in a film etc. In films, TV, magazines and adverts young women usually appear due to their looks and beauty, providing 'erotic pleasure' for the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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Which is the Greater Evil - Censorship vs. Freedom of Speech.

Which is the Greater Evil: Censorship vs. Freedom of Speech Amrit Sehdev The notions of free speech and censorship have been at the stem of much debate for many years. Margaret Laurence explores various arguments in her work, The Greater Evil, and concludes that censorship is indeed the greater evil. There are valid points that persuade both sides of this argument, however it is clear that censorship mutes society and blinds it from the truth. As a result, censorship is the greater evil. Freedom of speech is one of the most fundamental rights that individuals have. It is essential to the existence of democracy and the respect of human dignity. Freedom of speech is a notion which sets this country apart from others, and a belief upon which an individual's rights as a citizen rest upon. Freedom of speech gives society a voice, a voice that can be shared amongst thousands or millions of people, all coming from different classes of society. This way the poor as well as the minorities are not ignored. Democracy over dictatorship is what allows individual's to speak their mind, and have an opportunity to share their ideas with others. It is also one of the most dangerous rights, because freedom of expression means the freedom to express one's discontent with the status quo and the desire to change it. Freedom of speech can be abused, as illustrated by Margaret Laurence. She

  • Word count: 705
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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