How are children and young people represented in newspapers and is this representation fair?

Authors Avatar

Jordan Hoose

Media Assignment

How are children and young people represented in newspapers and is this representation fair?

Children and young people often appear in tabloids, broadsheets or local newspapers. They are, however, represented in different ways; such as the view of teenagers as hooligans, the view of toddlers as cute or the view of children as victims. These stereotypical messages are conveyed through text, which could be biased, or visual images, i.e., photographs, which can be cropped and composed to make the picture look different. I am going to investigate the different types of newspaper and see how they differ in their representation of children and young people, and examine or analyse the different stereotypes that are used.

        I have selected some articles about children that I have found in newspapers as evidence to support my views. My first article, headlined ‘Teenage house party damage costs £15,000’, is a prime example of a tabloid stereotyping teenagers as hooligans. The article, taken from the ‘Daily Mail’ newspaper, conveys it’s message through text as there is no picture in the article. The newspaper has done this so that they can make the damages to the house sound even more dramatic than they may really be. The writer uses the words ‘family home’ instead of a word like house, to add to the reader’s sympathy for the owner of the house, and consequential dislike for the youths in connection with the incident. It is mentioned that ‘hundreds of pounds’ worth of Christmas presents were stolen at the party. The mention of such a large amount of money is supposed to shock the reader: how could someone be cruel enough to steal Christmas presents, especially so many? The article uses emotive language, and says that Sandra Davies ‘collapsed’ with shock when she returned home to the house and found ‘family treasures and trinkets ruined’. The word ‘collapsed’ is, in my opinion, a very exaggerated word used to express just how shocked she was at her sons’ disobedience. Although in an interview with the ‘Daily Mail’ she says that she ‘just collapsed’, she was speaking metaphorically, whereas the article talks about it almost literally. We see once again the word ‘family’ appearing, reminding the reader that this is a family household that has been ruined. We associate the word family with lovingness and happiness, and that has been destroyed by a group of hooligan adolescents. Alliteration is even used in this piece of writing to give emphasis to the circumstances: ‘My £3,000 leather suite was slashed, a £400 antique mirror smashed’. These words are also examples of tabloid language; they are very exaggerated for emphasis. The article states that Christmas has been ‘cancelled’, again making the reader feel sorry for Mrs Davies. Although Stuart Davies is at fault, the writer does not mention the fact that Mrs Davies left her son, alone, in charge of the house, and, therefore, she has to take some responsibility.

Join now!

        My next piece of evidence, which falls unmistakably into the ‘cute kids’ category, is taken from a local newspaper, the ‘Runcorn Weekly News’, and is a photograph taken of three young children sitting in their classroom. There is no article or even caption attached, so the focus is completely on the picture. The photograph shows the children playing on the floor of their classroom, and shows the children enjoying their first Christmas at school. It shows the three children sitting on the floor playing with their classroom toys, making the reader think that they are sweet or cute.

        My ...

This is a preview of the whole essay