Looking at two types of Media, describe the ways in which a particular group of people are collectively represented or provided for, using specific examples to support your response.

The media is the governing force of information and ideology and, through careful censorship and injection of information has the power to mould both the realities and the mindsets of those exposed to its messages. The mass media and specifically for this discussion the press and film are controlled and created by adults; theories from Buckingham and Dyer say that as 'the media do not present us with a window on the world but a mediated version of the world, they don't just present reality they re-present it and as stereotypes are always about power: those with power stereotype those with less power'. 


Subsequently youth and youth culture have always been a prominent feature of these messages often being subject to negative portrayals and stereotypes, this has been dominant portrayal of young people since the 1950's which as a post war era was a time where for the first time teens were able to have real leisure and social time, they were a generation with a liberated and prosperous future but because of lifestyle and value differences the media presented them as the source of cultural and moral decline. The first example of this is the film 'Rebel Without A Cause' which presents youth as ruled by delinquent behaviour and as a film conforms to adults fears about young people though it is interesting to note how they presented youth, James Dean the protagonist is presented not as villainous but as a sensitive,frustrated confused but rebellious and although they are producing a negative representation they gave it a kind of celebrity that appeals to adults and teens as well which could be said to make them consciously or unconsciously desire this presentation of youth. This type of representation has become even more sensationalised in contemporary media, watching films such as a Kidulthood by Noel Clarke shapes and in some cases distorts viewers perceptions of youths in reality Noel Clarkes presentation of youth contains violence, drug use, bullying, anti-social and a disregard for social norms by young people  as the main themes and for the most part is shown to be the only way the characters know how to interact.Tim O'Sullivan's theory suggests that "the media produces a set of ideas which produces a partial and selective view of reality."  this theory insinuates that the ideologies presented by the media in this case it is youth culture are distorted and are displaying an unrealistic version of young people that doesn't apply to the majority of young people but that becomes naturalised. For people from other social groups these representations are often the only experience of young people they get and this exposure to such negative portrayals can lead to moral panic, the Sun a newspaper backed campaigners who claimed 'Kidulthood' "glamorises violence" and the Times accused it of "indulging in middle class voyeurism" this often blows the representation out of proportion because people believe it is a threat further constructing a distorted but ideal of young people.
Although I agree that the media often uses these films to encode negative messages about youth and the press especially tabloid newspapers such as the sun often sensationalise stories about youth culture because it is a topic that sell well, this negative representation is not  always constructed but reflected as well. During the London riots there were a number of young people that acted in a way that conforms to the negative hegemonic portrayal of young people and the violent and anti social behaviour broadcast wasn't fictional but live footage as well as this television shows are being made that are recreations of real live events such as a the urban drama 'My murder' that revolved around the killing of a youth in south London this portal was directly based on real events and so closer to reality then other representations. 


Presently the main media institutions are controlled by adults and so even shows like 'My Murder' have been encoded and decoded for and by adults and young people aren't given a chance to present themselves. However through web 2.0 using social networking sites such as youtube, Facebook. twitter and tumblr young people are enabled to upload and comment on content they have chosen and created themselves, they have access to uncensored or regulated content away from the medias messages and as Henri Jenkins' theory that says, 'teens are constantly updating and customising their profiles online to construct and experiment with their identities' they are able to form and present their collective identity. In the future I would expect this idea of user created content from young people to become more wide spread to the point where adults are now accessing this content created by young people with the advancement of film production, editing and uploading equipment. Also with a new generation of people who will have grown up with the internet always having been there i feel they may become more influenced by these messages then those of the mass media, in conclusion the presentation of young people in the media is mostly negative as that is what adults and the greater public want to see although through the progression of web 2.0 it seems these negative representations are becoming the less prominent messages and it is moving from a marxist system to a pluralist one.