Media Classwork 1st March

1.) Evaluate how the people who are against the BNP are represented in each product?
In the question time clip Nick Griffin is berated by two members of the audience who are both members of ethnic groups. This shows that the populace are not afraid to fight back against Nick and his party, they do so by saying that other cultures have brought much to the country. The camera shots helps to show the approval of the audience by showing members of the audience, of all ethnic backgrounds, applauding anc cheering in approval of their peers comments. The presenters in both clips are also shown to be against Griffin as they both call him out on his mistakes and mock him for it. for instance, in the first clip the presenter mocks one of his party members for not being able to remember when the election day is and in the other clip for showing him as appropriating the medals of the homeowner where the clip is shot. Griffin did this in order to appear patriotic and is mocked for it by both the presenters and the audience who cheer them for pointing it out. This shows that they have a disdain for Griffin and his parties policies through the way that they ridicule him and even having a member of the audience turn his policies on him saying that people would in fact believe the opposite of his parties beliefs and would rather see them sent away. The audience members are also shown as being well spoken and intelligent giving the feeling that only people who lacked  these qualities would support the party.

2.) Why does the media rely so heavily on conflict?
Conflict essentially acts as the heart of the media. in nearly all instances of media there is a conflict, whether it is a tale of good vs evil in a film or books competing to be the next bestseller or the competition between contestants on the X-Factor, conflict is always present in popular media. This is largely because it helps engage an audience by forcing them to pick a side in some instances or interests them by portraying a conflict through the media as these often help make up the backbone of many of our media types due to them being identifiable with the audience and many members have to deal with conflicts, both large and small on a day to day basis. Conflicts also help stir people emotions as it gives multiple sides to arguments and forces people to choose between them due to them having different beliefs and ideologies from some side in the conflict. Conflict also mean drama more often than not when it comes to television. this is highly apparent in shows such as soap operas that feature multiple interlinking characters and storyline  More often than not conflicts feature in shows such as Eastenders and Hollyoaks because they engage the audience through forcing them to side with one of the characters engaged with the conflict, this then causes them to watch on as they develop a personal attachment to this character.

3.) Multi-platform media can allow access to a wider range of views. should the internet be more restricted?As the internet is such an open platform it allows users to submit and access many different types of material with very few restrictions. this leads to people being subjected to content they do not want to view due to the freedom to post anything and access things they shouldn't be able to. A good example of the former would be shock sites. these are sites that of depict an image/gif or a video of something explicit, usually revolving around extreme gore or pornography. These links are often sent to other people as jokes with the link desguised as something else and whilst some people are likely to just shrug it off other can be greatly offended by the content. The only reason these sites exist is to shock people and as this is there only purpose it does beg the question why they exist. On a related note there are instances of sites such as 4chan or other internet groups "Raiding" other websites with offensive content in order to dissuade people from using them, essentially meaning that if a user wants to use one of the target sites they may open it to find it filled with content they find offensive  Also the fact that much explicit content on the inter net, like porn or gore, can be accessed by passing a simple age check helps to give a reason for a higher level of moderation for the internet as kids can potentially access this content. The arguments against unrestricted web is essentially that it impacts free speech too easily and as free speech is one of the main draws of the internet it would greatly interfere with it if the internet was to be censored in any way. In truth it doesn't really need censorship but rather moderation to help prevent things such as children accessing pornography or to stop trolls from tormenting people such as in the Amanda Todd case where they drove her to the point of suicide. The only argument against this is free speech but at the same time, giving up some of that could potentially help improve much of the internet. A catch 22 that the internet has answered many a time when fighting against various censorship bills like SOPA in 2011 which was ground to a halt after many internet sites blacked out in protest. Whilst there are arguments for both sides of this, it seems that the internet will always be under fire for whichever route it takes.

Supersize vs. Superskinny

1.) How are people represented in this clip?
Both women are shown as being outside of the social norms of most peoples dieting styles. Jennete is shown as being highly underweight whilst Rosmary is show as being the polar opposite. The showing of their diets helps illustrate the contrasts between their eating habits between each other and as well as the general public. This combined with their body types helps to draw the audience in through portraying them outside of the standard social norms, this is reflected by Todorov's (?) theory in that the audience takes pleasure from observation and escapism. The lighting used in combination with the colour of the underwear gives off a kind of sickly colour which helps with making the characters seem more different to the average person, therefor enhancing the whole outsider view appeal of the show. 

2.) What do you think is the appeal of lifestyle programming such as these?
The appeal of shows such as these are often for the audience to both obtain knowledge through the more informative sections as well as to act as an observer and achieve a sense of escapism. This is achieved by letting the audience gain an insight to other peoples lives through the show and therefore forget about what is happening in their own life. The informative sections help attract the audience as it helps them gain an insight into their own lifestyle and informs them on how they can possible change for the better, this too allows them to gain pleasure through information meeting another of the media theories (Can't remember which one, possibly Todorov).

3.) Do you believe that lifestyle programming creates and fuels negative ideologies?
I feel that lifestyle programmes can create negative ideologies but that it largely depends upon upon the show itself. supersize vs. superskinny is a good example of how it can show both sides of ideologies. on the one hand it givers an insight into the various lifestyles of people featured on the show in order to help better increase understanding of the way that they live as well as giving insight into how to improve themselves. on the other hand it also showcases them in a way that makes them appear as an outsider to social norm without them actually being so. This helps breed stereotypes and distorts people view regarding them causing a negative ideology which  is then fed by other media types that portray similar people.