The Media's Representations of Social Class -Media A-level

1. Media Representations – Social
Class

2. Media Representations of the Upper
Class
• Neo-Marxists argue that the mass media represent the
upper class in a celebratory way. They often celebrate
hierarchy and wealth.
• They often don’t portray the upper class in a critical light,
or draw on any inequalities of wealth
• Newman (2006) argues that there is a focus upon the
luxury aspects that the wealthy own, this can be seen in the
music industry, especially in rap videos as there is a
concentration on money, girls and cars.

3. Media representations of the Middle
Class
• There are some sociologists that argue that
there is an overrepresentation of the middle
class in media. However there isn’t much
research into this class representation.

4. Media Representations of Working
Class
• Marxists argue that the mass media representations
are actually the view of capitalist ideology. Newman
argues that there isn’t many media sources that have
produced a realistic view of the working class.
• The causes of being working class are rarely explored in
mainstream media.
• There is often the portrayal of the working class being
seen as ‘chavs’ and is often shown to be more
stereotyped as the younger generation.