1. ANALYSE THE WAYS IN
WHICH THE MEDIA
REPRESENT ONE GROUP OF
PEOPLE YOU HAVE STUDIED?

2. Introduction
 State the focus (youth) of what you are going to be
talking about and the argument of whether you are for
or against.
 The risk of this representation is that it only
concentrates on the few young people that are violent,
antisocial and dropouts compared to the millions of
teenagers that focus on their education, future and good
reputation.
 Back up your decision using a quote and expand on it
while giving examples. That the youth is seen as an
‘empty category’
 Mention the theorists (Giroux, Hebdige and Acland) and
how they are relevant to what you are talking about and
develop further on.

3. Historical
 Start from the negative representations of youth and how it has
been occurring for years.
 “Youth in general are often represented negatively in the media
since the 1950s simply because how their culture (values and
behaviours) has changed since the war.”
 Link it to ‘The Wild One 1953’- the adults fear and anxieties to
reinforce hegemony “it is the principle of life, if someone is going
to be bad they ought to be punished”
 And how ‘Rebel without a Cause 1955’ emphasises on how Jim’s
‘identity is blurred , he is expected to be a child and an adult at the
same time’ and the idea of the teens turning to alcohol and
violence because their parents are neglecting them. Jim ‘ I don’t
know why I do the things I do’
 Expand on your points in relation to the threat to hegemony
posed by young people and how the media focused on the
delinquent, antisocial youth.

4. Film
 The teenagers in the ‘The Wild One’ exposed to us the idea
of internalisation (the idea that we completely accept the
belief and behavior of a group and conform privately and
publicly) which is one of the three forms of conformity,
 That we witness an individual’s behavior and judge the rest
of that individuals friends as the same.
 In the film ‘The wild One’ and ‘ Rebel without a Cause‘ there
was a clear difference between the teenagers and adults.
The teens were the ‘delinquents of society’, aggressive and
out of control whereas the adults were highly mannered,
respectful and dressed in a way that they were expected to.
 Connect the idea of how negative representations
reinforce hegemony and the ideology of protection-
Gramsci/Aclands.

5. Brain storm
possible ideas
Identifying key
and relevant
points
Arranging
points in a
coherent order
Adding examples
and theorists to
the points made
Main Points Details (Incl. Context) Media
examples
Theorists
1. Youth in general
are often
represented
negatively in the
media
The idea of hegemony and how it
is easily constructed into society.
The teens are the ‘delinquents of
society’, aggressive and out of
control whereas the adults were
highly mannered, respectful and
dressed in a way that they were
expected to.
‘The Wild
One’ and
‘Rebel
without a
Cause’
Giroux says that the media puts youth
into the ‘empty category’. Gramsci
and Hebdige state that the dominant
class project their own ideologies so
that those who are subordinated
accept it as ‘common sense’ and
‘natural’.
2.
3.
4.

6. Print
 ‘Hoodies or Altar Boys’
 Giroux talks about how the media is
constructed by the adults
 Cohen- moral panic. Focus on the youth and
how they are impacted by the media.
 Gerbner- cultivation theory

7. Conclusion
 Sum up the argument-
 Mention the positive representations and say
your opinion on it and how the media
portrays these representations
 The effect of media representations of young
people is….
 How you think the media is going to change
due to the social media. The youth will have a
voice because of twitter, face book and
instagram.