Representation

Representation is the way particular groups are re-presented/portrayed in the media. This can pass on various ideologies through the different forms of media, this could be done with imagery, words, colours and editing. The media has control over what is represented in the media as they can choose what is exposed and what is not, however we also have control because we have the ability to choose how we respond to these representations.

The main categories that are often targeted in the media are age, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and regional and national identity. With these categories, many industries have a vast selection of ways to approaching them so that whatever they are advertising appeals to that specific audience.

 It is important that representation is broad and that every person is included in some sort of way depending on what the media company wants to portray. The way they may do this may seem very bias to one person but relevant to another but to be able to strongly influence an audience they need to look at situations in a particular ideological or value perspective.

To explore representation is more depth, we conducted a small observation to support the ideas of representation. We typed in a category on Google Images and we would gather similar features which related to certain stereotypes to see if there was a correlation in the way these categories were seen to the way they are thought of in reality.

The first category we looked at were Londoners. Being from London you tend to experience a very different characters so it can be difficult to place them under the same label, but looking on Google we have concluded a few things.
The positives were that we are a very diverse society who show responsibility for others especially through societal crises. Due to other diverse nature we have become a very cultured community who take pride in many of the celebrations that have been brought into the city which also connects well with individuals having a lot of confidence in self expression.
Some of the pictures did however put us in a negative light with the idea that in the city, because we are so busy inclined with our 'professional' lives that we have become secluded and disconnected from the people around us for example, the homeless, our streets and small local businesses.

Another category we researched were teenagers as it seems fitting. What we found that was quite positive, were that a majority of the images showed them to be quite happy and open about self expression. This was a bit surprising as I had assumed there would be images of rebellious kids and technology and even though i know that isn't entirely true in reality, I suppose that the idea is just the media planting stereotypes into my head.
The negatives were again a little shocking as there was a severe lack of diversity in ethnicity and gender whilst the superiority of the images being of white females. We had also discovered that a lot of the pictures were of the teens taking pictures or how they would look with their friends. Even though they seemed happy their behaviour seemed forced giving the idea of insecurity. Although the teens looked a little conceited taking pictures in a lot of the images, there could also be an element of vulnerability when being around this age.