task three

A dominant representation is on which is repeated across the media over time and so are the values that it carries. Discuss.

Representations through the media are not always truthful and therefore this leads to biased and untrue representations and stereotypes being produced by the consumers about the minorities targeted. To represent implies to stand for and support, so incorrectly representing others is undemocratic in a society where all citizens have equal rights and are should be treated fairly. This is the case in certain examples e.g. the representations of black youths and their love affair with gun, knife and drug crime.

Firstly, the repeated representations within the media can be changed to favour those who were initially discriminated via the use of web 2.0 and websites such as www.youtube.com were users can upload what they want. This use of user generated content enables the consumers of the media to actually become producers of their own mendia and control what their audience view on their ‘channel’. For example, artists such as Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder both hold degrees from London universities and their talent was spotted through the internet, now they represent the UK and have had many top ten hits in the charts. It is for this reason that representations can be remoulded by the actual people who feel discriminated. False representations or negative ones which cause offence to those can be remoulded using the media and the internet, which effectively means that dominant representations that were negative can be reformed.

On the other hand, dominant representations imply that the media industry is Marxist and so has enforced these representations onto the audiences by using the hypodermic needle theory and the cultivation theory. The hypodermic needle theory suggests that the audience is passive and is therefore drip fed ideologies by the media to shape its views and beliefs on society. For example, websites such as www.facebook.com, www.twitter.com and www.youtube.com allow you to post your own media. However, this posting is censored if the media believes it if offensive. The question to be asked is what power does the media industry have to regulate the content which represents the beliefs of the audience? Secondly, the cultivation theory suggests that as audiences consume more media, the themes expressed are consumed by them and as a result the audience develop misleading and false views about the minority targeted. And so, dominant representations in the media mean that once they are consumed by the intended audience then certain prejudices are produced. It can be concluded that this takes pace because the media industry ‘dumbs down’ the media produced for the easy consumption of the public. And it is for this reason that undemocratic, unfair and harmful stereotypes and representations are made.

In conclusion, dominant representations which are repeated across the media over time are used to stereotype those targeted. And so the technological advances such as the web 2.0 which allows user generated content has transformed the world in such a sense any citizen can produces their own media and represent themselves in anyway they wish. It is the same internet which allows future stars such as Chipmunk and Tinchy Styder to be discovered and act as the binary opposition of the negative portrayal of the black community, for example.