Representation of the BBC

My homework was to anaylse contrasting representations of the BBC. I looked at an article published in the Daily Mail, a newspaper notorious for its right-wing satire, and the BBC 'countdown' advert. Needless to say, both were very different. 
 

 

Text 1 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2232075/The-BBC-brilliant--despite-shambolic-army-suits-bean-counters.html - The Daily Mail is a conservative, British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust.

First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982. Scottish and Irish editions of the daily paper were launched in 1947 and 2006 respectively. The Daily Mail was Britain's first daily newspaper aimed at the newly literate "lower-middle class market resulting from mass education, combining a low retail price with plenty of competitions, prizes and promotional gimmicks", and the first British paper to sell a million copies a day. (Wikipedia)

 

Text 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqLI-io6_TU - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcasting corporation. Its main responsibility is to provide impartial public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. It is the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees, with about 23,000 staff. The BBC is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London and has major production centres in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London and Salford and smaller production centres throughout the UK. (Wikipedia)

 

The Daily Mail newspaper article depicts the Public Service Broadcaster as a corrupt and disliked institution. This particular newspaper's mode of address is rather satirical and negative. The writer offers to “assist” the audience to “clamber over the heaped corpses of the BBC's failed, and now sacked, senior executives”. The imagery of death is rather hyperbolic, as it suggests that the BBC affiliates have failed so extremely that it is comparable to death. This is quite a common trait of the Daily Mail that, one could argue, enjoys criticising other institutions that may not share the same values and ideologies of the newspaper. The imagery conjured up by the phrase “heaped corpses” could make the audience think of murder, a completely corrupt representation of a previously well-liked institution. However, it may be a way of convincing the audience that the BBC's actions recently have been dishonest and terrible, which some may agree with. The pictures are cleverly utilised to further this notion of corruption and negativity. The first image depicts people walking out of the BBC building, an obviously innocent act, however, one could infer, from the surrounding body of text, that the walking away is an attempt of escaping. The second image shows the outside of the BBC building on a cloudy day. If pathetic fallacy were to apply here, one could argue that the atmosphere surrounding the BBC is hopeless, depressing and bleak. Both images are rather humorous ones chosen by the Daily Mail to feature in the article. The rather bias imagery created by the text and pictures in the article depict the BBC as a corrupt and tainted institution. 

 

One could argue that Text 2, the promotional BBC text, presents a modernised representation of the institution, rather than a traditional one. The clip features a montage of scenes depicting journalists reporting from unusual areas, such as football pitches and war zones, rather than the traditional studio format. This modern illustration of journalism is presented as a positive trait through the use of low-angled camera shots when looking at the journalists, as if the reporters are important and highly regarded for their dangerous reports. The question that arises is whether this modern take is positive or not. Text 1 depicts this change as a negative, impying that the BBC no longer has its traditional, well-liked values. The article claimed that the new changes made by the 'modernised' BBC create “a serious misfortune for the British people, to whom the old, trustworthy, decent, sometimes boring but sometimes brilliant old-style Auntie BBC meant so much”. One may note the adjective “trustworthy” to contrast with the recent notion of deceitfulness, suggesting that it is not only a loss of tradition, but a loss of actuality to the news. Furthering the notion of loss of reality, one could bring up the debate of censorship. Although danger is implied in Text 2 with a montage of scenes depicting war zones and non-diegetic bangs, no actual tragedies are reported, such as combat and subsequent death. Although these scenes are not shown for viewer safety, one could argue that the truth is being censored, stopping the audience from learning the true nature of events, such as war. Modernity is represented as a positive trait of the BBC in Text 2, with the use of camera angles and a montage of modern, global scenery. However, it is represented as negative by the Daily Mail through the use of contrasting imagery of the "old" (and "trustworthy") and new.

 Text 2 represents the BBC as diverse, showing a montage of scenes appealing to different audiences and their various gratifications. Scenes depicting sports journalists are merged with scenes of war reports and celebrity activity, in order to engage a range of viewers and satisfy uses and gratifications such as entertainment, information, escapism and topics for social conversation. David Attenborough, a BBC affiliate, stated that it is "a responsibility of the BBC to provide programs which have a broad spectrum of interest". The BBC is also represented as culturally diverse. Close ups and long shots depicting Asian children from countries affected by war as well as cast and crew of different cultures are used frequently. This is an example of globalisation, as one could argue the world is becoming ‘smaller’ and more intimate, as people in the Western world, that receive reports from the BBC, learn about cultures and lifestyles different from their own, hopefully strengthening international bonds and lessening prejudice. The global and broad content shown in Text 2's representation of the BBC implies that it is very diverse, not only as a requirement of a PSB, but also to appeal to a wide audience with differing taste and interests.

 Text 2 also represents the BBC as an institution set on discovering and presenting the truth to its audience. A mid shot depicting a camera operator and female reporter in protective clothing in an area that appears to be involved in war and a close up of a reporter reacting to some kind of explosion imply that the BBC strives to document reality to their viewers, regardless of the dangers they may face in the process. The non-diegetic bang that accompanies the startled journalist may be a method of anchoring the notion of danger to the audience, as the noise is rather sudden and unexpected, or to involve the audience, implying a unity and intimacy between the institution and its audience. With the recent allegations of the Programme Editor, Peter Rippon, refusing to air the ‘Newsnight’ concerning the late Jimmy Savile’s abuse case and George Entwistle, the Director General, airing an episode of ‘Newsnight’ that wrongly accused Lord McAlpine of abuse, one could argue that the BBC does not report the truth, or has at least struggled to for the past few months. Text 1 develops this notion by referring to George Entwistle as “unfit” to fulfil his role as Director, possibly due to his airing of the incorrect accusatory 'Newsnight', and calling the BBC, in general, a “grotesquely overblown organisation”. The adjective “overblown” may imply that the institution is relied on by a large number of people to receive the news, and ultimately the truth, which the BBC has not recently delivered. Text 2 attempts to represent the BBC as a truthworthy institution with aspects of danger faced by the journalists, whereas Text 1 desires to expose the insitution as an untrustworthy and corrupt organisation.

 

Text 2 implies that the BBC has a passion for reporting the news. The constant use of the colour red (seen on the logo that remains in the bottom left-hand corner, the ending moving image of the globe and the shoot of colour travelling through television aerials, symbolising the news reaching different households). Red has connotations of passion and love, possibly implying a love of reporting news felt by the BBC. Red also has connotations of danger, which may symbolise the type of news reported, as many of the scenes depict camera operators and journalists in harsh and war-affected areas. One could argue that the repetition of scenes depicting war may contribute to a form of moral panic. The audience may become desensitised to the images they witness on the news, meaning that sad stories of lives lost and continual struggles no longer affect an audience and sadden them the way one would expect, purely because of the constant reporting of warfare. Impressionable audience members may also relate what they see to violent video games they have played or just interpret it as fun. This could be considered a moral panic as it may influence someone to act violently as they are constantly exposed to savage images and have become desensitised to the horrors of military action. Although Text 2 desires to illustrate a passion for reporting the news, the danger of a moral panic is an effect of the constant depicting of war.

The BBC's role as a Public Service Broadcaster means that it must depict the truth to its audience. The recent controversy would imply that this is not being fulfilled by the institution. The Daily Mail article could be argued to revel in the BBC's neglected duties, whereas the BBC 'countdown' text aims to develop the idea that the organisation is a passionate,  truthful and diverse institution.

 

Project X Teenage Representation

For my representation homework, I looked at how teenagers are represented in the newly-established cult movie, Project X.

The ‘blurb’ from Wikipedia states that:

Project X is a 2012 comedy film directed by Nima Nourizadeh in his feature film debut, written by Michael Bacall and Matt Drake based on a story by Bacall, and produced by The Hangover director Todd Phillips. The plot follows ... three friends who plan to gain popularity by throwing a party, a plan which quickly escalates out of their control.
...The film was presented as a home video from the perspective of an attendee using a camera to document the night's events.
Project X was released in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom on March 2, 2012, and grossed over $100 million worldwide during its theatrical run. The film received a mixed-to-negative critical response on release. Criticism focused on the perceived misogyny, mean-spirit, and "loathsome" behaviour of the lead characters, and disregard for the effects of drug use. Following release, incidents of large scale parties referenced or blamed the film as an inspiration.

Teenagers are represented as destructive and immoral. Numerous acts of criminal activity are presented, such as under-age drinking and destruction of property (seen in the image depicting a police car being vandalised from the view point of a police security camera), and these negative events are celebrated. Depending, on one’s discourse, the trailer may be viewed differently. A person with strong morals and little desire for destructiveness might look down upon the trailer’s events. However, a teen with loose morals and one that enjoys dangerous and vulgar behaviour may look upon these actions with respect and amazement. Regardless of discourse, it is clear what the producers of the text want the audience to feel when watching the trailer, through the use of the written code stating that the film is “a celebration of bad behaviour”, suggesting that although these activities are recognised as bad, they are still represented as fun, or a socially constructed image of fun. This caused a ‘moral panic’, as it led to cases of teenagers being reckless and mimicking the behaviour seen in the film. In March 2012, a spring break rave in a Houston mansion, that was meant to emulate Project X, ended in disaster after several attendees fired guns, killing one person as police tried to break up the party. In Florida, an 18 year old sent out an invitation on YouTube, promising the ‘party of a lifetime’ and was arrested after vandalizing a house and causing $20,000 worth of damage with fellow teenagers. This establishes the film as a moral panic, but also demonizes adolescents simply because of a few negative incidents. 

As the night deteriorates, the lighting changes. The high-key lighting where the party-goers are laughing and dancing changes to a low-key lighting when the police become involved and criminal activity begins. The low-key implies negativity and wrong-doing – possibly a method of convincing teenagers that this rebellious behaviour ends badly. Despite this negative result, large scale parties were still carried out, imitating the Project X gathering. This particular trailer screenshot, depicting teenagers wearing hooded jackets may further the stereotype of the ‘hoodie’ culture (a group of ‘folk devils’), being destructive and rebellious as a way of having fun. This is an extremely negative representation of teenagers, as it fails to represent those that abide by laws and morals and value other legal activities.  

This particular screenshot demonstrates how Project X furthers the notion of girls being sexual objects. The teenage boy in the picture is fully clothed, yet the girl is in a bikini. The way in which the boy is holding the girl in this particular scene also implies a sexual relationship dominated by him. Even the angle of the camera implies that women are inferior objects to men. The male is at the forefront of the two shot, and even though the scene prior to this depicted the scantily clad teenage girl alone, the boy is now in control of the situation as he pushes her into the pool. Throughout the trailer, men are seen as the ‘fun loving’ gender and the girls are seen as the ‘objects’ for the men to gaze at. From a feminist point of view, this stereotype being furthered by Project X is an unjust and rather old representation. Women of the 1950s, such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, were seen as objects of male gaze, which was just the common media representation of the time. However nowadays, women such as Germaine Greer and other women that are not seen as sexual objects, rather as figures to be respected, have emerged and revolutionised views on women. One could argue that this film’s representation of women is a ‘set-back’, almost forgetting the positive representation of innovative women and resorting back to older media representations to interest the male gaze and fantasy.     

The up-beat, modern non-digetic music, close-ups of smiling faces and the fast-paced montage editing This shot depicting a teenage boy jumping from a height into the swimming pool is shot, cleverly, with a high-angled camera shot, in order to make the audience look up at him, physically and metaphorically, in an admirable way. Whether or not the audience view his behaviour as exciting or fun, they are forced to look up at him, implying that his way of life is superior and the way life should be. This links to the blurb’s statement “Following release, incidents of large scale parties referenced or blamed the film as an inspiration”. The teenagers replicating this behaviour may have done so in order to fit in and imitate those they view as superior. 

Overall, teenagers are unjustly represented in the trailer for Project X. Not all teenagers engage in criminal activity or large-scale parties. Women are represented as objects of the male gaze, which is a rather sexist view that revolutionary modern media tries to avoid. Despite all of the negative implications, the party within the film is seen as a celebrated and amazing event, even though it ends in destruction and criminality. The producers of this text may have included scenes of rebellion and immorality in order to create and maintain interest or to present ways of life for some teenagers. Since this film was shown globally, media imperialism could apply here, as teenagers from other countries and cultures may mimic the seemingly fun, but ultimately negative behaviour they see. Teenagers are represented as the cause of problems, crime and corruption in society, which may be the case for certain individuals, but not for adolescents as a unit.   

Sources:

http://www.zimbio.com/Movie+News/articles/UQaZU2CXlg1/Project+X+Influences+Vandalism+Death

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rl1TJG17Wk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_X_(2012_film)

http://www.opplol.com/downloads4/project_x_movie_poster.jpg