Wednesday 14 September 2011

The London Riots

A few of you have admitted that you don't read or watch the news as much as you should. It is important that you start to become more involved in current affairs so that you can understand how the media works, how different viewpoints might be put across and be able to deconstruct an article and the messages (or ideology) behind it.

Below is a link to a clip of coverage of the London Riots which took place in August 2011.

Note that the clip is from BBC News and consider the style they use to present stories and the things that they choose to include or miss out. Is social media (twitter/facebook/bbm) to blame for the riots?

UK London Riots Coverage (Youtube)


Here are various newpaper front pages from the same time.  

Look at these closely and consider the different messages given out by different papers and the way that they present their stories in print form. (Think about images used, language in the headline and the focus of the story.)













Please write comments in the box at the bottom of the post. This can include ideas on how the rioters/police/government are presented, the different styles that the newspapers use, what has been included or missed and your own thoughts on the events in London. We will discuss this further in a lesson so be prepared to have something to say!



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5 comments:

  1. Ms Campbell14 September 2011 at 12:19

    The BBC have been criticised for 'left-wing' coverage of the riots (if you don't know what this means you should look it up!). The link below to The Telegraph focuses on how the rioters were sometimes referred to as 'protesters'. Consider this when you watch the BBC footage - does the coverage present the rioters in a favourable light?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8690267/London-riots-BBC-criticised-for-branding-thugs-as-protesters.html

    Also have a look at this debate which was on Sky News. They are discussing (or in John Prescott's case, shouting in a rude manner) whether Facebook and Twitter should be shut down in times of social unrest:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJOSZLH3rlA

    Who will be the first brave person to post a comment? There might be a prize...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alex Shiel17 September 2011 at 08:26

    Majority of papers headline how the police are fighting back except the sun which goes with 'shop a moron' showing its a more colloquial paper than others

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amelia18 September 2011 at 13:25

    Many of the papers present the police in a bad way through the headlines. For example- The Guardian: “Police get tough” and The Star- “We’ll shoot the looters” This is interesting because they are the ones trying to stop and prevent the riots but the messages can be seen in a negative way by different people.

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  4. HashimKazmi18 September 2011 at 13:37

    These papers are showing the audience the actions the government and police are undertaking and in some cases what actions the public are expected to take as well such as 'shop a moron' by The Sun

    ReplyDelete
  5. Usamah Qaiser18 September 2011 at 15:38

    The different newspapers are telling the same story but each one portrays it in a different way. For example newspapers like the Daily star which exagerates the message from the goverment, "We'll shoot the looters" in comparision to the Guardian which says "police get tough". This shows that the newspaper caters for their own audience, by using their own style.

    ReplyDelete

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