How does the newspaper coverage change as the riots progress?

‘Decent into Hell’ - 09th August 2011

• Lists the extreme violence– Large areas of the capital burned as mindless

thugs fought pitched battles with police, with violence spreading to West London as the windows of Hugo Boss on Sloane Square were reportedly smashed.

– Children as young as eight were seen throwing bottles at hard-pressed officers.

– The anarchy spread round the country as Birmingham was also hit by looting and violence broke out in Liverpool early today.

– Police confirmed riots in Bristol amid reports of fires and looting in the city.

– Meanwhile a Sony distribution centre the size of a football pitch collapsed in flames in Enfield, North London, after being hit.

– Yobs used bins and shopping trolleys to smash their way into a sports store. An off-duty bus driver said: “They were like animals. It’s very frightening.”

London riot cost to hit £100m10th Aug 2011

• BRITISH insurers face a bill running into “hundreds of millions of pounds” from the London riots, it was claimed last night. Thousands of homeowners and companies are expected to seek damages from the carnage of the past three days. But the huge cost is likely to be passed on to TAXPAYERS. Insurers last night admitted they expect to recover their costs from the Police Compensation Scheme. This kicks in when disturbances are legally defined as “riots”.

National looteryCameron fights back after 4th day of violence

• HUNDREDS of copycat rioters rampaged through Manchester last night — looting, wrecking and setting shops ablaze.

• Armed mobs took to the streets on a fourth day of violence that has spread across the country.

• The number of cops deployed in the capital was increased to 16,000 — up from 6,000. London remained largely peaceful with 81 arrests, bringing the total to 768.

• And Prime Minister David Cameron said today that there was evidence the “more robust approach to policing in London” was behind the much quieter night in the capital.

• The PM spoke after another meeting of the Cobra emergency committee. He declared the "fight-back" against violence was under way against the yobs who smashed up Britain’s cities.

• David Cameron also included measures to help prevent further violence– Whatever tactics the police feel they need to employ, they will have legal backing to do so.– “Police are already authorised to use baton rounds.

10th August onwards more news coverage about different areas – not just London

• In MANCHESTER, hooded yobs armed with baseball bats ransacked stores in the Arndale Centre while another mob torched a Miss Selfridge. To see dramatic footage of the youth starting the fire at the store

• In SALFORD, young thugs torched a BBC radio truck and set fire to a housing office. A gang of 100 louts set cars alight near Salford Shopping Centre — then pelted firefighters with stones.

• In BIRMINGHAM, cops were last night investigating reports that a gun was fired during fresh rioting in the city that saw 80 people arrested. Around 500 rioters also taunted police near Birmingham’s Bullring centre after thugs tried to force their way into a watch store. Thirty yobs stole jewellery from a shop in the city centre after hurling manhole covers through the windows. Small gangs attempted to blockade the main routes into the city using bricks scavenged from building sites and wasteland as well as smashing glass across the road.

• In WOLVERHAMPTON, hundreds of youths invaded the city centre, smashing windows and vandalising buildings. A boy of around 12 was seen throwing stones at a police van.

• LIVERPOOL was hit by a second night of violence as thugs targeted fire engines with missiles.

After this date there are reports of repercussions

• Court procedures• Jail• Olympics girl is London 'riot yob‘– Olympic ambassador was sent to jail over taking

part in the riots• Even blamed the riots on the participants

parents– ‘Riots blamed on poor parenting’

How is the newspaper coverage being mediated?

The headline ‘‘Rioters ages 7’’ amplifies the hard hitting use of the specific age shocks the readers

Mediation

Every time we encounter a media text, we are not seeing reality, but another version. Such as in papers as the audience are being encouraged towards concentrating on one

aspect of the text, such as the headlines as they have to be eye catching to they grab the audiences attention.

language and imageryEverything we see or hear in the media is in fact mediated, the process of filtering the message is manipulated for the viewers;

• ‘‘Descent into hell as London burns’’ this article title is really dramatic and grasps the attention of the readers. ‘‘Woman leaps to safety from riot inferno’’ in Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol. - The language used throughout the article all relates to fire and the connotations of fire is danger, fear, enhancing the violence and terror that the riots are inflicting.

• ‘‘Large areas of the capital burned as mindless thugs fought pitched battles with police, with violence spreading to West London as the windows of Hugo Boss on Sloane Square were reportedly smashed.’’ - The word thugs highlights the stereotypical ideal of youths and battles shows the way that the media are amplifying the riots as a battle between classes.

• ‘‘Children as young as eight were seen throwing bottles at hard-pressed officers.’’ - The articles from The Sun also focus very much on the age of the rioters and constantly refereeing to them as young as eight which again enhances the outrage that British youths are becoming more and more influence to violence at a young age.

language and imagery

‘‘On the prowl ... a masked lout marauds through burning Hackney yesterday’’

This statement that The Sun has described with this image involves ‘prowl’. This gives the youths a animalistic trait making them seem more savage like, distancing them away from human beings as they rioted around London. The also use of ‘burning’ indicates that they no longer describe Hackney as a town but as burning highlighting the idea that its being destroyed and soon becoming the habitat for the rioters that the police need to claim back to a restored society.

language and imagery• ‘‘A woman called Caroline told how her husband was dragged off his motorbike by a baying mob of 12

hooded youths, who beat and kicked him, then took his bike. She said: “He is in a real state and we can’t get to him. This is just sheer criminality. These people have no cause.”

• ‘‘HACKNEY descended into a war zone after the rioting broke out about 5pm. Senior cops were checking reports that the violence was sparked by a stop and search. Three police cars were destroyed in daylight and another vehicle still ablaze as darkness descended. ‘’- The language used especially a ‘‘warzone’’ which amplifies the battle that was occurring creating a more dramatic description of the events.

• ‘‘EIGHT police officers were hospitalised following rioting in North London last night.’’ The use of the capital letter highlights the outrage that eight police officers were submitted to hospital, which shows the lack of respect to the authority of society.

Images from the papers

Who’s perspective is the article/paper written from?

The article is written from the perspective of adults and perhaps middle or upper class to highlight the occurrence of the moral panic (Cohen 1972) of the riots. The theory of McRobbie (2004) shows the representations and emphasis of the middle class and its dominance and depict the working class in negative ways. The perspective also use Gramsic's theory of (1971) Cultural Hegemony which argues the idea that one social class which is usually middle class and upper class societies go on to dominate a society by making their way of life and values appear normal, juxtaposing the youths and the rioting. Giroux (1997) shows that media representations of young people are constructed by adults, because of this they reflect adults concerns and anxieties.

The Sun: Moral Panic in the London Riots

Moral Panic created from the front covers

• Showing buildings on fire shows how violent the rioters are. It makes people worry about if their houses could end up on fire due to the riot.

• The people they’ve captured in the photographs look intimidating as their faces are covered and they’re wearing dark clothing. It creates moral panic as you can’t see the identity of who is involved in the violent protesting. They are portrayed as the type of people you’d want to avoid in the streets.

• Moral Panic is created for the older generation as the paper is focusing on mainly youths in the riots. Mentioning the rioters ages emphasises how young some of the people are that are getting involved.

Moral Panic in the articles• The language used “Riots Ravage Tottenham” is quite extreme and

emotive. The word “ravage” is quite animalistic portraying how the media sees the youths.

• Moral Panic is created by emphasising the fact that “EIGHT police officers were hospitalized…” The word “EIGHT” is written in capital letters to highlight the number. This creates moral panic making the public feel that if the police are getting injured and can’t stop the riots, no one is safe.

• “Cops battle riots across London”. The word “battle” creates moral panic as it implies that a kind of war is happening. Innocent people living in the local areas would be shocked that this is happening near them and would be frightened of it.

What identity is being constructed for the British youths shown in this

coverage?

Represented in tracksuit, bottoms, the stereotypical hoodie and trainers.

Hoodie and bandana

‘Mindless Violence’

Fire walking away from the scene he’s just created.

Striking headline.

Destruction ... yobs kick in the window of a jewellery store near Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre

Hoodies and caps worn representing the stereotypical youth.

Caught in the act violently smashing window.

Stereotypical gang.

Named as ‘yobs’.

Chaos ... yob in front of blazing car in Hackney

Covering of face.

Striking image of scene

Named as ‘yob’.