Net Delusion - CIA edits Wikipedia

This happened a few years ago but it's still interesting.

Wikipedia 'shows CIA page edits'    Daily Telegraph  The Guardian

AS Gender Identity - Hamleys Toy Store

Hamleys -previously a hotbed of Gender Apartheid.

Toy store Hamleys has stopped labelling floors in blue and pink for boys and girls.  Real life example of Gender Identity, nature v. nurture etc etc and whatnot.

Read all about it here and here and here and also

 Pink v Blue - are children born with gender preferences?Hamleys has abandoned its toy shop 'gender apartheid', scrapping its separate floors for boys and girls and their respective blue and pink signs. Are colour and toy preference dictated by nature or nurture?

A2 Mass Media Revision Quiz!

What could be more funner than a revision quiz on the mass media unit?  That's right, nothing could be more funner!  Are you looking for that kind of fun?  Of course you are and here it is!

(note: it's designed for a different exam board but I still think it would be fun to do it!)  Have fun, funsters!

A2 Media Effects and Control - Globalisation - Disneyfication - Net Delusion - Jon Ronson

Here's what we would have looked at in today's lesson if the laptops had worked.

Media Effects

The Globalisation and the Media video

A Reader’s Guide To Disneyfication  How Disney magic and the corporate media shape youth identity 

Architects have accused Istanbul’s City Hall of presiding over the “disneyfication” of a once-vibrant ottoman neighbourhood


Media Control - Internet - Net Delusion

The Valley of the Clueless  read this and follow the links (have pasted a couple below), discussing the US policy towards the internet and China, he mentions a couple of good examples from The Net Delusion and also the attacks (both in cyberspace and in the real world) against Iran allegedly by the US or Israel.

US Internet declaration bugs China      The sabotaging of Iran


Video about 60 years of Radio Free Europe


Jon Ronson: Is net freedom under attack? Introducing a new series about attempts to control the online world

AS Ethnic Identity - Popular Culture - Hip Hop

Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It

'Paul Gilroy (1992) argues that young African-Caribbeans often adopt identities based around influential media role models such as 50 Cent and So Solid Crew.  Gangsta rap and hip-hop, in particular, have been powerful influences, and oftent the adoption of aspects of the gangsta rap lifestyle symbolise opposition to white society.  Kellner (1995) agrees and notes that rap music is a means of expressing black identity in what is perceived by African-Caribbeans as a hostile and racist environment' (Collins textbook).

So, I have collected a few examples of gangsta rap and also some Public Enemy stuff.  Yeah boyeeee!

50 Cent - Pimp

50 Cent is an idiot.

Dre and Snoop - 187 (Undercover Cop)

'187' is American Police Radio Code for 'murder'.  In this charming little number, Dre and Snoop discuss the urgent need too '187' an 'undercover cop'.  It's from the film 'Deep Cover' which I heartily recommend.

The Notorious B.I.G. - Gimme the Loot

I prefer  'Going back to Cali'  but '...Loot' is a better example of a track purely about committing crime.


Wu Tang Clan  C.R.E.A.M.

N.W.A  do not like the police one little bit.   

NWA - F tha police  and an amusing comedy sketch about it  here

Ice Cube was very pleased with his Xmas present.

Da Lench Mob - Buck Tha Devil    Freedom got an AK

Da Lench Mob  were formed by Ice Cube and are sort of halfway between the pure mindless gangsta violence of 'Gimme the Loot' and the political awareness of Public Enemy.  Members of the Nation of Islam, they were obsessed with AK47's and crime but they also wrote about the problems of racism in society caused by 'tha devil' which in this case refers to 'whitey'.  'Buck tha Devil' therefore, is a delightfully up-tempo number about eradicating the problem of racism in society by shooting all the white people.


And let's not forget the UK G's repping their endz!

Dizzee and Wiley - a history of 'beef'.

 Wiley - Gangsters  and  Dizzee Rascal Where da G's?  Sirens

K Koke - NOT an Idiot in any way whatsoever.

K Koke  'Gangster Life'  I had never heard of this chap and when I saw his picture I thought he was less gangster, more half-wit shelf-stacker with an ill-fitting hat.  However, I have since done some research and it turns out he spent most of this year on remand for murder.  Therefore I will not be 'dissing' him in any way whatsoever, so that I may avoid any possible 'beef' and subsequent 'caps' being 'busted' in the vicinity of my 'ass'.


It's not all drive-by shootings, Tec-9's and spinning rims...

Public Enema

Public Enemy were/are not gangsta rappers, the documentary 'Prophets of Rage' explains why not in far more detail than I can.

Public Enemy - Fight the Power


Prophets of Rage - BBC4 documentary on Public Enemy  Part 1

This is what happens when you listen to gangsta rap

AS Ethnic Identity - Street Gangs

Gangs and Crime general stuff

'Postcode gangs' stalk East End

Postcode gang violence and killings will rise as budgets are cut, says MP

Police identify 169 London gangs

Bangladeshi street gangs - East London  1 and 2

Centre for Social Justice Report on Gangs - 'Dying to Belong'

Street gangs are not a new phenomenon

A typical street gang.  This one, I believe, is called 'The Hampstead Bumcheeks'.

AS Ethnic Identity - Tony Sewell - African Caribbean Identity

The Collins textbook mentions Tony Sewell and his 1996 study arguing that peer group pressure is extremely influential among disaffected African-Caribbean youth in British inner cities.  To extend your knowledge, here are some further articles by or about Sewell and his work.

'When it comes to black boys, peer group values are pushing out parental control'

Racism is not the problem Warwick University's accusation of institutional racism in schools undermines teachers and fails to answer important questions.

Black boys are too feminised  More than racism, the absence of father figures is the main problem holding back black kids in school

Black students and the glass ceiling


Gangsta culture spreading

In this email exchange, Lee Jasper and Dr Tony Sewell argue over why so many black boys under-achieve at school

AS Ethnic Identity - African Caribbean Identity and Religion

Pentecostals

Pentecostalism

Seventh Day

Seventh Day Adventist

Rastafari

Rastafari

Malcolm X

Nation of Islam

Black Muslims  Note:  Be aware that there are important differences between Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam and 'traditional' Islam.

AS Ethnic Identity - Institutional Racism - Police and Schools

Institutional Racism - Police:

1999  2009   The Murder of Stephen Lawrence


Institutional Racism - Schools:

The Guardian 2008   The Independent

For the opposing argument, see this post which contains articles by Tony Sewell discussing other factors, other than racism in schools, that may be affecting black pupils.

AS Ethnic Identity - Stop and Search

This post is under construction, I will explain how the police stop and search tactics relate to ethnic identity later on but in the meantime here's a link to a related survey on the Riots of Summer 2011

Stop and Search 2011

BBC News from 11 april 2011:

Thirty years ago Brixton saw a series of disturbances that changed London for ever.

'We were racist' says Brixton riot police officer

Click here!

AS Ethnic Identity - Examples of Hybrid Culture

Music

Apache Indian     Jay-Sean  Asian Dub Foundation


Film  East is East

Language - London Patois

AS Ethnic Identity - Sample Questions and Answers

During your revision you might like to try these questions on Ethnic Identity, if you're not too busy drinking floor polish and fighting sailors in the street.

Define the concept of hybridity  (8 marks)

Outline and explain two ways in which ethnic identities are created
and reinforced. (16 marks)

Outline and briefly evaluate the view that peer groups are responsible
for the creation of ethnic hybrids in the contemporary UK. (24 Marks)

THEN you CLICK HERE  to see a revision chapter from one of the textbooks which includes SAMPLE ANSWERS to these questions! 

Inside Job - Documentary - How the Financial Crisis happened.

Charles Ferguson's excellent documentary explains how the financial industry destroyed the world and got away with it.  Not really relevant to the sociology course but very interesting and useful nonetheless.
Watch it here!

Muppet Movies are communist plots! FOX FACT!

Are you frightened of Muppets?  These people are...

Read all about it.

Then watch the video...

Another typical Fox News story.

Media Control - Egypt and China

Watch this, funkateers!

Last week, we returned to Tahrir Square, where the world watched Egyptians rise up for the second time since Mubarak's fall. This week we have stayed put - to make sure we chronicle media coverage of the country's first parliamentary elections in the post-Mubarak era - and to keep up with the changing landscape of the media itself, including: a state owned broadcasting powerhouse losing credibility fast; an explosion of new private channels with their own agendas; the activists still driving the revolution online; and the warnings to women reporters to stay out of Egypt that were politely ignored. Our Newsdivide this week keeps its focus on Egypt, as the country and its media undergoes transition.

In our Newsbytes this week: A cable TV operator in Pakistan threatens to drop foreign news channels airing "anti- Pakistani content" - the first in the firing line: the BBC; Julian Assange is awarded Australia's version of the Pulitzer and a DC journalist is temporarily suspended from a press club after asking a member of the Saudi royal family some uncomfortable questions.


Our feature this week: Should the state control what society wants to see? These days it seems hardly a week goes by without the authorities in Beijing issuing some new rule dealing with the media. The latest is a ban on advertising during TV dramas - the idea being to keep viewers from hitting the remote during the programme. Before that, the government announced the end of a wildly successful talent show. Among the other changes to what the government calls its 'Cultural Development Guidelines': internet companies being told to keep a closer eye on online content and journalists told they cannot report news stories found online or via phone networks without first getting official verification. Listening Post's Meenakshi Ravi reports on China's new media campaign and how the party is tightening its control over television and the web.

The Day Today and The Onion- Media - News satire.

In the days before TV became Cowell's personal plaything and therefore lost its appeal to all but the brainless, 'The Day Today' was satirising the conventions of formulaic news broadcasting.  It's tres amusing.  I think this link will take you to a full episode.  If not, have a look on the internet yourself, do I have to do everything for you?! 

                                                                         The Day Today


Meanwhile, over in the USA, if Fox News isn't hilarious enough for you, then The Onion News Network is superb.   This video is one of my favourites and, let's face it, my taste is significantly better than yours.

Representation in the Media: Gender, Age, Ethnicity and Class

Behold!  Herein I shall place links to various resources that can be utilised by both AS and A2 for the units on media representation of various identities.  It shall be an ongoing project and hence the contents of this post will not be exhaustive by any means.  Nonetheless, I hope, nay, I pray that they will be of some use to you in your ceaseless quest for knowledge. Bon chance, mes enfants!

“The media do not merely represent; they also recreate the world as desirable, and saleable. What they reproduce is chosen, not random, not neutral, and not without consequence”. (Patricia J. Williams)


Proper Studies!

Still a Man’s Game:  Gender Representation in Online Reviews of Video Games

The virtual census: representations of gender, race and age in video games

'A Content Analysis of Gender Differences in Children's Advertising'

Children, Television and Gender Roles

Offensive Ethnic Clichés in Movies: Drugs, Sex, and Servility

Mockery and Morality in Popular Cultural Representations of the White, Working Class



General Stuff

This site looks very good for resources

Media Stereotypes

Representation of Age in the media

Gender

Ethnicity

Studying Media Representations

Media Awareness Network


Media blog with posts/videos on representation

Age

Youth   Youth 2

Ethnicity


Another blog on media

And don't forget my previous post on Age Identity videos!



Childhood

Kids - what the papers say

On Wednesday 22 April, a conference was held in London, UK, to discuss the representation of children in the media


Youth

Media demonises teenagers

Behind the stereotypes

Young people media portrayal

The concept of youth


The Elderly

BBC 'One Foot in the Grave'.

Damn you, Disney!

Elder stereotypes in media & popular culture


BBC - Are pensioners stereotyped?   1   2   3





BBC 'Last of the Summer Wine'

 



Class

White Working Class  and this

Watch this on class in media

This blog post explains how several songs by 60's group The Kinks can be related to class.


Ethnicity

Gender, Race and Media representation

BBC: TV 'failing ethnic minorities'

BBC: How Entertainment Changed - The media and multicultural Britain

Can Gramsci's theory of hegemony help us to understand the representation of ethnic minorities in western television and cinema?

Ethnic minorities and the Media

Cadbury accused of racial stereotyping in chocolate advert

Racial stereotype bingo ad is banned

KFC ad accused of racism


Islam

‘The British Media and Muslim Representation: The Ideology of Demonisation’

From Aladdin to Lost Ark, Muslims get angry at 'bad guy' film images

Islam and the Western Media   Stereotypes and misconceptions about Islam in the media are rooted in prejudice, and ignorance, says Bassil Akel.

Why the terrorism scare is a moral panic.

My Name is Khan    Wiki page  "My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist"
Revision

The role of the mass media in representations of age, class, ethnicity, gender...'

Life in North Korea - BBC Documentary

Continuing my frankly bizarre obsession with North Korea, here are parts 1 and 2 of a BBC documentary called  'State of Mind'.      Part 1 Part 2 

And another documentary with good info on media control in 'North Korea - Suspicious Minds'

 Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

North Korea tries to avoid detection by turning all the lights off.

It's not all jackboots-crushing-your-face, famine and pitch-black darkness though, Korea has just hit the top of the pops in the corruption charts!

Weird Facts about the late Dear Leader (video!)    article

AS Age Identity - Videos and that.

So, like, at the moment yeah, we're like totally doing Age Identity in the AS lessons, yeah?  Yeah.  So, like, I said I'd, like, put some videos and that on the blog, yeah?  Yeah, so I done that here, yeah? Nice one.

Watch these...

Old Age

Here are two videos featuring Iggy Pop

Now  and  Then

Does he look/act like you'd expect a man in his sixties to look/act?

                                     Movie Trailer - Harry Brown

                   Is this a typical portrayal of an old man?

The song 'My Generation' is very useful for Age Identity essays because of the line 'Hope I die before I get old'.  Originally by The Who  it has recently been covered by The Zimmers  and Robbie Williams has also done ''Hope I'm old before I die' giving you several views about old age from different perspectives.

Youth

Here's what some sections of the media think young people are like  but I prefer this


 
Youth Subcultures

Extensive list of subcultures from wiki





A Mod.  They didn't all look this ridiculous.



Mods and Rockers (1960's) here.

Film - Quadrophenia (trailer)

Hippies (1960's/70's)

History Channel documentary on Hippies

Avoid Acid and Bombs, that's my advice.

Punk (1970's)

This man used to advocate smashing the state. 
He now sells butter. 
Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

Sex Pistols  BBC documentary on Punk 



Skinheads  (1970's/80's)

Movie - This is England (trailer)

Skinheads and Reggae    Brighton Skinheads


Skateboarding Culture - Dogtown and Z-Boys (full movie)

Get a job, divot.

Acid House/Rave  1990's

Movie - Human Traffic  (trailer)

Altern-8

Music videos!  

Altern-8 'E-vapor-8'

The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode

Zero Zero – Zeroxed

Documentary

Documentary on Acid House Summer of 1989

'The Star is not a truth-seeking enterprise.'

The Leveson Inquiry continues to enthusistically throw up more chunks of tabloid vomit into the ever increasing lake of shame-puke lapping at the embarrassed feet of a society that pretends it wasn't eager to pay for the papers that funded this filth. 

Read this one to see the full context of the Star quote above.  Then check out this one in which ex-tabloid hack Paul McMullan tells some exciting stories, including the time he 'paid one "rent boy" £2,000, then dressed up as another to expose a priest. Having snapped the picture of the reverend in flagrante, the two ran off in their underpants "through a nunnery at midnight" to get the story safely into the paper.'  

Ethnic Identity - Ethnic variation in prison sentences

We'll be looking at ethnic identity soon, in another one of my bowel-shatteringly exciting lessons, which will include some details about how identity can be affected by the different treatment received by different groups at the hands of the merciless hounds of the law.  Here is an article relating to a study carried out by The Guardian (that's a newspaper, you may have seen it on the magazine racks when you are looking for the latest copy of 'Activities for Simpletons Monthly' or whatever drivel you like to read on the commode). It says offenders from ethnic minorities are more likely than their white counterparts to be sentenced to prison for certain categories of crimes, and this is based on analysis of more than one million court records.

Once you've digested this, take a look at this which looks at how many judges are white, middle class and Oxbridge educated.  Could these issues be related? 

Gender Identity in the Media - Female Action Roles

'Stop portraying me as a housewife!  Eat hot lead, mysoginists of the media!'

As we have seen during some of my bladder-burstingly exciting lessons, 'the laydeez' often get a raw deal in TV and Movie roles, where they are often portrayed as weak and/or flawed in some way and best relegated to the kitchen and/or whorehouse, depending on which idiot/pervert is directing the production in question. In exam questions relating to this kind of stuff it is useful to have a few examples of women being cast in strong roles to balance the many examples to the the contrary. Hence my decision to post this link to an article about 'the next wave of celluloid superheroines'.  Read it, chumps.

Why you should read journalism...

This is just to make it easier for you to find interesting things to read.  I know how busy you are, scratching your nether regions and trying to work out what you had for dinner last night by sniffing your own emissions.  This bloke has gone to the trouble of collecting about 100 interesting pieces of journalism from 2010.  I salute him!

Have a look!  There's all sorts of stuff.  Drugs, Jesus, violence, all your favourite things!

AS Class Identity - The Great British Class Survey

What social class are you?!  I don't think you're even human, I doubt you can even legitimately class yourself as a 'mammal' BUT WHY NOT PROVE ME WRONG BY TAKING THIS BBC SURVEY ON CLASS!  YEAH!

Do the Class Survey!

You can read about the survey here. You won't, you're too lazy, but the offer still stands.

Too stupid to complete a survey?  HERE'S SOME VIDEOS INSTEAD!  Let me hear you grunt your approval!

Videos! Grunt! Grunt!

Mass Media - Agenda Setting

For the A2 class...

Agenda Setting Theory    

THE AGENDA-SETTING FUNCTION OF MASS MEDIA this is one of the big studies, by MAXWELL E. McCOMBS AND DONALD L. SHAW

Agenda Setting theory



Examples of agenda setting

This site has lots of stuff you should look at in general regarding Mass Media for revision etc

And here are a couple of  links 1  2 that relate specifically to agenda setting


and also this one looks interesting!

Media Effects - Psywar - Chomsky

A loose assortment of links for you, starting with some straightforward stuff about media effects:

1   2

Here's an essay by Mr Chomsky on  What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream

The real mass media are basically trying to divert people. Let them do something else, but don’t bother us (us being the people who run the show). Let them get interested in professional sports, for example. Let everybody be crazed about professional sports or sex scandals or the personalities and their problems or something like that. Anything, as long as it isn’t serious. Of course, the serious stuff is for the big guys. "We" take care of that.


And a documentary called PSYWAR which may or may not be made by a conspiracy theorist/911 truther.  Here are a couple of reviews discussing it 1   2

Media Effects - FILM - David Cronenberg VIDEODROME

A2 lesson - This film is almost 30 years old but it's worth a look.  Your task is to read all about it, there are links below, then watch it via the medium of youtube (link below 'Videodrome Part 1') as part of homework.

1  2   3   4  5   6   7

Videodrome part 1


Reading up on Marshall McLuhan and his books such as 'The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects' (1967) might not be a bad idea, as well.

Is the Internet really good for democracy? BOOK 'The Net Delusion' by Evgeny Morozov

We've been looking at media control and power in A2 lessons and 'The Net Delusion' is a good example of the argument that the new media forms are not going to be as much as a force for freedom as we might hope.  The author argues that the internet is not as close to samizdat as we might have been led to believe.

“Where new media and the Internet truly excel is in suppressing boredom.  Previously, boredom was one of the few truly effective ways to politicize the population denied release values for channeling their discontent, but this is no longer the case.” (p. 80)  He continues on: “Those of us rooting for the further spread of democracy around the globe must stop dreaming and face reality: The Internet has provided so many cheap and easily available entertainment fixes to those living under authoritarianism that is has become considerably harder to get people to care about politics at all.” (p. 81)




Check out the links for reviews and discussion, and there's a video of the author discussing 'How the net aids dictatorships' as well. 

Book website     Excerpts from the book   Review in The Guardian   Review from Behind The Spin

More detailed review and discussion here, with more links included at end

VIDEO The Author talks

Is digital activism an effective medium for change? Malcolm Gladwell 2010


AND as an added bonus, taken from the list in the post below this one, here's ANOTHER TED TALK that seems to be taking the OPPOSING VIEW!  How cool is that?!  (answer: very).

How cellphones, twitter, facebook can make history   a TED Talk by Clay Shirky that demonstrates how emerging social tools “help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors.”

Influence of Media on Society: GOOD FOR AS AND A2 - websites and videos

This blog here is the shizzle for videos and whatnot. I've taken the really relevant stuff and posted it below to make it easier for you to access.

Influence of Media on Society:

 Killing Us Softly 3 – Jean Kilbourne’s popular presentation on women in advertising.

 Dove Evolution – This is a popular advertisement from Dove’s ‘Campaign For Real Beauty’. While the video is well done, there has since been some criticism of Dove’s ownership of Axe with it’s very contradictory style of advertising.

Dove Onslaught – Also from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, this video illustrates the incredible impact of advertising on adolescent girls.

Birth Control: Current – Comedian Sarah Haskins has developed an excellent series of videos that take a humorous look at ads targeting women. For a complete list of Haskins’ videos, view this previous post on the subject.

 Video Games & Sex – This is an excellent presentation by Daniel Floyd regarding the place of sex and sexuality in video games as a media genre. The video covers a brief history of sex in gaming which has been primarily exploitative and superficial. Floyd then argues, if video games are to be seen as an emerging artistic medium, the treatment of sex in video games needs to be more sophisticated and mature. (Note: this video may not be suitable for minors.)

 Boys Beware – This was an anti-homosexual propaganda film from the 1950′s. In light of recent anti-gay marriage ads, it (unfortunately) appears similar propaganda continues to be broadcast.

 How Cellphones, Twitter, Facebook Can Make History – This is an excellent TED Talk by Clay Shirky that demonstrates how emerging social tools “help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors.”

 Story of Stuff – This video doesn’t directly look at how media affects society. Rather, it takes a very critical and eye-opening look at the life cycle of goods and services. It is definitely worth watching and sharing.


There's also some related MEDIA stuff here which is probably more relevant to the A2 class:

History of Technology & Media:

The Growing Phenomenon of Internet – This is a 1993 CBC report on the emergence of the Internet. It is interesting to watch this early media account of the Internet and to think about how much has changed in only 16 years. Additionally, the techno-utopianism of this report is striking.

 A Communications Primer – The ephemeral piece is an instructional film created in 1953 for IBM by Ray & Charles Eames with music by Elmer Bernstein. The video presents communications theory that is remarkably accurate, even before the age of the Internet.

 Internet Power – This is a 1995 educational video about the entertainment value of the Internet. While parts of the video demonstrate the great technological gains we have made, other parts make me question the gains regarding the mindset of the majority of Internet users.

How the News Works – This is a short, anti-corporate explanation of how the mainstream media functions.

The Internet in 1969 – This is a late 1960′s video describing futuristic technologies that resemble today’s Internet affordances.

Television Delivers People – This video is purported as “a seminal work in the now well-established critique of popular media as an instrument of social control that asserts itself subtly on the populace through ‘entertainments’, for the benefit of those in power-the corporations that maintain and profit from the status quo.” The style of this video is just ripe to be emulated.


AND ONE MORE I PICKED OUT!...

Chomsky's 'Manufacturing Consent' documentary on Propaganda

AS Class Identity - Unpaid Internships - a barrier that stops the poor getting the best jobs?

Many of the exciting and glamorous jobs that people want to do in the Media, Industry, Fashion and Politics require you to work for free for a certain amount of time. This is called an 'internship' and some people say that it favours the rich who can afford to work for free to secure these highly sought-after jobs.

So, in terms of what we have looked at regarding the way the upper class tries to keep those from the lower classes from joining the upper class, read these articles below and have a think!

1   2   3

Media Censorship, Power and Control - DOCUMENTARY Germany's records of repression - The Stasi

Watch it here.


On August 13, 1961, 50 years ago this month, the Berlin Wall went up in Germany. This barrier divided a country, segregated families and separated friends, and its existence would cast a pall over the country for the next 20 years.

As a stark symbol of the Cold War, the wall existed in an era of fear, secrecy and heightened political tension, and those that lived in its shadow would know the painful repercussions of its hardliner policies. For what followed in the years of a divided Germany was a surveillance culture brought on by one of the largest and most feared secret service organisations in the world - the Stasi.

Founded in 1950, the Stasi was charged with keeping tabs on all the people living in East Germany, or what was then officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It compiled millions of photos, audio and video tapes, and paper files about its citizens. As a result, thousands of people were subjected to intimidation and torture by the Stasi. Many were imprisoned, while others were prevented from getting jobs or going to university. The aim was not only to thwart professional aspirations, but to destroy the personal lives of those that opposed the regime.

At its height, the Stasi had over 102,000 officers and nearly a quarter of a million of its own citizens spying on family members, neighbours and colleagues. In 1989, while the Berlin Wall crumbled, senior Stasi officials ordered the destruction of the files they had collected for over 40 years. Data gathered by the Stasi was frantically shredded to destroy evidence, but after protesters stormed the headquarters to stop the destruction, nearly 95 per cent was saved.

Censorship - Media Control - Assorted articles - A2 OCR Sociology Media

For the A2 class, relating to power and control of the media, a selection of additional reading for your perusal...

The 10 Most Censored Countries

Censorship

this one

and this

and this    and this   and this   this   this   this

Social Class Identity - News Articles and more...

Primarily for the AS class, here are a selection of articles relating to class, meritocracy and education. 

It took about ten mins on Google to collect all these, most of them were linked to each other on the Guardian website so I just followed those.  They are very useful as additional reading to broaden your knowledge for the exam and life in general.  The more you read, the more you know and the better you can do in your exams!  Of course, you are free to ignore them and remain in your present position, i.e shrouded in a thick fog of ignorance.  A really good student would read them and take notes, particularly relating to studies mentioned, statistics, examples, the author and source of the article and a general summary of what the article is about.   I know, it's a crazy idea but it just might work!

Read them here...

1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11


Bonus Material!  Yeah!  Here is it...

These good people do a whole lotta research etc on poverty and inequality, they are very useful to know about...

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation



Full text of study by Mike Savage on:

Changing Social Class Identities in Post-War Britain: Perspectives from Mass-Observation

Workless families: a convenient untruth. A belief in inherited underclass idleness is spreading, but in reality multiple generations who have never worked is very rare

Churnalism in today's Daily Express - John Lewis Xmas Ad

I don't read the Daily Express because I have a functioning brain but I was having breakfast in a cafe this morning and someone, most likely an idiot, had left a copy on the table so I looked at it in order to avoid having to see the other patrons of the cafe who were a bit too plebeian for my taste. 

If you're looking for free biscuits, this is the newspaper for you!  If you're looking for quality journalism, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed.

Anyway, the front page featured the usual rubbish, revolving around some decision taken by the EU which the journalist had deliberately blown out of all proportion in order to produce the sort of hysterical headline that appeals to simpletons.  Once I'd delved deeper into this semi-literate dung heap masquerading as a newspaper I discovered this word-turd:

Here it is, it stinks.

It's a classic example of a PR press-release being written up as a news article. Read it and weep.

Thinking Allowed - BBC Radio 4 - Sociology

'Thinking Allowed' has lots of relevant stuff for AS and A2, you just need to dig about a bit.

This week - MIDDLE CLASS IDENTITY IN SCHOOLS (ideal for AS students) (CLASS IDENTITY UNIT)

Here's the page

Here's the index of lots of previous shows, have a look whydontcha?

And if you go to the next link you'll find a blog that has a link to a Thinking Allowed podcast about SOFT MASCULINITIES in 6th Form Students, ideal for AS students (GENDER IDENTITY UNIT)

Blog post here, you can read it or listen to it. Or ignore it entirely and face the consequences!

Glasgow Media Group - Sutton Trust - Media Control/Consensus/Agenda Setting

Mentioned in textbooks, important for the A Level course, this lot study the media and have produced many well-known studies.  Links to their website below...
Media Theory and Methods, articles index

Assorted websites of interest

Blog about distortion and general bad behaviour by the tabloid media

Sutton Trust - over 50% of journalists went to public school

Media - Propaganda in North/South Korea

'Al-Jazeera English' rocks hard, they do some interesting documentaries and also give you global weather forecasts that enable you to find out just how unbearably hot it is in Saudi Arabia at any given time.  Today I am generously providing you with this link:

This is the link I'm talking about

which will take you to a documentary from their 'Listening Post' series which features reports on 'the propaganda war between the two Koreas'.  That's in the second half, the first half is about the Occupy Wall St Movement which is probably also worth a look but I haven't watched that bit yet so don't come crying to me if it's no good.

Media Control - Broadcast Blues DOCUMENTARY

A scathing look at the state of American broadcasting today.

In a no holds barred exposé, veteran journalist Sue Wilson explains how the predominantly conservative corporations controlling talk radio are influencing American public opinion and actually changing the way we vote. She details how false and vitriolic hate campaigns are broadcast as legitimate news reports and laments the lack of government controls which should ensure radio and television broadcasters are upholding their public interest obligations.

Through a series of vignettes, Wilson shows how media policy changes, stemming from the Reagan era, have corrupted American news, information, and even public safety. She gives as a prime example, the recent Fox News court ruling that news does not have to be true.

link to short video about 'news does not have to be true' here.


Wilson says it is up to the public to hold broadcasters as well as the government regulators accountable in order to “take the media back”.

Winner of the Sacramento International Film Festival

Directed and Produced by: Sue Wilson
Part 1

Part 2

Media Control - Occupy Wall Street

Discussion of the media portrayal of the Occupy Wall Street Protests, implying that the coverage was heavily influenced by corporate power.  All done in the first ten minutes...

Watch it here!

And here is Naomi Woolf discussing how some journalists are being stopped from reporting on the Occupy protests.  Here is an article about lobbying firms offering (for money!) to spread negative propaganda about the movement.

Take that, hippies!