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