Section A practice

Exam paper: http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/pdf/AQA-MEST3-W-SQP-07.PDF 1. Compare and contrast the two texts, with particular reference to the representation of teenagers (8 marks) Text 1 and text 2 both represent teenagers, but do it in very different ways. What is most noticeable is the misrepresentation but now dominant representation of teenagers in text 1; as “teen thugs” or “gangsters”. Not all teenagers are like this, but are often represented like this because of past issues in the media like gun and knife crime that was seen as a “moral panic” in the last few years, which suggests why this paper was written in 2007. This moral panic was quite problematic as many people began to believe teenagers were all thuggish which led its being seen in all aspects of the news and gaining high news values, which reinforces the cultivation theory; as groups constantly get represented in a particular way, audiences begin to believe that the representation is accurate, though this relies on audiences being passive when consuming the news. Interestingly text 2 is challenging all these representations and stereotypes, by attempting to change the attitudes of audiences towards teenagers by not referring to them as “gangs” but “groups”. Unlike text 1, this text is aware that audiences have pluralistic views towards the stereotypes of teens as it says that anyone who has been “victimised” by them will find this “hard to swallow” and that by calling all teens “gangs” will offend them. While text 1 blames teens for their difficult behaviour signified by them actively “recruiting over the web”, text 2 uses research to suggest that teens involved in criminal activity have been brought up in “conflict and single parenthood” signifying their troubled behaviour is not entirely their fault. These texts bring up issues power as text 1 uses its power to reinforce stereotypes about teens through research (being the particular gang who recruit online). The other text uses research to challenge these fixed ideologies about teens. 2. Consider the view that the current press treatment of teenagers is simply another moral panic (12 marks) 3. There are always concerns about new technology. In your view, what are the possible benefits and problems attached to social networking, particularly on the Internet? (12 marks) One of the issues that social networking brings up is ownership and control. Audiences are becoming more powerful which has allowed them to have moe control of the internet with the introduction of Web 2.0. In particular, audiences have more power on websites like Facebook, twitter, and even Youtube as they can represent themselves by actively joining groups for example. This is both beneficial to audiences and producers as they work together to produce content. However a Marxist would argue that institutions such as YouTube exploit audiences for content, which they host and make money out of. On the downside, audiences could in the future expect more power and more content to choose from, putting strain on institutions or even consumer-producers within the audience. Another issue with social networking is how is has taken over face to face communication. Though the internet on a wide scale has benefited audiences across the globe because they can communicate to anyone in the world, social networking has gotten to a point where audience live in this “virtual world”. This is also called hyper reality where “the simulation of something which never really existed” (Baudrillard, j.) or the “virtual irreality” (Sparrow, P.) which can have a negative impact on society’s basic form of communication; face to face talking! There are also a lot of recent concerns to do with privacy and safety on social networking sites. Sites like Facebook encourage audiences to provide information about themselves such as likes and hobbies but also more personal information such as location, employment, education and age. Piracy