1) What were the context of the riots?
The main context of the riots was groups of 'youths' attacking the streets of various towns in the United Kingdom in order to annoy the police force as these two groups of people have never been on the same page before. But I believe these different groups will have a whole different outlook on exactly what the whole context of the riots was about and the main reason why it escalated into such a highly publicized event.
The 'youths' will believe that the context of the riots was to do with the killing of Mark Duggan which was conducted by a police officer with the gun that Duggan had as they were trying to stop him from planning revenge after someone stabbed he's cousin. So some could say the officers who killed him were doing it out of safety as their lives could have been on the line whereas the youths would see it as them killing in innocent man which is one of the main factors to influence these riots in Tottenham, which caused them to spread elsewhere in the country.
The 'youths' will believe that the context of the riots was to do with the killing of Mark Duggan which was conducted by a police officer with the gun that Duggan had as they were trying to stop him from planning revenge after someone stabbed he's cousin. So some could say the officers who killed him were doing it out of safety as their lives could have been on the line whereas the youths would see it as them killing in innocent man which is one of the main factors to influence these riots in Tottenham, which caused them to spread elsewhere in the country.
2) What were the reasons given as to why youths were involved in the riots?
The main reason so many of the youths were involved in the riots was because of the shooting of Mark Duggan which I have spoken about previously as they all came together as a collective group which first began as a 'peaceful protest' to show the police force that such a high percentage of people disagreed with what they did to Duggan. However because no one seemed to listen or care about their opinions the youths took it into their own hands to then sabotage and attack the local streets and mainly stealing from local businesses in large groups so they couldn't be stopped easily (looting).
Another reason why so many youths decided to get involved in the riots is because of the rise in government cuts which has increased unemployment rates and tuition fee's which are both very important things that teens really need to be 'on their side' at this age because most of us want to have the chance to go into higher education like university but with this tuition fees it means loans need to be taken out and various other elements that cost such a high amount of money need to be thought about and for some families this isn't possible. Regarding the unemployment increase it will effect a variety of people not just the youths but it can hugely effect their quality of life because that money could mean them having the resources to get into uni e.t.c so protesting agaisnt it will hopefully in their eyes make a difference, however because again no one took their actions into consideration a lot of violent attacks broke out.
The main reason so many of the youths were involved in the riots was because of the shooting of Mark Duggan which I have spoken about previously as they all came together as a collective group which first began as a 'peaceful protest' to show the police force that such a high percentage of people disagreed with what they did to Duggan. However because no one seemed to listen or care about their opinions the youths took it into their own hands to then sabotage and attack the local streets and mainly stealing from local businesses in large groups so they couldn't be stopped easily (looting).
Another reason why so many youths decided to get involved in the riots is because of the rise in government cuts which has increased unemployment rates and tuition fee's which are both very important things that teens really need to be 'on their side' at this age because most of us want to have the chance to go into higher education like university but with this tuition fees it means loans need to be taken out and various other elements that cost such a high amount of money need to be thought about and for some families this isn't possible. Regarding the unemployment increase it will effect a variety of people not just the youths but it can hugely effect their quality of life because that money could mean them having the resources to get into uni e.t.c so protesting agaisnt it will hopefully in their eyes make a difference, however because again no one took their actions into consideration a lot of violent attacks broke out.
3) Were youths given a fair and unbiased representation in the press coverage of the riots?
From the press coverage I have found during my research tasks each one of them showed the 'youths' in a negative light which I don't think is a fair representation as they have all been involved in such extreme events and just because most of them are of a young age they are getting targeted as 'bad people'. This accusation would be more clear and respected if they actually give these youths chance to speak out and explain why each of them got involved in these events that affected very vulnerable people, but instead they have made their own opinions about them and broadcasted them in a way they amplifies the information in a negative light so that the public will take it in how they have been given it and believe that these reporter's own personal feelings are the truth.
So overall I don't think the youths were given a fair and unbiased representation from the media who were covering the London Riots as through my research I only found one article who give the 'youths' chance to speak and even then it was a 10 second clip which they carried on to slate which is unfair because they haven't really been allowed to protect themselves from these accusations and I think from these the public will now think that all youths are the same; violent and disruptive with no respect for their areas, however not everyone is involved in these sorts of things and even the youths that could be seen in the middle of these riots may have had a valid reason, but these were never let loose.
From the press coverage I have found during my research tasks each one of them showed the 'youths' in a negative light which I don't think is a fair representation as they have all been involved in such extreme events and just because most of them are of a young age they are getting targeted as 'bad people'. This accusation would be more clear and respected if they actually give these youths chance to speak out and explain why each of them got involved in these events that affected very vulnerable people, but instead they have made their own opinions about them and broadcasted them in a way they amplifies the information in a negative light so that the public will take it in how they have been given it and believe that these reporter's own personal feelings are the truth.
So overall I don't think the youths were given a fair and unbiased representation from the media who were covering the London Riots as through my research I only found one article who give the 'youths' chance to speak and even then it was a 10 second clip which they carried on to slate which is unfair because they haven't really been allowed to protect themselves from these accusations and I think from these the public will now think that all youths are the same; violent and disruptive with no respect for their areas, however not everyone is involved in these sorts of things and even the youths that could be seen in the middle of these riots may have had a valid reason, but these were never let loose.
Applying Theory
1) How can the coverage of the london riots be understood in relation to the ideas of Stan Cohen?
Stan Cohen explains that all 'youths' are the folk devils which is just another way of describing this certain group of people. So linking only to the London Riots many of the coverage I found labelled these youngsters as 'Thugs' 'Yobs' and 'Gangs' which are all negative words used to associate these groups of people with the riots, so to back up he's theory it shows Cohen instantly speaks about these youths in a negative light and within the events of the riots this idea has carried on. He then goes onto talk about moral panic, this is an idea or issue that could threaten the social order, which basically means the day to day running of our society we live in today. So the example is the youths looting and attacking a variety of shops/businesses and also starting dangerous fires in streets and attacking police cars e.t.c all of these activities would strike up immediate action that would need to be taken by the public services because they will be 'panicking' about what the outcomes could be and how it will effect people's lives especially the people who have had nothing to do with the riots. Then this panic can be transferred into public news reports which brings in Cohen's last idea to he's theory about 'Deviance Amplification' this means the events and different tasks that the youths take part in or any type of 'wrong' thing to do will then be AMPLIFIED by the media to make the situation sound 10x worse than it actually is so the public eye will be drawn in and believe it to be the truth.
2) David Gauntlett stated that "identities are not 'given' but are constructed and negotiated."
From the research which you have conducted into the coverage of the London Riots, to what extent is the representation of the collective identity of youths constructed by the press? Consider for and against argument.
For
Only one newspaper report actually give a 'youth' chance to give their overall feedback on why they actually got involved with the riots, however Gauntlett's theory does come into this feedback the youngster gave because he said the killing of Mark Duggan made him want to get revenge on the police force, this shows that the identity he is perceiving has been created mainly because of this situation and I don't think he would have had any reason to get involved in the riots if he didn't feel so much about what had happened with Duggan.
Agaisnt
Most of the other newspapers gave their own opinions about the youths and made up certain reasons to why they personally believe they had got involved in the first place, some people would read the articles and then set a stern opinion on the youngsters and label them all as bad people when really none of them actually know the real reasons and clearly do not understand that not all 'youths' are the same and they all have different identities depending on what they believe in. The reason I think Gauntlett's theory talks about them being negotiated and constructed is because peer pressure is a common thing between teenagers in society and as many of them may not want to be involved in such horrific events they may try and be someone else which would in turn involve changing their personality/identity to create a new outlook on life which in this scenario would mean to want to loot shops and get revenge just like your friends because being part of a gang can definitely influence you. However for the rest of the 'youth' generation some of them may not be influenced at all and still have their own identity which isn't going to be changed in anyway but this cannot be seen in these reports as I have discussed previously the reporters ideas are final, no other spokesperson is allowed to have input which shows no balanced argument.
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