Cohen in 1987 said that the media exaggerate and enforce the creation of 'Moral Panics' in his book Folk Devils and Moral Panics. The panic occurs when a “condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests." There is examples of this with the Mods and Rockers as you can see below from a front page of the Daily Mirror:
Eldridge in 1997, suggested that "the media occupy space which is constantly being contested, which is subject to organisational and technological restructuring, to economic, cultural and political constraints, to commercial pressures and to changing professional practices." in News, Truth and Power.
2) Read the attached article and answer the following questions:
Article
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| Screen shot of the article |
There is no doubt that both students and women are presented extremely negatively. The title and image are the first bold and capturing parts of the article, 'rage of the girl rioters' gives an aggressive view on the rioters with it's use of language and also the picture of the girl kicking the smashed police van. It gives the impression that it was a surprise that the women had not usually been linked with this sort of action and violence as the title states - 'and this time women are leading the charge', presenting it as a new threat.
Is this a moral panic?
As said above, it presents a new threat to our society, not just the women but the students and 'thugs' (using terms that they're demonised with in the article). It strikes a fear purposefully and it would correctly respond to the definition. As the original theory stated, it does not actually mention the reasoning behind their uprising and why they've become a threat, which of course in 2010 when published was when the tuition fees increased by £6,000 a year.
Are expectations being challenged or demonised?
Without a doubt they are being demonised, especially through the specially selected use of vocabulary to describe them and also the graphic images of the offenders smashing and even urinating on police vans. Although the last section of the article offered up a positive for women students, as a girl stood up against the violence, it works out negatively as she is ignored and the violence goes forth anyway.
3) How does this challenge/reinforce the representation of Youth Culture in Human Traffic and Quadrophenia?
This article reinforced the general negative viewpoint that society has upon youth culture. The first visual link that comes to mind is the scene on the beach where the mods and rockers come together to fight on Brighton beach in Quadrophenia, although in the film it is down further to mindless violence between two social groups, whereas the article surrounding the students is down to political reasons, the increasing cost in university fees when they were promised to keep them the same.
There is a general negative outlook from the public presented in both the two films, human traffic with the Moff's parents and others, Quadrophenia with the public as a whole and the article relays the negative thoughts of the readers of the Mail Online, whereas readers of the Guardian got the insight into the political motives and understanding further to the reasoning behind the riots:
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