Differences in perception of class through the media

Differences in perception of class through the media

Do the media promote a class divided within the society in the United Kingdom? The purpose of this study is to delve into the media’s influence on perception of class.

One cannot open a newspaper or tune into the TV without being exposed to stories of class culture stereotypes. From the bankers scandals to the corrupt politicians to the ASBO (anti-social behaviour order) ridden council estates, it would seem apparent that the media have a certain control over public perception of society.

The main objective of this research is to survey a completely random population, from this determine their frequency and type of media exposure in order to understand if there may be some correlation between media output and population perception of class. Also subjects will be analysed using age and background as variables.

Literary review

Amongst the masses of books and journals relating to this particular area of research there is a book by Owen Jones that delves dramatically into the subject. It superbly separates the vision of the ‘hero’ working class of the 80’s strikers involved in the unions at the heart of the miner’s strikes and todays ‘feral underclass’ of Burberry wearing ASBO ridden modern working class.

The book ‘Chavs; the demonization of the working class’ 2012 by Jones is an up to date account of the media political, and there for social perception of the lower classes. Jones begins with an anecdote of a dinner party in which the topic of conversation is drawn onto the closure of Woolworths to which ‘where will all the chavs buy their Christmas presents’ is quoted. The people at the party were all considered educated, not bigots and somewhat liberal, yet despite...

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....(2004).’ Thinking the unthinkable’ in Franklin, B. Social Policy, the Media and Misrepresentation. London: Rutledge.

Hills. J. (1997) 'How will the scissors close? Options for UK social spending', in A. Walker and C. Walker (eds) Britain Divided: the Growth of Social Exclusion in the 1980s and 1990s, London: Child Poverty Action Group.

Jones, O. (2012). Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class. London: Verso.

Murray, C. (1984) Losing Ground, New York: Basic Books.

Murray, C. (1994) Underclass: the crisis deepens, London: Institute for Economic Affairs.

Garthwaitea, K, (2011). ‘The language of shirkers and scroungers?’ Talking about illness, disability and coalition welfare reform. Disability & Society , Volume 26, Issue 3, 369-372.

Rodger, J. 2008. Criminalising Social Policy: Anti-social Behaviour and Welfare in a De-civilised Society. Edition. Willan.