England rioters 'poorer, younger, less educated'(BBC News)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15426720
In this article there is a detailed breakdown of the demographics in the London riots which show the following facts:
- Some 90% of those brought before the courts were male and about half were aged under 21
- Only 5% were over the age of 40
- Of those defendants whose ethnicity is known: 46% were black, 42% were white, 7% were Asian and 5% were classified as "other". In some areas - such as Salford - this partially matched the ethnicity of the general population, in others - such as Nottingham - it was not representative of the general population
- Some 35% of adults were claiming out-of-work benefits, which compares to a national average of 12%
- Of the young people involved, 42% were in receipt of free school meals compared to an average of 16%
Who were the rioters?(The Guardian)
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/dec/05/who-were-the-rioters
In some areas, government figures and the Reading the Riots data paint the same picture. MoJ figures revealed that, where ethnicity was recorded, 33% of those appearing in the courts on riot-related charges were white, 43% were black and 7% Asian. The figures varied significantly from area to area, often closely resembling the ethnic makeup of the local population: in London, 32% of defendants were white, in Merseyside, the figure was 79%.
Similarly, in the Guardian/LSE study, though a slightly larger proportion were from an ethnic minority (50% black, 5% Asian) or of mixed race (18%), this again varied significantly from area to area, with the ethnic makeup of interviewees in Salford and Manchester overwhelmingly white.
London riots: young people voice their frustrations(The gaurdian)http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/aug/16/london-riots-young-people-voice-anger
This article contains interviews with young people (some who were involved in the riots) discussing their opinions and point of view of the London Riots. Here are a few of them;
Leroy, 20, Clapham, south London
"I watched the rioting. I don't condone people burning down houses but at the same time what can I say to them? If that's what they feel they need to do to get people's respect and get noticed, I'm not going to argue with them or blame them for what they are doing."
I'm angry and frustrated. I feel the same as them. Angry with everything – society, police, the way they treat us. They don't treat us like human beings. I've been stopped and searched and I've refused to give my details, and because I don't give my details the police officer says he's taking you for a strip search. I can't tell you why everyone decided to do this now but it has been a build-up over the past few years. Especially for people in my age group and younger."
This young man expresses his opinions on why there are so many angry protesters, one of the main reasons is being stopped and harassed by police
Nas, 28, involved in riots in Brixton, south London
"There are different reasons [why people rioted], some are doing it for the right reasons, some just for the sake of doing crime, people have had enough. But even the people taking advantage have a reason. It's very hard to get jobs, these people are from poor areas, have nothing, they want stuff for free. Other people, like myself, have had enough of the government. It's self-explanatory – the government doesn't care about us, there are no jobs.
I don't think people are protesting in the right way. I saw people from 13 to 30 there. I saw everyday, normal people in the shops, helping themselves. Everyone has had enough of paying taxes so the rich get richer.
A lot of trials and tribulations led to this, people think everyone has no reason. It can't get worse for us, people in the ghetto. No one cares about us so what are we supposed to do? There has always been a big gap between youth and the police. We're trying to get their attention. People are crying out for help."
Kevin, 17, Isle of Dogs, east London
"I was passing through Mare Street, [in Hackney, east London] and saw a lot of looting. There was a wide range of people there: young people, mothers, some people who were definitely at uni. I can't say why they were doing it but I think this whole Mark Duggan [shot by police in Tottenham, north London] thing is an excuse. People are using that as an open door to get free stuff.People are angry with the police though, that is real. They have mistreated youth, I've experienced that myself. I was walking out of a jewellery shop the other day and I was searched. I'd say I've been searched at least six times this year, they've never found anything on me. I know my white friends don't get searched as much.
It does frustrate me but I think it's an efficient way of stopping crime."
London riots: Teenagers 'lack hope'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14462688
Many of London's teenagers have been rioting because they "lack hope" and "feel let down by society", according to youth group leaders.
"Young people are bored and feel they have nothing to lose," said former gang member Kim Gardner, who now mentors young people in gangs to try to help them turn their lives around.
Why did so many youths riot in London?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14467988
Many of the 600 people arrested after Monday's rioting are young men in their 20s who have never had a previous skirmish with the law.
So what turned so many young people into rioters?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWifAuTwJg
This was an interview done post riots with some London Youths and they expressed how the riots benefited them and their families. "Christmas came early", they also explained how frustrated they were about the economy and how difficult it is for them to get jobs .
one of the youths who was aged 16 also explained how he managed to loot items for his son. He explained that he
Darcus Howe, a West Indian Writer and Broadcaster with a voice about the riots. Speaking about the mistreatment of youths by police leading to an up-roar and the ignorance of both police and the governement.
The London Riots in August 2011 had a massive impact on the way in which 21st century teens of London are represented in the media. The terms ‘looters’ ‘hoodies’ ‘yobs’ and ‘thugs’ along with a variety of other offensive terms were used to describe the teens who took part in the London riots.
Social media played an extremely big role during the London Riots, this is because this was the main source of communications for rioters so they could plan meet ups and when they would go out rioting.
Skepta made a lyric refrencing the London riots by saying "Tell Boris he lucky that i made it rapping or i wouldve been looting to" this shows us that a man who has reached a very high level of success still understand the stuggle of people living in london,
Many people believe that the majority of people rioted because they were unemployed and since the economy of the UK is really terrible, it could potentially lead to people committing crimes.
The two graphs above show the correlation between the amount of people who are behind on bills in the UK and the crime rate. London was the highest on both graphs.
"Significantly, foreign coverage of the disturbances was much more balanced than British reporting in terms of the images used, analysis and breadth of interviewees," writes Marc Wadsworth, editor of the-latest.com, the citizen journalism website that is helping to organise the event.
Media Representations
In this text the main people who are represented are black people and Youths, they are represented in a bad way as being violent, aggressive ,"Thugs" and "Yobs", The people are describing them in this way are the British media.
They are being described like this mainly because of the tragic events that occurred in the 2011 London riots. The reason they are being represented in this way is because stats show that the demographics of the London riots were that 90% of the people who had court were aged under 21 and over 45% of the people in the London riots were black, so therefore the media would put the main focus on this minority group,although its not a fair representation of the whole minority group.
Media Languages and Forms
The denotations of the London riots were that the people involved with these acts were chaotic, violent, thugs and insane people who just wanted to loot free things. However, the connotations could be the deeper meaning in terms of issues within the society and government such as poverty and low incomes.
The significance of the connotations are that it creates an interest on what gave these rioters the fuel to take part and it will also discover both sides of the incident rather than just looking at what the media represents it to be,
The non verbal meanings of the text shows us that the rioters are reinforcing the stereotypes they already have on them, such as being heavily involved in crime, aggressive and violent as you would be able to tell from their facial expressions. They're also wearing tracksuits and sports wear which makes them fit better into the description of a "Thug"
The mise en scene shows that they're already in the streets in terms of the settings.
These were the images that were most dominant images and iconography, and was relevant to major themes of the text
Narrative
The audience are positioned to be suppressed as they don't have much say in whats going on in the media as it all speaks for itself.It is represented as the police officers are the heroes and the villains are the rioters.
Media Institutions
What is the institutional source of the text?
In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it?
Is the source a public service or commercial institution? What difference does this make to the text?
Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does this matter?
How has the text been distributed?
Media Values and Ideology
The major values that were emphasised in the media was that the Youths in London were the main problem and the evil in society and the media and police officers were the ones who are the protagonist in these situations.
Media Audiences
The audience for this particular case is aged between 16-60. This is because what happened was a moral panic for the whole of the UK and for some even worldwide as the London Olympics were only a year after. I also believe that the newspaper mainly target the ABC1 demographic because they are the ones who were most likely not to be involved. The physchographics could've been targeted at the reformers, resigned, explorers and aspirers. the assumptions are that they arent aware of what is going on in the UK in terms of Poverty, Low income houses, lack of jobs, police harassment, and made the youths look like they were just rioting for the sake of it.
