Context of the London Riots

1)          What was the context of the riots?

The London riots began the 6^th August 2011 due to Mark Duggan being shot dead by police during a peaceful protest. The unprecedented death sparked a crime wave that went beyond all imagination and this meant that it went unstoppable for a long time. Both police and youths suffered each fighting the other side, though one side hopes to restore order but contributes to the escalating violence.

2)   What were the reasons given as to why youths were involved in the riots?

Youths became involved in the riots, stating that they lack hope for their futures and feel let down by society. While I don’t condone violence nor crime, I can understand their view point if all their dreams of future happiness have came crashing down around them then some may feel that this may be the only option. Why try for a future that you know you will never obtain? If you now that your life will never amount to any future success then people will obviously turn to the here and now and make life worth living. Some later admitted to using these reason to cause mindless violence and loot the shops.

3)   Were youths given a fair and unbiased representation in the press coverage of the riots?

·      I think that youths were given an unfair and a biased reputation in the press coverage of the riots, they claimed that it was mainly youths causing the problem, yet they brand youths from year 18 to 24 when in fact they are classed as adults then.  Also there are little articles and interviews from these so-called ‘youths’ perspectives. So how can they be branded as thugs and yobs without giving there side of matters, for all anyone knows they could have had a reason to act the way they did. Due to this biased image all youths are branded together as hoodlams and untrustworthy.

4)   How can the coverage of the London riots be understood in relation to the ideas of Stan Cohen?

Stan Cohan talks about moral panic, which is a social upheaval, something that when it occurs causes a panic among the people and I usually gains a lot of attention from the media. This is what the London riots can be classed as due to the constant crime and the amount of coverage it received such as setting a police car a light and looting the shops. The media using negative words to describe the youths further escalated this ‘panic’. By reporting graphically and adding the description and tag lines they added to this social upheaval.

Stan Cohan also discussed ‘folk devils’ which are societal deviants; these terms can be applied to youths now due to their portrayal by the media. They reported the youths to be ‘gangs, thugs and hoodlams’ with such a negative semantic field they had the entire country believing that all youths were the same and could not be trusted. Perhaps the media felt it necessary to report how they did as if it just told it how it was then they would not have sold as papers, but by trying to increase their profits they have greatly developed this moral panic.

5)   David Gauntlett stated that  “Identities are not ‘given’ but are constructed and negotiated.”

When researching the riots I found that it was very hard to find interviews both TV and Newspapers from the youth perspective, they had next to no voice of reason throughout the whole of the riots.  The youths involved were given no chance to explain neither their actions nor the reasons behind them, the media dominated by the older generation felt that they k new best and wrote what they thought. While said answers might have been common when they were that age the reasons now would be completely different. This biased view has had a knock on effect for the rest of the youth population, due to the view given by elders the majority now thinks of youths as mindless criminals. By not being able to defend their actions and stance on the riots, the media are confirming Gauntletts ideas that the identities we have are constructed by others not created by our selves