Off screen and on screen representations

On and off screen representations would have an impact on my critical investigation as it affects the representations people and audiences receive. On and off representation representation would have an impact on my critical investigation because I would be looking at the representation of religions in contemporary media texts and this would have an impact based on the on and off screen representation. From this we can see the representations of religions created by people offscreen of that institution. This would mean that if the off screen producers agreed with the stereotypes of religions, they would represent religions in this way in media texts which would mean that Islam is associated with terrorism and chirstianty is the saviour. By this we can tell that the way that the off screen producers represent religions and would be shown in this way on screen and this would mean that the audience watching the film would also think this representation of these religions. This would mean that because of the off screen producers, the audience is shown what the off screen producers want to show them and this would mean that the audience as a whole would think bad and good about some religions.

3 race and religion articles

Cadbury Dairy Milk ad cleared of racism

The advertising regulator has cleared Cadbury of racism and perpetuating colonial stereotypes of African people in its latest TV advertising campaign.

Cadbury's campaign featured Ghanaian musician Tinny and aimed to promote the chocolate brand's tie-up with the Fairtrade organisation for cocoa from the African nation for its Dairy Milk range.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 29 complaints that the TV campaign was demeaning to African people and perpetuated racial stereotypes.

However, the ASA's council has decided not to formally investigate the complaints. "Although the council acknowledges that Cadbury had used stereotypes in their ads, they felt that the stereotypes were not harmful or offensive," said the ASA, which argued that most ads use some form of stereotype device to get a message across.

Cadbury has steadfastly maintained that the company went to "considerable lengths" to ensure that the ad campaign was culturally sensitive and developed as a "joyous and uplifting portrayal of Ghanaian culture and something which Ghanaians can feel proud of".

In 2007 the ASA banned an ad for Cadbury's Trident chewing gum, which featured a black "dub poet" speaking in rhyme with a strong Caribbean accent, after more than 500 complaints that it was racist.

Link : http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/11/cadbury-dairy-milk-cleared-racism

Griffin: Unfair that Question Time was filmed in 'ethnically cleansed' London

Nick Griffin said today he was the victim of a "lynch mob" audience drawn from a city that had been "ethnically cleansed" and was "no longer British".

The BNP leader's comments prompted Boris Johnson, the mayor ofLondon, to say that there was "no place here" for Griffin or his party as he urged Londoners to reject his "extremist and offensive views".

Fellow Question Time panelist Bonnie Greer admitted today she had to restrain herself from slapping Griffin last night, before adding she was glad she hadn't because he was "totally trounced" on the show.

Griffin vowed to lodge a complaint at the "unfair" way the Question Time programme was produced, despite the BNP's claims that his appearance sparked the "biggest single recruitment night in the party's history".

Griffin claims he was treated unfairly by the panel and audience and complained that the show, held at BBC Television Centre in London, was broadcast from a city which had changed beyond all recognition because of what he called uncontrolled immigration.

"That was not a genuine Question Time; that was a lynch mob," he told Sky News.

He went on: "That audience was taken from a city that is no longer British ... That was not my country any more. Why not come down and do it in Thurrock, do it in Stoke, do it in Burnley?

"Do it somewhere where there are still significant numbers of English and British people [living], and they haven't been ethnically cleansed from their own country."

He added: "There is not much support for me there [in London], because the place is dominated by ethnic minorities. There is an ethnic minority that supports me: the English. But there's not many of them left."

The Conservative mayor swiftly hit back on behalf of Londoners: "Nick Griffin is right to say London is not his city. London is a welcoming, tolerant, cosmopolitan capital which thrives on its diversity. The secret of its long-term success is its ability to attract the best from wherever they are and allow them to be themselves – unleashing their imagination, creativity and enterprise. The BNP has no place here and I again urge Londoners to reject their narrow, extremist and offensive views at every opportunity."

The BNP has exploited concerns about immigration among the white working class in some of London's poorer areas to gain representation on several councils in the capital.

It holds a seat on the capital-wide London Assembly and has 12 seats on Barking and Dagenham council, making it the second biggest party there after Labour, with six other council seats across three London boroughs.

The BNP leader insisted that his performance last night was "fine", despite it being panned by the press, with his own party officialsadmitting today that their leader had made a less than impressive showing on last night's show as he was repeatedly criticised by fellow panelists and jeered by a hostile audience.

Greer, the playwright and critic who sat next to Griffin on the Question Time panel, told the Daily Mail Griffin had been "trembling like a leaf" throughout his appearance.

Sitting next to him was "probably the weirdest and most creepy experience of my life", she said.

"I spent the entire night with my back turned to him. At one point, I had to restrain myself from slapping him. But it was worth it because he was totally trounced."

The BNP leader said he needed a second chance on the BBC flagship programme. "People wanted to see me and hear me talking about things such as the postal strike. One or two questions about what a wicked man I am, fair enough, but the whole programme – it was absurd. Let's do it again but do it properly this time."

He also said that he wanted to challenge justice secretary Jack Straw, who was on last night's panel, to a one-to-one debate on the issues of the day, and called on David Cameron to disassociate himself from the protests outside BBC Television Centre where the programme was recorded.

A spokeswoman for the Tory party leader said Cameron, who supports the campaign aims of anti-fascist groups, said he had no intention of responding to Griffin.

Griffin's thumbs-down on last night was not shared by his French counterpart Jean-Marie Le Pen, who predicted today that the BBC's decision to invite Griffin on the show would lead to a surge in support for the party.

The BNP later today posted a message on its website claiming that 3,000 people registered to sign up as members once a current recruitment freeze - introduced in response to legal action over the party's discriminatory membership rules - has been lifted.

"This figure represents the single largest block of new membership expressions of interest ever, and will, once formally signed up, have boosted party membership by nearly 30%."

Earlier today, Le Pen, who has previously described his own appearance on a similar programme in France in the early 1980s as "the hour that changed everything" for his party, told the London Evening Standard: "Small fish become big so long as God gives them life. All political groups have started as marginal before becoming important."

Le Pen – a member of the European parliament, like Griffin – attacked the "scandalous" protests over the BBC's decision, which he said presented a "narrow idea of democracy". "Trying to stop an elected individual from expressing himself on mainstream media appears scandalous," he told the Standard.

Le Pen's own popularity rose after he appeared on the French programme L'heure de Verité in 1984, before which he had been virtually boycotted by the French media. Voting intentions for the Front National in the European elections in June that year subsequently doubled, from 3.5% to 7%, and in the election itself the FN scored 11% (2.2m votes). A Figaro-Magazinepoll conducted after the broadcast showed that the proportion of those with a "positive opinion" of Le Pen rose to 13%, and then rose again to 17% by the summer.

He came second in the French presidential race in 2002, ahead of Lionel Jospin, the former prime minister.

Le Pen said today: "The BBC is conducting itself in a democratic way with regard to the English people. He [Griffin] will reveal his ideas. It's up to the people to judge."

Downing Street said Gordon Brown did not watch last night's edition of Question Time, but he telephoned Straw to thank him for appearing on the programme.

"He very rarely watches Question Time," Brown's spokesman said. "He is often busy on important government matters, finishing paperwork and other government business. He was certainly engaged on government business."

The BBC said that average viewing figures for the programme were almost 8 million – meaning around three times more viewers tuned in than usual.

By midday today, it had received more than 350 complaints following the broadcast.

More than 240 people felt the show was biased against the BNP, while more than 100 of the complaints were about Griffin being allowed to appear on Question Time.

Link : http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/23/bnp-nick-griffin-question-time

The world's most influential Muslims?

I was in Cairo International Airport earlier this week, scrolling through Facebook to see what my friends were up to, when I saw Shahed Amanullah had updated his status to say he was one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world.

I followed his link (pdf) to see who or what constituted influence these days. The result was a strange mix of clerics, dictators, terrorists and billionaires. It's a fascinating document – all 202 glossy pages of it – and comes complete with a potted guide to Islam and a handy league table to show which country has the highest success rate.

"We have strived to highlight people who are influential as Muslims, that is, people whose influence is derived from their practice of Islam or from the fact that they are Muslim," says the introduction.

Influence is a tricky concept, it continues, and in a variety of different ways each person on this list has influence over the lives of a large number of people on the earth.

"The 50 most influential figures are profiled. Their influence comes from a variety of sources; however they are unified by the fact that they each affect huge swaths of humanity."

The above provide the overarching criteria for selection but there are more than a few anomalies. A quick glance reveals that being good and being influential are not mutually exclusive – Adnan Oktar makes an appearance. Not being observant presents no barrier to inclusion either as I was always under the impression that Zaha Hadid is an atheist.

Dave Chapelle is also on the list. Dave Chapelle? Have they seen his R Kelly skit? The writer and comedian has never confirmed whether he is Muslim or not, so the judging panel might as well have included Ronnie O'Sullivan as one of the 500. But if you're talking about affecting "huge swaths of humanity" then surely Osama Bin Laden should be at the top spot? He isn't. It's King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah is custodian of the two Holy Mosques so he has a position of responsibility, but influence? The following paragraph is more revealing: "King Abdullah reigns over a land of massive crude oil reserves, Saudi Arabia has approximately 25% of the world's proven oil reserves, making him a key player in the global petroleum industry."

Bin Laden is on the list – as a radical. Funny, I thought he was a terrorist. This chapter is reserved for "infamous individuals [who] have incredible influence on vast amounts of people, often cited for heinous acts and controversial statements made from their platforms of authority."

Alarm bells also ring over the lack of women featured. They get a separate section from the men. Too many of the top 50 are either heads of state, which automatically gives them an advantage when it comes to influence, or they have inherited their position. Lineage is a significant factor – it has its own category – and the predisposition to include children of important people reveals a mindset that indicates achievement is an optional extra

LINK :http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/19/500-influential-muslims-list

Artical on BBC

The BBC will only survive by understanding its diverse consumers

• Peter Salmon
• The Guardian, Monday 15 September 2008
• Article history

A snail could crawl the entire length of the Great Wall of China in just slightly more time than the 200 years it will take for women to be equally represented in parliament. That was just one of a series of striking statistics from the Equality and Human Rights Commission in their Sex and Power report published last week.

It added that women hold just 11% of FTSE directorships, with the judiciary and others also strongly criticised. At the BBC, the figures are a bit better - almost 38% of all senior managers are women - but it does bring into sharp focus the challenge the whole media industry is facing to improve diversity among its workforce.

Tomorrow's Guardian Ethnic Media Summit is a chance to debate what is arguably our most pressing diversity issue - ensuring more talent from ethnic minority communities reaches the upper echelons of broadcasting. The growth particularly of young ethnic minority audiences, is soaring - way above the population average - making them a critical cultural and business challenge for everyone in our sector.

Things are definitely changing but still not quickly enough. The whole media industry needs to look afresh at what more can be done.

So why does a white, middle-aged bloke like me feel compelled to write about this? As the BBC's chief creative officer, overseeing our programme production made in-house, I believe passionately that only by drawing on the talents of every part of society can we best reflect the lives and concerns of our diverse audiences on screen.

We must do more and the BBC is certainly redoubling its efforts.And though ethnicity is very important, it is only one part of this story. We must also think in terms of age, disability, gender, social class and regional difference.

That is why I think the historic changes to move a significant proportion of BBC network production out of London to places such as Glasgow or North West England over the next decade might be key to all this.

We will transfer large numbers of staff from London but we will also recruit many new faces - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add something substantially new to our gene pool of talent, to change the BBC's DNA a little.

We seem to be moving in the right direction, increasing opportunities for people from ethnic minority backgrounds at most levels.

The proportion of our staff from ethnic minorities is 11.5% - again comparing very well with both public and private sector organisations including the civil service, health service and the police. But as the Edinburgh Television Festival heard, stillnot enough people make it into senior management roles, particularly as controllers and commissioners.

The BBC has looked closely at the barriers to progress and announced new schemes to tackle them - costing £3m over three years.

Firstly, we need to change the way we recruit. We are dramatically increasing the outreach work we do - in community groups, colleges, schools and through open sessions across the UK - to encourage under-represented groups to apply to the BBC. I recently worked with an energetic bunch of young students, mainly from ethnic minority backgrounds, who were introduced to the BBC by the University of Central Lancashire - from the former mill towns of Blackburn and Preston, not places we'd traditionally think to look for the next generation.

Then we need to be better at retaining talented individuals and supporting them in reaching their full potential and moving into senior roles. Our new mentoring and development programme, which offers greater one-to-one and intensive personalised support, is so important. In addition, our new trainee production scheme, which has just kicked off, and our journalism trainee schemes, have a strong diversity focus, so we are providing clearer pathways into all parts of the BBC.

On screen, we must constantly strive to reflect as accurately as possible the rich cultural mix of the UK.

Earlier this year BBC non-executive director Samir Shah criticised what he called "inauthentic representation" of ethnic minority communities, citing the Ferreira family in EastEnders.

It is unfair to highlight one five-year-old example from a drama series that remains the most popular programme on television among ethnic minority audiences. This example fails to reflect many other aspects of our work, particularly our in-house drama output. Our continuing drama series, including Holby City and Casualty, have led the way in casting diverse talent, in leading roles as well. Though we do not always get it right, overall we have much to be proud of.

The BBC set up the Writers' Academy, under John Yorke, four years ago, increasing the number of writers from diverse backgrounds working on our biggest programmes, including some of our continuing drama series.

In addition, programmes such as Criminal Justice, No1 Ladies Detective Agency, Life Is Not All Ha Ha Hee Hee, Shoot the Messenger, the entertainment series Last Choir Standing and a lot of our children's output have also been praised for the way they have represented diversity or addressed issues faced by communities from different backgrounds.

Part of this is ensuring we get closer to audiences when making programmes. For example, White Girl - part of BBC2's groundbreaking White Season - told the story of a white family relocating from Leeds to a predominantly Asian community in Bradford. Here the production team worked very closely with the community to ensure a sensitive and accurate portrayal.

In an increasingly globalised creative economy where competition will intensify, it is only by understanding our diverse consumers that we can stay relevant and survive. The BBC prides itself on keeping in touch with its audiences - to do so successfully we'll need to keep making changes, and fast.

Semiotics Theory

Semiotics is the science of communication and sign systems, in short, of the ways people understand signs and symbols and organize them mentally, and of the ways in which they devise means for communicating that understanding and for sharing it with others. Semiotics is also a theory that I will be looking into as it involves me looking into the deeper meanings in Drama and action movies to really understand each character. the theory will apply itself to different audiences for example passive audiences will only take on board the obvious meaning but a more active audiences will see symbols and signs and pick up on other meaning too.

This is how semiotics will apply to my critical investigation. An example of this would be shown in the film Crash as in the film there are a number of symbols and sterotypes shown and the audience will receive these in different ways and also react to these in defferent ways to each other. Active audiences will notice these more and pick up on them and think more for themselves where as passive audiences will just more or less acept what is shown to them in the text.

Critical investigation

Critical Investigation

For my Critical Investigation, I am going to be looking at the representation of Religion in the contemporary media landscape and how stereotypes of fundamentalists have a affect on this. Film texts I will look at for this will be Crash and The Kingdom, Valkyrie.

As a Linked Production to this investigation, My partner and I will be creating a opening sequence to a film lasting 5 minutes. This opening sequence will explore the issues that I have talked about in my critical investigation and will be directly linked to it through the characters acting in it.

MIGRIAN Analysis

Media Language

I will be analysing the types of camera shots used through the different movies in order to see how certain religions are looked down upon and neglected from society. By doing this I will be able to see how directors emphasize the impact stereotypes have on theses religions.
I will also be analysing the lighting in the texts. High key lighting or low key lighting on specific people or objects will show which ones have importance and which don’t.
Sound will also b looked at as in these movies I know directors use sound to influence the audiences and how they think and feel towards certain characters in the films. Weather this influence is a positive one towards certain religions or negative remains to be seen.

Institution

I will be looking into which institution produces each movie and see the differences in streotypes and representations of religions. one of the institutions I will look at will be will the Yari film group who produced Crash. Another institution I will be looking at is Universal studios who produced the film The Kingdom.

Genre

During both my critical investigation and linked production, the Genres I will look into are Drama, action, thrillers and comedy.
I will be looking at how stereotypes in drama movies are shown to see whether people are all represented the same or if they are stereotyped by their ethnicity and religion.
I will be looking at whether Fundamentalists represented as stereotypical terrorists to society, and if religions such as islam are represented as stereotypical terrorists.

Audience

For My linked production, It will be made so that information and stereotypes and ideology's of the current society will be pumped into the audiences minds. this seems to be a technique well used by most the directors of the films I will be studying and I hope to do the same. a good example of this is in Crash where the Black man is stereotyped to have a gun through out the film bye everyone.
In my critical investigation, I will look into how the audience receives information and what audiences theory's that can be applied to them. Films such as The Kingdom make good use of the Hypodermic model as the audience is constantly filled with ideas and representations for example the Islamic people are terrorists.
People of all cultures will be targeted by our linked production as it will look into the issues faced by every religion in today's society.

Ideology

I will be looking into the Ideology's created by Institutions. Newspapers may have a particular political affiliation which will make some of their articles biased to a particular view of religions such as Islam. news papers such as the Sun slaughter Islam for terrorism and bringing it to this country. this is no where near a fact but because of the Sun's power as a dominant news force it will influence people.
Patriotism is a ideology used in most American films and in my critical investigation I will look into this as this is where patriotic peoples views on other religions are shown in contrast to their own dominant religion in that particular country. A example of this is shown in The Kingdom where protagonist Jamie foxx is a patriotic figure and does everything for his country.

Narrative

Throughout both my critical investigation and linked production, I will be looking into the enigma code theory. Some movies use loads of unanswered enigma codes in order to show that a certain group of people are enigmas to society.
Another aspect of the narrative I will look at is how these texts fit into Prop's narrative theory with the hero and princess, this will show if certain religions in films are the bad or good roles or just a less significant one compared to other religions.
Binary oppositions is something that is displayed in these texts with terrorist being bad and Americans being the good. another example would be minority religions within society being shown as innocent and the dominant religion being shown as aggressive and mischievous. good examples of this can be found in Crash.

Current Issues and Debates

As part of both my critical investigation and linked production, I will be looking into Staley Cohen’s theory on moral panics as the media use terrorist to try and create moral panics about certain religions. Moral panics usually a problem which is widely reported on in the media. Good examples of moral panic created are in the news and newspapers, further study into this will show which institutions target the religions.
My critical investigation will be looking into representation of religions and how they fit into society now. Also consider how Islamic people are treated in texts and in the real world and society.


Media Theories

Audience Theory is important when looking into the representation of fundamentalists in movies for my critical investigation. I will be looking into all types of audience theory including the Uses and Gratifications theory, Reception theory and Hypodermic Needle Model.

Semiotics is also a theory that I will be looking into as it involves me looking into the deeper meanings in Drama and action movies to really understand each character. the theory will apply itself to different audiences for example passive audiences will only take on board the obvious meaning but a more active audiences will see symbols and signs and pick up on other meaning too.

My critical investigation will relate to post colonialism theory because I would need to see if there is a specific 'race' that is making the in the media. There will be many different representations of different races and for my critical investigation I would need to see if there is a certain race people that are mainly stereotypes of fundamentalist.

SHEP analysis:

Social - My critical investigation and linked production will touch on social issues such as terrorist threats or exploring how the media makes religions look like they are a threat to society to try and push through their own philology's in their own country.

Historical - Historically in my critical investigation I can refer back to 9/11 and how that has changed the world and how the media has taken a grasp on this to target Islam and blame Islam for what happened. a good example of this is shown through the mass American media and CNN news itself is very biased against Islam.

Economical - Economically the current day recession is a topic to be mentioned but is limited due to mostly no relation to terrorism or religions.

Political - The different political party's that in recent times are having their says on their morals and values and how some of these affect and offend religions. for example the BNP are driving against all religions and beliefs that are not of a Christian nature, the also are stereotyping Islam as the cause of terrorism in Britain and are a political party that could come into power and really affect the way the media represents religions in the U.K

This study fits into the contemporary media landscape as it covers an issue which is important in both society and the media. Looking into the representations of religions in the media in recent times will really show how the media can control society to an extent and use fundamentalist as a scapegoat to do this.