London Riots Broadcast News Analysis - BBC News

How are youths represented in this clip?
This news clip shows images of youths defacing a police car that was parked in the street, throwing bricks and miscellaneous objects at it, as well as throwing bricks/rocks at passing cars. This presents youths as being violent and unstable towards to the police, who are viewed in a positive light in this clip.

Who are the reporters interviewing?
In this news clip, the BBC reporter gives updates on the situation of riots in North London. They do not interview anyone during this time, due to the fear of getting injured by the rioters, who are shown in the clip to be throwing bricks at the police cars. Towards the end of the clip, a young rioter attempts to block the camera, in which the reporter asks why and gets pushed around, ending with the woman presenting from the studio announcing that they'll "leave it there".

What images are used in the broadcast?
The news clip above presents a variety of clips, ranging from young people vandalising and destroying government property, to clips of the camera men being forced to leave their "safe" area. These images present the youths as being extremely violent and hostile towards the camera men, who are just providing an update on the situation.

What does this suggest about representation of the riots?
This news clip suggest that the average news report on the riots focused primarily on the effects of the riots, rather than the cause of them. This, in turn, controls the views of a large population of the UK, presenting them with biased views on who is responsible for it all.

Is this broadcast biased?
In a sense the broadcast can be seen as biased because it only presents the youths in a bad light and doesn't focus on the police at all. However, this broadcast can also been seen as non-biased, as it is merely an update on the situation at hand and doesn't take sides with either party.

Are youths given a fair voice?
I feel that, in this video, youths aren't given much of a fair voice as they are being represented by a small percentage of people who took part in the riots. Other news clips show that a lot of young people are against the riots and wish for them to stop. However, as I've said before, this clip is more of an update on the situation at hand, rather than an interview, and so it doesn't give anyone a voice at all.

Presentation of Self (collage)

Task Checklist

• Presentation of self [collage of own identity]
• Historical case study - Task 1 2014
• Initial newspaper research task
• London riots broadcast news analysis - Task 2 2014
• London riots newspaper analysis - Task 3 2014
• Law and public disorder article
• Summary of London riots research - Task 4 2014
• Social media and London riots - Task 5 2014
• Plan B activity
• Plan B activity - FILM
• Sket case study
• Future representations of youth identity