“Media simply represent collective identity, they don’t create it.” How far do you agree with this statement? Make reference to one or more group(s) of people in your answer. 

Collective identity refers to an individuals sense of belonging to a group through a shared set of traditions and values. The sense of belonging to these collectives causes the group's identity to become a part of their own. David Gauntlett suggests that "Identity is consciously constructed, and the media provides us with some of the tools to help us construct it". This argues that whilst our individual identities or the identities of particular groups are created by ourselves, the media have an influence upon this. Processes of mediation and the ways in which different groups are represented in the media often affect the identity of a collective, and can cause differing viewpoints of groups in society. Mediation refers to the process of electing and shaping a representation of a group or event through processes or selection vs rejection, organisation and focussing. David Buckingham puts the idea forward that "the media do not offer a transparent window of the world but a mediated one, they don't just present reality, but re-present it". This shows how the media's reflections of different groups may not be entirely accurate and representative of their true forms. It is often suggested that the media representation of different collective groups aids in maintaining hegemony (Antonio Gramsci).

Youth is one group thats identity is frequently mediated and misrepresented, influencing the group's sense of collective identity. Anne Gould suggests that there are six common stereotypes of youth in the media (1999): rebellious, violent, sexual, belonging to artificial tribes, nihilistic and self-destructive. This has been reinforced regularly in contemporary media, causing 86% of 1,000 teenage boys surveyed in the Independent (2009) to believe that the media portrays them in a bad light. Representations of youth in the media during the London riots in 2011 reinforced this. For example the BBC webpage displayed an article headlined "England's rioters: poorer, younger, less educated" in August. Wilkins (1964) believes that events such as these can cause a deviancy amplification spiral, where a cycle of increasing numbers of reports on a category of undesirable behaviour can lead to a moral panic, where society believe that they are threatened by folk devils (Cohen 1972). This creates the impression amongst non-youths that youth as a collective group display these traits, rather than a minority of the individuals within it - misrepresenting the identity of the collective. 

Other media also represents youths similarly. For example, the 2011 Sci-Fi Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish, shows a group of youths in a South London estate dealing with an alien invasion. Throughout this texts, the youths are represented to conform to many of Anne Gould's stereotypes, such as violent and rebellious, in scenes such as the opener, where the group are seen mugging a female resident in the estate, and throughout the text where we can see them indulging in a lifestyle of drugs and violence - such as when drug dealer Hi-Hatz shoots at one of the youths in the main group. Giroux (1997) suggests that media such as this cause "youth to become and empty category in representation, reflecting adults concerns",  whilst Acland (1995) suggests that "the representation of youth maintains social order" (1995). Each of these ideas put forward that youth are portrayed as inferior in order to maintain hegemony in society, and reinforces the idea of an unfair reflection of the youth's identity, enforcing a viewpoint on non-youths regarding their attitudes.

In historical representations of youth, there are instances where similar representations have occurred. For example, in Quadrophenia (1979) a film about a mailroom worker Jimmy who quits his job to become involved in the mod subculture lifestyle, youths are represented similarly, with representations of them being violent and belonging to artificial tribes being prevalent, as we see them as they go to Brighton and involve theirselves in riots against the opposing sub-culture (the rockers). Hegemony is further reinforced in this text through hard and soft power, from the police and the parent's of the youths, suggesting that youths need to be kept under control. On the other hand however, in earlier media texts such as The Young Ones (1961) directed by Disney J Furie, the youth are represented very differently, with a focus on their pro-activity in society, through the attempt to save their youth club from a millionaire property developer. In this text, they are also presented as much more social responsible and polite, such as when they are inclusive of younger generations during the scene at the beach, where Nicky sings and the children of the town crowd around him and enjoy. This shows that negative representations and the mediation of youth are much more common in today's society, most likely due to a period of social change (linking to Giddens' structuration theory), where youth's activities are perhaps different to what they were previously.

Gender is another whose identity could be argued to be created rather than reflected in the media, therefore affecting how they're viewed in society. It is often suggested that the media is predominantly male-run, with UK Feminista suggesting that 22.6% of news reporters are female, whilst 77.4% are male. This may reflect that the representation of females in the media is subject to bias, enforcing a patriarchal society. Historically, females have been represented in the media as domesticated and objectified. The televised Fairy Liquid advert of 1966 reinforces this by depicting a female in a typical maternal role, based in the kitchen, doing the washing up. In the advert, she appears to be teaching her child how to carry out washing duties, whilst saying that the washing up liquid 'keeps her hands looking pretty' presenting her as domesticated as well as an object of beauty. Again, this is another example of the media constructing a sense of identity for the female group, as this is not entirely representative of the demographic as a whole, and could cause society to view this to be common of the whole group. 

Many contemporary media texts also reinforce this, for example, Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines music video of 2013, which has amassed a 43,000,000 views on YouTube shows the singer, professionally dressed in a suit whilst nude girls are dancing around him. This conforms to Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory, which suggests that media texts are created from the perspective of a heterosexual male, made for the heterosexual male. The focussing on the nudity of the females, presenting them as objects of inferiority to the male reinforces this. Jonathan Schroader suggests that "to gaze is more than just to look, but implies a psychological relationship where the gaze is superior to the object" illustrating this further, and again fortifies the idea of a patriarchic society, misrepresenting the identity of the female in order to suit the male agenda. In the modern day however, it can be noticed that males have also been subject to objectification in this sense, such as in Coca Cola's 2013 Diet Coke TV advert, which shows a group of female throwing a coke can at a seemingly well-maintained male gardener, with the intentions of making it spill onto him and causing him to cake his top off and expose his built body. The advert focusses heavily on the presence of the male body and the positive reactions of the females to his nudity. This conforms to Miriam Hansons 1984 theory of the Female Gaze, which suggests that many texts are made from the heterosexual female perspective. This shows that in the modern day, both gender groups are subject to media representations, which enforce unrealistic ideologies of both the male and female, depicting the female to be a sexualised object of the male, and the male to be depicted as having to conform to certain standards in terms of their body image. 

A contemporary text that subverts gender stereotypes significantly is the Sport England advert 'This Girl Can' which was televised in 2015. This advert shows a montage of clips of women partaking in sports and athletic activities, presenting them as empowered, capable and equal to their male counterparts. This may be a more representative portrayal of the female gender, reflecting their identity more than the aforementioned texts, which attempt to create it. 

It feels as though texts such as these are becoming far more prevalent within today's media, and there seems to be a trend of more equal gender representations, causing me to believe that the media is becoming less gender bias. On the other hand however, I believe that whilst the representation of the female gender in the media may be improving, the representations of youth may not be, as the media continue to create a negative image of them, maintaining a hegemonist society. Ultimately however, it is up to the audience to believe and read texts differently, making their own judgements. Although it is clear from the above examples that the media is attempting to create a sense of identity for different groups rather than reflect it, the uses and gratifications theory of Katz and Blulmler in 1974 suggests that "audiences are active rather than passive individuals, they choose what they want to watch, consume in different ways and believe different things", meaning that dominant ideology suggested in the media may not always be believed, and although collective identity is often not reflected by the media, it may not necessarily be created by the media either, as viewers become more aware.