Contemporary Write Up

Tabloid Newspapers

1. Ricky Preddie, who was out on bail after being released from an 8 year sentence for the manslaughter, tried to escape from the hostel he was being held in, and fought with police officers when they tried to arrest him. He had broken the conditions on which he was out on. The story was reported in The Sun newspaper, and they used words like 'raging' and 'maddened' to describe him, making him out to be insane and not in his right mind. He would have been 19 when arrested so he was a youth st the time. His behaviour was similar to some of the historical examples we looked at, with him wanting to be part of a gang, and longing for freedom. The newspaper used pictures of him, one of a board appealing for information on the murder (taken at the time in 2000), a picture of the murdered boy, aged 10, and a picture of the father.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article4123487.ece

2. Yobs out of control - Yobs have cost Brit businesses nearly £10 billion in the last year - Daily Mail, 16th February The language used in article clearly tries to reinforce the ill-behaviour of the youth, starting with the heading which promotes the sub-culture of Yobs in society damaging businesses for the fellow British population. The heading also refers to the idea of a 'loss of control', suggesting the idea that authority has lost it's grip of the youth of today. The article also promotes the underlying idea that Yobs are damaging an already struggle British business environment, especially as more and more companies move abroad. The high figure also places emphasis on the scale of the problem.

The image accompanying the article shows the stereotypical idea of youth's occupying the streets, creating an unwelcoming presences and the growing of unwanted youth culture in a modern society. This image helps presents the article in a clinical form, emphasizing importance.

The combination of language and images represents youth and youth culture in a bad spotlight, promoting the idea that youths are damaging the society of today and the grip authority use to have on youth has eroded. This creation of moral panic influences the public to believe the yob sub-culture is growing and poses a threat to the modern society.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/starsays/view/235651/Yobs-out-of-control/Yobs-out-of-controlYobs-out-of-controlYobs-out-of-control

3. A group of 9 young men who were planning an attack on London's Big Ben had their prison sentences shortened after pleading guilty to their charges. The men wanted to do a Mumbai Style attack, and Big Ben was only one of their targets, with other landmarks of Britain also targeted. They are likely to serve up to 6 years,  and this amplifies the thought that a lot of young people will have today, thinking that if they apologise, or seem to, then they'll be forgiven and that their punishment will be much more lenient. This is how it is in this story, with the judge being softer and seemingly letting them get away with a very serious crime. The article  in the Daily Mail using emotive language like 11th Hour plea to make it a very big issue, when it was on page 9 of the paper, meaning that they wouldn't automatically class it as its mean issue. 


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098951/Muslim-gang-planned-blow-London-Stock-Exchange-jailed-total-96-years.html


Broadsheet Newspapers


1. A Malaysian Student who was caught up in the London Riots in 2011 has been in court recently, giving his account of what happened to him. Two youths were filmed on a mobile phone pretending to be 'Good Samaritains' but were actually stealing things out of his backpack. He had been hit by other 'protestors' and his jaw was broke in two places, so he says he knew it was happening, but was powerless to resist it. The article itself was published with a lot less sensationalist language than you'd expect from The Sun or The Daily Mail. The only image on the article was a picture of the student, Ashraf Rossli, which let you see who the young man was, who was attacked and then robbed. (28th February 2012).


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/28/uk-riots-good-samaritan-robbery-trial (Article)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNNmthXSWlc (Video of Incident)