Age represented in the media

Age represented in the media (Young)

Across all media different age groups are represented in different ways, for example; new born babies are represented as innocent and cute, teenagers are represented as anti social and the older generation like pensioners are represented as weak and vulnerable due to there ever ageing body.

However no media text can show a true reflection of age due to the encoders ideologies and experiences affecting each text. For example in this NSPCC charity campaign the child is represented as sad and vulnerable look on her face, her eyes are directed at the camera as if she is looking at the audience through the lens of the camera. 

The photo is a CU with a wall taking up just over half of the shot, the use of a CU causes the audience to focus on the girls eyes as that is the encoder of the texts purpose, the confided space the child is in connotes that she is trapped and isolated on her own with works well with the tagline 'Don't turn away' which is as if she is asking the audience for help which is the purpose of the advert. 

The advert wants the audience to feel sorry for the girl by challenging their need to nurture, it is aimed at the mainstream audience who would follow the dominant ideology to have children. 

Teenagers are represented as anti social and vandals in this story from the Daily Mail  - http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/every-parents-nightmare-drunk-teenagers-5409582. In this story 'every parents nightmare', drunken teenagers destroyed a woman's home after her daughter told them no one was home, there is a selection of images to go with this story showing the teenagers, the damage they caused and the aftermath of what they did. 

The selection images is used to draw focus to the damage the teenagers have caused and how it has effected the mother, this follows mediation  as the selection of images draw a light to a the issue of teenagers and keeps the focus on them by showing the damage they caused. 

This representation shows teenagers as vandals as that is the focus of the story, it also shows them as inconsiderate as they destroyed a woman's home for no good reason. The story also states that the people who took part in the vandalism wont take the blame as they believe they were invited, which highlights how inconsiderate the teenagers are as they wont even take blame. 

The following text is a warning to teenagers on drug use and how teenagers from ages 11-18 are most likely to 'dabble' with illegal substances - http://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/feb/16/cannabis-mental-health. 

The text serves as a warning to 11-18 year olds who are vulnerable to drugs and may considerer taking them, the main ideology of the article is that if you mess around with drugs it will mess around with your mind. The article uses damning statistics like 'smoking cannabis increased the risk of schizophrenia by at least 40%' to get the ideology across. 

The article represents teenagers as vulnerable to drugs and inconsiderate of the effects drugs have on mental health.