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News coverage of social class: Madeleine McCann and Shannon Mathews

Find expels of languages used in each of the pieces to describe the parents of both children. How does this language differ? what are the messages and values on social class?

In the first article about Madeleine McCann her mother is described as 'traumatised' and 'cannot bear to be parted from her two year old twins' whereas Shannon Mathews' mum was described as 'allegedly braking down in tears'. This makes Shannon's mum look suspicious as the word 'allegedly' makes us question if it is true or not however, there is nothing in the article suggesting Madeleine's mum may have been lying or untruthful.

Also when referring to Kate McCann the article uses 'Mrs' or her name whereas when talking about Karen Matthews they use 'Miss'. This puts emphasis on the fact Karen is not married but Kate is. They also talk about how she has 'seven children to five fathers' which may shine her in a bad light as not caring for her children enough.

Lastly the word 'accused' makes it seem like Karen Matthews is guilty of soothing whereas words like this are not used to describe the McCann's which suggests they are not guilty and are actually the victims telling the truth.

The negativity surrounding Karen Matthews could also put negativity onto other lower class families as they may also be portrayed as liars and people who do not care about their families. On the other hand the sympathy for the McCanns suggests that middle and upper class people are better parents and people.

Analyse the choice of pictured used in terms of framing, shot type and mise en scene. Compare their representation of the social class of the two families.

In the first picture Kate McCann is seen playing with Madeleine on a climbing frame suggesting she cares a lot about her and is very family orientated. It also shows they are a happy family and that Kate is a good, loving mother. However, in the article about Shannon Matthews two separate pictures are used. This shows they are not a very close family and her mother maybe did not care enough to take family pictures. Also the fact the picture of Shannon is a school picture not a home picture suggests her mother also didn't care about taking pictures of her family at home. The picture of her mum is unflattering as her hair is tied up, she is not wearing any makeup, and she seems to be caught off-guard.

This again makes it seem like middle class and upper class mothers are better as they interact with their children more and care more about their children whereas the pictures used  for Karen and Shannon Matthews make working and lower class families look sloppy and dysfunctional.

Hall notes that representation is "contested", in particular the representation of those with less power in society. He argues that news coverage can be hierarchical. To what extent is this  evident from the two readings?  Make reference to Hall's theory of representation In your answer.

News coverage being hierarchical is clearly shown in the articles through the language used and facts. For example when talking about money we are told the McCanns planed to 'use some of the £300,000... to pay for a trips to a series of European countries... to keep up the high-profile of their daughter in the media.' However, 'Shannon's family asked for donations from the fund set up to find Madeleine McCann'. This shows hierarchy as we see how much the McCanns have compared to the Matthews' who have to ask another family in crisis for the money. This again sheds a negative light on working/lower class families as it makes them seem desperate to do anything for money whereas is make middle/upper class families seem like they've fairly earned their money and deserve it more.

Karen Mathews is also portrayed as unintelligent as 'officers examining similarities between Shannon's disappearance and a storyline from the Channel 4 drama series Shameless' makes her seem ignorant for thinking she would get away with it. On the other hand the McCanns are portrayed as well off as 'a child psychologist from England will next week fly out ... to help the couple with the difficult task of telling their twins.' This makes them seem well off and educated as they can even afford to get a child psychologist and be informed about needing one.

This proves Hall's idea that news coverage is hierarchical as a lot of negativity is put onto the working class family whereas the middle class family are shown as better off and therefore better people.  

What is the dominant (intended) meaning of the Daily Telegraph? How is the audience supposed to feel about the two families do you take a negotiated or oppositional reading and if so, how/why? Make reference to reception theory I your answer.

The dominant meaning of the articles is to portray the McCann's as innocent and the victims as well as better off and more caring than Karen Mathews who is supposed to be portrayed as guilty of abducting her daughter and a liar who doesn't care about her family. This is evident based on the language used in the articles.

I would take a negotiated view on the Madeline McCann article as we still do not know what happened to her so we can not know the truth and also do not know personally what her parents are like. However I agree with the dominant view of the Shannon Matthew's story as we know that her mother did in fact play a part of her abduction and lied in order to get money. I however  take an oppositional view to the way they present class as it is unfair to generalise a whole class of people based on just one family.

However, due to reception theory (the conditions in which audiences read media texts, and how this contrasts with the intended meaning of the producer of the text.) different people could view the stories differently and take different views and opinions of each of that families that may not have been the intended meaning.  

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